Mornington-By-Mere – (96) Christmas at Briarbank

 

Thirty Five year old Ross Clarke lives in the village of Mornington-By-Mere, which is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.

It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12^th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.

But Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which form the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside where Ross lived in a small two bedroom cottage in the row of West Gate Cottages on the banks of the River Brooke and he lived there with his grandfather.

 

Ross Clarke loved Christmas and it really irritated him when he heard people whining about what a crap Christmas they had because their mother in law over did it on the sherry and told everyone what she really thought about them or when their wife's uncle Stan spent Christmas afternoon asleep on the sofa breaking wind with monotonous regularity.

Or their brothers new girlfriend who kept hitting on her sister in law or the Gran who said

"Just a small dinner for me, I don't have much of an appetite" then spent the afternoon eating all the chocolate Brazils.

It really made him angry because their bitching and moaning always brought him down at his favourite time of year.

It also wound him up when he thought about those who through no fault of their own had truly awful Christmas’s, like his Grandfather who was one of the half a million or so men of the allied forces, who along with six hundred thousand Germans who spent Christmas 1944 outside in the snow of the Ardennes forest during the battle of the bulge.

Men who sheltered in foxholes, scratched out of the frozen earth with no hot food or drink.

Unable to light fires for fear of giving their position away to the enemy and regularly coming under enemy fire or being shelled.

And sometimes once they had hewn out a decent sized foxhole and settled down into it out of the icy wind, an order would come down the line to move out and they would move a hundred yards or sometimes less and dig another hole.

He wanted to tell all the whiners to go and bitch and moan to one of those old soldiers and see how they would laugh at their petty gripes, they certainly wouldn’t get any sympathy.

He had spent a of time with his grandfather since his teens but for the last three years that time was spent at the Briarbank Hospice and they spent that time talking at length.

But for the last three months the conversations had been very one sided.

But there had been another reason for his visits other than seeing his grandfather, and that reason was Linda Perch, a thirty four year old palliative care nurse.

 

It was 9 o’clock on Christmas Eve when he arrived at the hospice and his spirits lifted when he saw Linda was on duty and when she saw him she smiled.

“Did you draw the short straw?” he asked

“Worse than that I volunteered” she retorted

Because she had no family she was working all over Christmas to allow the nurses who did have families to spend it at home with them she was doing the same thing over New Years as well.

“So are you on tomorrow as well?” he asked

“Yes I’m on until Boxing Day”

“That’s tough” he said and she told him that she would survive and then they parted company with a smile.
They knew they would have plenty of opportunities to talk during the night and he wished her happy Christmas at 1.45am.

 

He managed to see quite a lot of Linda during Christmas Day as he had decided not to go home at all and managed to catch a few zzzz’s in the arm chair beside his grandads bed, but he managed to be awake and alert when she was around and he found that his feeling for her were deepening and he hoped that when she smiled at him it wasn’t just her professional demeanour.

But she went off duty at two am on Boxing Day which was when he decided it was time to go home to his bed.

 

He returned to the hospice on Boxing Day evening and was pleased to see Linda’s car was in the carpark, he didn’t think she would be back in until the next day, but when he went inside instead of being greeted by her normal friendly smile, he found her wearing a grave expression.   

“Hello Ross I was just about to call you” she said

“I’m a bit concerned about Harry, his breathing is very laboured”

“Damn I shouldn’t have gone home” he said

“Nonsense” she chastised “it would have made no difference”

Then she gave him a warm smile and added

“I’ve phoned Dr Lutchford, so go and sit with him and I’ll be in shortly”

“Ok” he complied but what she hadn’t confided was that she thought the end was close.

 

The Doctor arrived about half an hour later and Linda accompanied Ross to the relative’s room and squeezed his hand before she joined the doctor.

Fifteen minutes later she and the Doctor joined him and Claire Lutchford sympathetically said

“I’m afraid he has pneumonia”

“Does that signal the end” he asked knowing that it did but wanted confirmation,

“I’m afraid so” Dr Lutchford confirmed

“How long?” he asked flatly

“Not long” she replied

“Don’t worry” Linda said putting her hand on his “I will stay with him till the end”

Although she wasn’t officially on duty that night she stayed with Harry and Ross.

