Alan’s Pet

It was as if my whole world had collapsed from under me. I had gone from being a happy 18 year old girl who was loved and cared for by her parents to being alone in the world. I replay that moment in my mind from when I heard that loud knock at the front door and I open it to see two Police Officers standing there with a solemn look on their faces.

‘Are you Miss Tanya Stratton?’ the male officer asks

‘Yes I am officer, is there a problem’

‘May we come in Miss?’ the female officer asks

‘Yes, yes come in’ I step to one side glancing at the Police car parked outside the house before closing the door behind the two officers.

‘Please sit down Miss Stratton’ the male officer gestures to the settee ‘I am afraid I have some bad news regarding your parents’

My heart stopped beating, I stopped breathing, and the world stopped spinning for what seemed like forever. Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked up to hear what he had to say.

‘I am sorry to inform you but your parents were involved in a fatal accident involving a lorry on the motorway tonight. Both of them and the lorry driver were killed instantly’

‘We are so sorry for your loss’ said the female officer her hand resting on my leg as she says this. ‘Is there anyone who can be with you or you can stay with?’

My mind had shut down; my body was working purely on reflex as I felt detached from reality. Cold salty tears run down my cheeks as wave after wave of emotion wracks through my body and I cry uncontrollably. The woman officer puts her arm around me to provide some comfort. The male officer passes me some tissues and I manage a choked ‘Thank you’ as I wiped my eyes. Both of the officers patiently wait until my sobbing subsides and then she asks the question again.

‘I am sorry Miss Stratton but we feel it better if you were with someone tonight, is there anyone who can be with you or you can stay with?’ She asks with a controlled calmness in her voice.

As my mind clears slightly the only person comes to mind is my Uncle Alan who has a small farm about 50 miles away. I tell her this and she asks for his phone number, I point to my mother’s phone book by the telephone. The male officer walks over and thumbs through the book and soon finds the phone number, he picks up the phone and dials. I am still being comforted by the other officer as he quietly explains to my Uncle Alan what has happened. After a few minutes of them talking and writing down something in his notebook he puts down the receiver.

‘If you pack a few overnight things Miss Stratton, we will take you over to your Uncles tonight, he is happy for you to stay with him whilst everything is sorted’

I had not seen my Uncle Alan for quite a few years, now he was the only family I had.