Behind Their Eyes

By Kate Jirelle

In every city, and in every town, there are the chosen few. Men and women who seem to be blessed by the powers that be. Those who God seems to have showered with numerous gifts.

The gift of new life. The gift of money. The gift of fearlessness. The gift of love.

From the outside these people seem flawless. They are the epitome of what we all want to be. They have the perfect life.

... Or do they?

Sometimes things aren’t always as they seem. Sometimes to see the real truth in someone’s life you need to look behind their eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Feb 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781925219715

Kate Jirelle

Kate Jirelle has been writing since she was a child. The first stories she ever wrote included such riveting titles as Ashleigh the Angel Finds a Tree and Georgia the Giraffe has Diabetes – she likes to think that her writing abilities have only improved.Born and raised in the beautiful Blue Mountains region of NSW, Kate blames her addiction to storytelling on her family. Some of her earliest memories take place in the living room of her Nanna and Poppy’s house as they regaled her with tales of times and people long since past. If there’s one gift that her grandparents gave her, it was the understanding that no person or experience is ever lost, so long as there are those on earth who endeavour to tell others about them.Behind Their Eyes is a book written on the foundations of this lesson and serves as a tribute to the private lives and thoughts we all have hidden behind our eyes.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Prologue

New Beginnings

Unspoken Regrets

Recognising the Signs

Just One Step

Voices

Shades of Grey

An Ordinary Man

Broken Promises

Tell My Father

Finding Home

The Eye of the Storm

Waiting

Epilogue

About the Author

Behind Their Eyes

A collection of perspectives

by

Kate Jirelle

Copyright © 2021 Kate Jirelle

All rights reserved

This is an IndieMosh book

brought to you by MoshPit Publishing

an imprint of Mosher’s Business Support Pty Ltd

PO Box 4363

Penrith NSW 2750

http://www.indiemosh.com.au/

First published 2015

Licence Notes

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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author and publisher.

Dedicated to

Horst Von Riegen and June Von Riegen.

The first people in my life to teach me that hiding behind the eyes of every person is a story worth telling.

Prologue

In every city, and in every town, there are the chosen few. Men and women who seem to be blessed by the powers that be. Those who God seems to have showered with numerous gifts.

The gift of new life.

The gift of money.

The gift of fearlessness.

The gift of love.

From the outside these people seem flawless. They are the epitome of what we all want to be. There is no question that they have the perfect life.

***

There is the young mother-to-be, radiant with the glow of early pregnancy. Twisting the shiny new wedding band on her finger, she offers a small smile to the nurse when asked where her husband is.

‘He couldn’t make it today,’ she replies. ‘He would have loved to be here though.’

As she looks upon the black and white image of the blessing growing inside her, her eyes brim with tears of happiness.

***

There is the brother whose mind is filled with the memories of a wonderful childhood. A childhood spent united with his younger brother, fighting off schoolyard bullies and trying to outride king-brown snakes on pushbikes. All the little moments are there, forever alive in his memory. Kept bright and lively in the memory of an older brother who has embraced the role of protector and friend to his younger sibling.

***

There is the young boy lucky enough to be born into a family of privilege. Spending each day racing through the twisted hallways of a gigantic house, he can want for nothing. Bidding goodbye to his parents as they head off to work, he wonders what new adventures await him today.

***

There is the girl filled with bravery. The girl who isn’t afraid of anything in this world. She takes on each day as a thrilling quest for excitement. An accomplished singer and freelance explorer, she scouts out new landscapes and challenges, refusing to be stopped by any unfounded fears of heights, spiders or public speaking.

***

There is the man who seems to have wanderlust flowing through his veins. Never staying in the same place for too long, he is a modern-day adventurer. Untied to any one place by family he goes where he pleases, carried by the wind, living from moment to moment.

***

There is the decorated detective turned successful private investigator. Every day he leaves his home, kissing his wife and children goodbye, ready to help flush out the city’s scum. As he helps the police get each hardened criminal off the streets, he can only feel pride in his job and his skills.

***

There is the elderly man kept company with the bright and vibrant memories of his youth. Rich with the stories of a bygone era. He is the man who can entertain his grandchildren with nothing but the gentle sound of his voice. Weaving tales of frozen lakes and apple strudel he can make the ordinary sound magical.

***

There is the suave and smooth young man who has just moved into the penthouse apartment in the city’s most expensive block. Draped in designer suits, the light scent of hundred-dollar cologne lingers on his person, and his weakness for fine wine and cuisine all speak of an indulgent life of excess. A life whose details could only be too perfect to imagine.

***

There is the loving father. The man who fought for his country during his youth, and can now live a peaceful and uncomplicated life with his wife and son. After serving his country, he is free to live the life that he could only dream of while marching through the mud and muck of those dark trenches. Those memories of terrifying nights spent huddled beneath blood-soaked plains are now safely locked away in his mind’s most secure vault, never to be revisited.

***

There is the mysterious young foreigner, whose well-educated accent speaks of a childhood spent across the seas. She is the girl who smiles as she passes each stranger on the street. A bright and happy look is painted across her face wherever she goes, the peaceful expression of a woman who has found her place in this world.

***

There is the girl whose heart is filled with the eternal optimism of youth. As the world bustles around her each day, she navigates her way through each of life’s temporary storms, confident that the calm will always come. No matter what the world throws at her, she is content to know that the pages of her life story will just keep turning.

***

There is the indulgent mother, whose life started the day her baby boy was placed into her arms. Now that boy is almost an adult, and she can’t help but forgive each and every one of his mischievous antics. He is her darling son, and she knows he milks it for all it’s worth. No matter how old he gets, he will always be the perfect child that she first held in her arms seventeen years ago. Her love for him will never die. He is her darling son and each and every day she makes sure that he knows it.

***

They are all the chosen few. The mother. The boy. The detective. The foreigner. They all seem to have the perfect life. The elderly man. The loving couple. The loyal veteran. No matter who they are they all seem to have discovered the secret. The secret to a perfect life.

New Beginnings

Sometimes beginnings are exciting, but at other times they are the most frightening things in the world. Whether exciting or frightening though, beginnings are always bittersweet. After all, to begin something new another thing must end.

To begin your eternal life in the kingdom of God, your bodily life must be terminated.

To start a new adventure in a foreign country or a strange city, you must first bid goodbye to your family and friends.

Sometimes you don’t question it for a second. You have no doubt in your mind that the endings you must face are worth the excitement of that grand new start.

Sometimes, though, that new start is thrust upon you without your consent. It materialises out of thin air, right before your very eyes. Unexpected. Unplanned. Absolutely terrifying. There’s no excitement in this kind of unsolicited beginning. Just fear. An all-consuming fear that takes hold of your soul in a vice-like grip. Drowning out the rest of the world, it presses upon you from all sides.

This kind of beginning does not give you a choice. It just steamrolls towards you like a thirty-five thousand tonne steam train, leaving nothing in its wake. No alternate route. No second option. There is just one road ahead of you, and it’s the only way forward whether you want it to be or not. No matter your own desires, there is no other choice but to take one step after another along this new path, half-obscured by the mist of uncertainty. There is no choice but