 

The following day Linda split her time between attending to Harry and keeping Ross company and they spent a weary night and Harry Clarke died just after seven o’clock the next morning with the winter sun invading the room and bathing his deathbed in sunlight.

Linda was patient and considerate and waited with Ross, who was quiet and showed no emotion as they finally left the room 

 

Ross spent the morning in the relative’s room while Linda made all the necessary phone calls.

Sgt Pierce, the village policeman paid a visit to rule out foul play and stayed until Dr Lutchford arrived to sign the death certificate.  

And an hour later William Hemmings and Sons arrived to collect the deceased, although it was Melanie Hemmings who offered their condolences.

 

Ross was looking out of the window as the Hemmings vehicle drove away and Linda walked up behind him and lightly stroked the back of his arm.

“Are you ok?” she asked

“Not really” he replied and the tears he had been holding back immediately welled up in his eyes as he turned towards her, so she took him in her arms and he dissolved completely into tears.

“Its ok honey” she whispered, “let it all go”

And as he sobbed uncontrollably onto her shoulder, Linda kissed his cheek.

She held him close and stroked his back as he sobbed until he lifted his head and said

“I’m getting you uniform wet” 

“I don’t care” she replied and he broke down again.

It dawned on her at that moment as he sobbed his heart out that now his grandfather was gone he would have no reason to go to the hospice and so she wouldn’t see him again, and that was what she was thinking as she consoled him with her empty words.

Shameful selfish thoughts of her never seeing him again as she held him in her arms instead of thinking of him and his loss. 

 

They were both excruciatingly tired because it had been a very long night sitting up with Harry, however she had had a lot of time to think as his life ebbed away.

And almost all of those thoughts had been about Ross and the reason, they got on really well and whenever he was there the two of them flirted, but at first she never thought it was anything other than flirting, but she would always look forward to seeing him and hoped that it might be.

But everything came into sharp focus now that she was faced with the prospect of never seeing him again.

And now she had him in her arms she was not of a mind to let him go.

But let him go she must, because now was not the time for her to claim him, but it wasn’t going to be for long she hoped.

 

Had Ross known the disposition of her heart when she comforted him in the relatives room he would not have carried an emptiness inside him when he left the hospice.

 

In the days that followed his grandfather’s death he had to contend with the double loss of his grandfather’s death and his heart’s desire.

But then on New Year’s Eve he received a fillip when he took a phone call from Briarbank Hospice.

 

It was a gloriously sunny day in Mornington as he stared out of the window of his cottage, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Linda approaching with Harry’s personal possessions, as the winter sun set her red mane ablaze.

And he pledged to himself that once she crossed his threshold he wouldn’t let her leave again until he had told her of his feelings.

The promise would have given him less anxiety had he known that she had made a similar pledge and after she crossed the threshold   pledges were kept and declarations were made and so Linda didn’t re-cross it until again until New Year’s Day.

OUTSIDE IT’S SNOWING HARD

 

Outside it’s snowing hard

Falling fast and lying deep

But you are warm and safe

As in your bed you sleep

 

But I must brave the elements

As the wind stings my face

So I can spend Christmas

In your sweet loving embrace

WINTER WARMER

 

The Snow lies on the Earth

Icicles hang from the gate

Frost sits on the windowpanes

A fire burns in the grate

 

The sun sets beyond the wood

Abandoning the sky

Let’s draw the curtains in

And bank the fire high

 

Now turn the lamplight up

And forget about the weather

Warm moment we’ll share

As we cozy up together

Loving Christmas Linda – The Final Embrace

 

It was Christmas Eve and the Hartley household in the village of Clerembeax St Giles was decorated for the season.

A large fresh cut tree stood in the corner, perfuming the room and was festooned by a myriad of assorted baubles, ornaments, tinsel and lights. 

Christmas cards of all shapes and sizes adorned every surface and more hung on bright red and green ribbons suspended from the picture rails and bright colored Christmas garlands hung gaily, crisscrossing the ceiling.

Outside, through a break in the dark clouds, a shaft of week winter sunlight shone through the window reflecting off the garlands and painted random patterns on the walls and ceiling.

