[00:00.00]Unit Three Text
[00:23.93]They say that blood is thicker than water,
[00:27.56]that our relatives are more important to us than others.
[00:31.24]Everyone was so kind to the old lady on her birthday.
[00:35.92]Surely her daughter would make an even bigger effort to please her?
[00:40.70]THE PRESENT
[00:43.36]It was the old lady's birthday.
[00:46.71]She got up early to be ready for the post.
[00:50.21]From the second floor flat
[00:52.14]she could see the postman when he came down the street,
[00:55.72]and the little boy from the ground floor
[00:58.38]brought up her letters on the rare occasions when anything came.
[01:02.82]Today she was sure there would be something.
[01:06.32]Myra wouldn't forget her mother's birthday,
[01:09.28]even if she seldom wrote at other times.
[01:12.54]Of course Myra was busy.
[01:15.10]Her husband had been made Mayor,
[01:17.35]and Myra herself had got a medal for her work for the aged.
[01:16.35]The old lady was proud of Myra,
[01:15.35]but Enid was the daughter she loved.
[01:18.48]Enid had never married
[01:20.47]but had seemed content to live with her mother,
[01:23.26]and teach in a primary school round the corner.
[01:26.61]One evening,however, Enid said,
[01:29.85]"I've arranged for Mrs.Morrison to look after you for a few days,Mother.
[01:34.57]Tomorrow I have to go into hospital--just a minor operation.
[01:39.43]I'll soon be home."
[01:41.00]In the morning she went,
[01:43.38]but never came back--she died on the operating table.
[01:48.11]Myra came to the funeral,
[01:50.35]and in her efficient way arranged for Mrs.Morrison to come in
[01:54.74]and light the fire and give the old lady her breakfast.
[01:58.53]Two years ago that was
[02:00.98]and since then Myra had been to see her mother three times,
[02:05.01]but her husband never.
[02:07.33]The old lady was eighty today.
[02:10.10]She had put on her best dress.
[02:12.74]Perhaps--perhaps Myra might come.
[02:15.87]After all,eighty was a special birthday,
[02:19.04]another decade lived or endured just as you chose to look at it.
[02:24.96]Even if Myra did not come,she would send a present.
[02:29.64]The old lady was sure of that.
[02:32.31]Two spots of colour brightened her cheeks.
[02:35.57]She was excited--like a child.
[02:38.37]She would enjoy her day.
[02:37.37]Yesterday Mrs.Morrison had given the flat an extra clean,
[02:42.38]and today she had brought a card and a bunch of marigolds
[02:46.43]when she came to do the breakfast.
[02:48.49]Mrs.Grant downstairs had made a cake,
[02:51.99]and in the afternoon she was going down there to tea.
[02:56.67]The little boy,Johnnie, had been up with a packet of mints,
[03:01.24]and said he wouldn't go out to play until the post had come.
[03:05.42]"I guess you'll get lots and lots of presents,"he said.
[03:09.97]"I did last week when I was six."
[03:12.66]What would she like?
[03:15.19]A pair of slippers perhaps.Or a new cardigan.
[03:19.76]A cardigan would be lovely.
[03:22.61]Blue's such a pretty colour.
[03:24.99]Jim had always liked her in blue.
[03:27.63]Or a table lamp.
[03:29.79]Or a book,a travel book,with pictures,
[03:33.06]or a little clock, with clear black numbers.
[03:36.53]So many lovely things.
[03:39.07]She stood by the window,watching.
[03:42.23]The postman turned round the corner on his bicycle.
[03:46.07]Her heart beat fast.
[03:48.21]Johnnie had seen him too and ran to the gate.
[03:51.48]Then clatter,clatter up the stairs.
[03:54.32]Johnnie knocked at her door.
[03:56.05]"Granny, granny," he shouted,"I've got your post."
[03:59.68]He gave her four envelopes.
[04:02.81]Three were unsealed cards from old friends.
[04:06.68]The fourth was sealed, in Myra's writing.
[04:06.68]The old lady felt a pang of disappointment.
[04:10.31]"No parcel,Johnnie?" "No,granny."
[04:14.57]Maybe the parcel was too large to come by letter post.
[04:19.01]That was it.
[04:20.18]It would come later by parcel post.
[04:22.74]She must be patient.
[04:24.49]Almost reluctantly she tore the envelope open.
[04:29.22]Folded in the card was a piece of paper.
[04:32.62]Written on the card was a message under the printed Happy Birthday--
[04:37.24]Buy yourself something nice with the cheque,Myra and Harold.
[04:42.28]The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a broken wing.
[04:47.25]Slowly the old lady stooped to pick it up.
[04:50.62]Her present,her lovely present.
[04:55.29]With trembling fingers she tore it into little bits.
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