{"id":1092,"date":"2022-01-31T11:09:02","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T11:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1092"},"modified":"2022-01-31T11:09:08","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T11:09:08","slug":"coming-of-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/coming-of-age\/1092\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming of Age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1985<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gran and I fly together after dark. Our sparkling wings streak through the skies like shooting stars, lighting up the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Girls have secret powers,\u2019 Gran says with that twinkle in her eye. It makes my heart flutter and the magic flow through my veins so fast I tingle all over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we fly to the grave of Gran\u2019s Gran. It\u2019s overgrown and we pluck daisies that have sprung from the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This one\u2019s wisdom.\u2019 She drops a daisy into the open bag beside the grave. \u2018And this, hope. Then we have love, happiness, bravery and ambition.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

When the bag is full, we take off again, scattering daisies on the wind. Random gifts for whomever might come across them. We fly unseen into houses and grant wishes. With a flash of our wands, the daisies slip under pillows. Then the people breathe in their scent and the magic swirls into their dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, my powers will be \u2018dormant,\u2019 hidden by hormones. I won\u2019t remember any of this. Even these words I\u2019m writing will disappear. I\u2019ll only be aware of a lingering bond with Gran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Don\u2019t be afraid,\u2019 Gran says. \u2018You\u2019ll be collecting a wealth of experience in those years, just like Mummy is now. You\u2019ll be learning lessons and gathering wisdom, that will eventually become daisies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018And then, one day, the hormones will ebb away and you\u2019ll feel the magic ignite again somewhere deep within. You\u2019ll take to the skies once more with the wind in your hair, and, if you\u2019re lucky, your own Grand-daughter\u2019s hand in yours. And that\u2019s when the real magic will begin.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Will you be there too?\u2019 I say, detecting a sadness in her voice. A sadness that makes me grasp her hand more tightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018In a way, yes.\u2019 Her eyes crinkle at the corners, making her smile spread across her whole face. \u2018You see, I\u2019ll be the one pushing up the daisies. You\u2019ll be collecting them from my grave. I may not leave you a wealth of riches, but oh my darling, I promise you magic.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t tell Gran, but I don\u2019t really believe it. No way am I ever going to think stupid things like romance and parenting and working are the most important things in life. I\u2019ll never forget about magic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I place the flowers on Gran\u2019s grave and wipe away a tear. Mum and Emily\u2019s happy chatter from the bench behind me echoes through the graveyard like birdsong. My heart swells with joy and pain at the sound of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been almost two years, yet the pull towards Gran\u2019s grave has been growing stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stray daisy skitters across the grass, landing at my feet. As the petals ripple in the breeze, I feel something stir inside me and another hot flush takes hold. The wind whispers in my ear. It sends a cooling shiver down my spine. It\u2019s happened a couple of times before and I can\u2019t quite make out the words, but it\u2019s getting louder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1985 Gran and I fly together after dark. Our sparkling wings streak through the skies like shooting stars, lighting up the night. \u2018Girls have secret powers,\u2019 Gran says with that twinkle in her eye. It makes my heart flutter and the magic flow through my veins so fast I tingle all over. First, we fly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[597,603],"tags":[604,7,119],"class_list":["post-1092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-597","category-february-2022-wealth","tag-gran","tag-her","tag-ll"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-hC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1094,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions\/1094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}