76-year-old Paul Hartley sat watching TV in his favorite armchair in the front room of the house he shared with his wife and soul mate Linda, the woman he loved more than life itself.

Both of them had been married before, but Linda was the love of his life and they had spent 30 years apart before they found each other again, when their own Christmas miracle happened 25 years before.

And as a result of that Christmas miracle they had had 25 years of incredible happiness.

Paul and Linda had made good use of the years they had together to make up for the lost time when they were apart and as a couple they had had the fullest of lives.

Christmas had always held particular significance for them, it was their favorite time of year and had always been so, because their most meaningful moments together happened at Christmas time, finding love together, losing each other, finding each other again, and marrying each other, that’s why Paul called her Christmas Linda.

And because Christmas was so significant to them they did Christmas big and they relished every moment, they would pack away all the ornaments and pictures, and replace them with the festive decorations they had collected over the years, then there would be a houseful on Christmas day and Boxing Day where they shared the celebration with family and friends, and when the festivities were over they would fly off to the sun for a few weeks, just the two of them.

Neither of them could abide the New Year’s holiday so they took themselves away to enjoy each other’s company.

But alas on their 26^th Christmas together the season held no joy for Paul, even James Stewart in “It’s a wonderful life” could not lift his spirits and the reason for his gloomy disposition lay in the next room, where the dining table used to stand.

Where they had so many wonderful Christmas dinners, the room full of the happy chatter of good company, the table heaving under the weight of Christmas fare.

But in its place now stood a stark and clinical hospital bed and laying upon it the most precious thing in his life, Linda, surrounded by all the paraphernalia of terminal illness.

Her once vibrant body riddled with inoperable tumors, their evil spread consuming her from within and as the cancer was so far advanced, when it was discovered she refused what little treatment there was on offer and she also stubbornly refused to die in hospital or a hospice.

Linda said she wished to die in the home where she had known such great happiness, so how could he refuse her such a simple wish?

He employed a private nurse who sat with her at night and Paul tended her himself by day and he watched her dying by inches every single day, it seemed to him to be the cruelest of punishments for being so happy.

Paul’s first wife was taken by cancer and that was hard enough to bare.

It was always so hard when someone you love suffers before your eyes, but as much as he loved his first wife and as hard as it was to watch her die, it was nothing compared to the intolerable despair that he felt losing Linda.

She was not only his wife she was his love, his life, his soul mate, she was the one, the love of his life, his Christmas Linda.

He would sit with her and read to her, sometimes Dickens, Stephen King or Tom Sharpe, depending on her frame of mind.

On her brighter days she would have him tell her jokes, she always said he was the only one who could make her laugh.

Her brown hair with its soft curls had long since turned silver and the sparkle was only rarely present in her eyes and the laughter that used to play around them replaced by pain and it was on the morning of that Christmas Eve when Linda told him what she wanted for Christmas.

 

She was always at her best in the morning but on that morning, she was having a good day so after she had eaten breakfast she asked Paul to pass her the Mahogany filigree jewelry box.

It was a very precious object to her, not valuable in monetary terms, but precious nonetheless, it was the very first Christmas gift he gave her, and she treasured it, and she often told Paul it was her most prized possession, after him.

As he handed it to her she smiled and just for a second there was a glimpse of her loveliness shining through the pain and she patted the bed and bad him sit next to her and as he sat on the bed next to her she took his hand and said quietly.

“I have to say this to you today because I’m having a good day and I don’t know how many good days I’ve got left”

“Don’t be silly” he protested, and she squeezed his hand and then gave him a look which said that he knew very well that she wasn’t.

Linda carefully opened her jewelry box and from a draw within it she took out a neatly folded embroidered handkerchief which she placed on her lap and carefully unfolded it to reveal that inside were a dozen capsules containing her medication.

Linda looked at him with her soulful eyes pleading with him and as the realization of what she was asking sank in Paul violently shook his head.

On her good days she had salted away some of her medication until she now had enough to hasten the end and she squeezed his hand again and said

“Please do this for me”

She explained that she didn’t want him to do it right there and then she just wanted him to agree to do it when the time came, but that that time would be very soon.

“It’s the only gift you can give me this Christmas” Linda asked looking in to his eyes and then he added

“I love you more than anything in the world and I know with all my heart that you love me”

Paul could say nothing as the tears welled up in his eyes.

“Please do this thing for me” she pleaded, and his heart was breaking at the choice he had to make, let her suffer an agonizing conclusion to her life or end her suffering and kill her.

“I just can’t do it” he said through the tears and got up and left the room, she didn’t call after him because she knew he would be back, so with tears streaming down his face he grabbed his coat and went out the front door and went for a walk.

The day was cold, grey and damp and clouds scudded across the December sky and any hint of the promised sunny intervals in the forecast were not in evidence, it was the kind of day that chilled you to the bone, but he didn’t feel the cold at all, he just felt numb.

You had to be alive to feel the cold and he was dying inside, and he walked for miles under the grey skies along the woodland paths they used to walk together, his mind in turmoil his eyes red with tears.

If he did what she wanted he would lose her forever, the loss of her would be devastating, but not to let her go would just be selfish.

Paul’s head was spinning, and he didn’t know which way to turn, images of their happy moments together swam in and out of focus, then as he walked into a clearing in the woods where they once made love on a sultry afternoon, there was a sudden break in the clouds and the woods were bathed in winter sunshine and all at once he knew what he must do and hurried homeward.

When he returned to the house Paul went straight to her bedside where she was sleeping, so he sat in the chair at her bedside and rested his head on the bed beside her then he felt her hand gently stroking his hair.

Paul sat up and her hand moved to his cheek, so he took it in his own paw and kissed it softly and then said

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do”

 

A week later Christmas had past and he was glad of it, it was without doubt the worst Christmas of his life, full of tears and sadness instead of happiness and laughter

There was no wondrous Christmas feast, no table laden with Christmas delights, no hearty laughter or light-hearted banter, just an endless stream of visitors, friends and family, as cheery as was possible, putting on a brave face as they all came with forced smiles to bring the season’s greetings, but all leaving with tears, knowing that Linda would not see the spring.

Paul tried not to be ungrateful, but every visit ate into the precious time Linda and he had left but he knew how important it was to Linda to see everyone and say goodbye.

Even the doctor called in to make sure she was comfortable and in between visits Paul would sit watching the needles dropping from the tree as if each dropping needle symbolized Linda’s plight.

And as he sat alone in his favorite armchair on New Year’s Eve staring at the pine needles scattered beneath the tree he tried to come to terms with the fact that Linda would die with the old year.

Since Christmas Eve when she made her request of him, Linda had been in good spirits, she had seen everyone in the world that mattered to her and said all the things she needed to say so Linda had decided that morning, that enough was enough.

Paul tried to remain cheerful for her, but she could see through it

“I know you’re hurting too” she said, the pain etched in her face and with that they made their plans for their last day together.

 

Firstly, Paul phoned the nurse and told her she should have the night off to enjoy the New Year’s Eve celebrations with her family and she was very grateful and accepted his explanation without question.

After that he filled the room with lighted candles and in the flickering light Linda and he spent the evening together looking at photographs and reliving the great times of their life together and played the music that formed the soundtrack of their shared life then an hour before midnight she handed him the folded handkerchief.

He opened it and inside were now close to twenty capsules, and one by one he broke them open and emptied the contents into a wine glass and when he was finished he filled the glass with Port and gave it a stir and put the glass on the bedside table before sitting on the bed.

Paul took her hand and kissed it and leant forward and kissed her mouth and started to say good bye, but she put her hand to his mouth, so he reached over and picked up the glass and held it up to her lips and she took a drink, then a little more and a little more until the glass was empty and he wiped her mouth with the hanky and she burped and then she laughed that wonderful laugh that he loved so much.

The candles sputtered, and the flames flickered and then squeezing his hand she said

“I love you so very much”

“I love you too” Paul said as he sat holding her hand in his and then they just sat in silence looking at each other in the candle light until her eyes closed.

The Village clock began chiming the hour and her hand went limp and her breathing became shallow and then all the pain in her face was suddenly gone as the clock chimed twelve, marking the passing of the old year and unknowingly marked Linda’s passing. 

He couldn’t have said how long he sat there holding her dead hand with the tears streaming down his face, but as he sat there he knew what had to be done.

Paul poured himself a large whisky and sat in his favorite armchair where he wrote a long letter explaining what he had done, and what he was about to do.

With the letter written he put it into an envelope and placed it on the mantelpiece where it would be easily found, then he drank his whisky and reached into his pocket and removed the contents, placing them on his lap.

He filled the syringe with the insulin he had stolen from the doctor’s bag the day before and injected himself with the full syringe and as his eyes grew heavy he could feel Linda’s hand on his shoulder and felt her fingers in his hair and as he drifted into a coma she whispered

“I love you” in his ear as his eyes closed.

When they opened again he couldn’t believe what he saw, it was a place that was familiar to him, it was Millmoor as it was more than 50 years earlier and it was snowing, and the street was full of happy smiling people and there among them was Linda, larger than life, vivacious and self-assured covered with snowflakes and laughing.

It was his snow angel, his Christmas Linda with snow covering her like sugar on a doughnut, a delicious confection he would have gladly consumed, wrapped up against the cold in a red woolen hat and coat and a long-knitted scarf draped about her neck.

Still laughing, she shook her head and the light brown hair that hung beneath her hat danced about her shoulders and the snowflakes fell away from her soft curls only to be replaced by fresh ones.

There was a rosy redness on her cheeks almost matching the hue of her coat and she was young again, they were both young again and they had gone back 55 years to the scene of their first embrace.  

Linda threw herself at him and she hugged him so tightly and he smelled her hair as he held onto her and was intoxicated by her scent which over whelmed him.

They were stood at the taxi rank and snow fell onto Linda’s soft curls as they took their place in the queue and they kissed.

All too soon a taxi arrived, as it had done 55 years earlier, but this time they both got in and through the winter wonderland they departed, this time never to be parted again.

 

 

 

Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (95) The Ice Breaker

The fortunes of Shallowfield had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.

In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived, and the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.

Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t been were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.

But by the 70s things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time.

More importantly these people had money in their pockets.

This trend was reflected by the fact that the derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, was being turned into a hotel.

Its completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and the revival of the busy village of Shallowfield went hand in hand.

 

One of those houses that was just hanging on was Chapel House which was the family home of the Walker family and although only the older members of the Walker clan lived in the large rambling pile year round it was were the family gathered in numbers for special occasions and of course Christmas.

Among those drawn back to Teardrop Lake each year were the four Walker girls, sister’s Jane, Kathy, Margaret and the baby of the family, Liz.

And over the years the numbers grew with the addition of boyfriends, husbands and then for the older two girls, children.

And it was on the whole a very loving family and among their number were Paul Biggerstaff and Liz Bradshaw but they felt love of a very different kind.

The problem was they were not a couple, they were married however, just not to each other, and they were in fact brother and sister in law.

Paul had been married to Liz’s sister Margaret for over four years and they had been in love with each other for all of those and their mutual attraction was obvious to them both from the first moment they were introduced, but they knew instinctively that they could never act on it.

And for over four years they kept their feelings in check, at least until Christmas in 1970.

 

They managed to avoid each other most of the previous year, apart from the summer holiday and Christmas.

Because they kept each other at arm’s length they appeared standoffish to the rest of the family but appearances can be deceptive and beneath the surface they were in turmoil.

Because of what appeared to be an intense dislike of each other the rest of the family took great delight in pushing them together just to watch them squirm.

One afternoon after Liz had helped clear away the dinner dishes she had just exited the kitchen into the hall when she met Paul coming the opposite way, they paused not knowing which way to go when Aunty Vi pointed out quite loudly

“You’re under the mistletoe”

“You have to kiss” Aunt Edith added “its and bad luck not to”

“It’s actually against the law not to” Aunty Vi chipped in

“What law?” Liz asked

“Christmas law obviously” Aunty Vi replied

“Rubbish” Paul said

“Tosh” Liz agreed but by now the rest of the family and gathered and they spontaneously started chanting

“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss”

Delighting in their discomfiture without understanding its nature.

Eventually with no escape Paul and Liz agreed to kiss, just to shut everyone up, and no one understood why they made such a palaver about one simple peck beneath the mistletoe, which was hoped might break the ice between them.

 

Once the crowd had dispersed, Paul and Liz went their separate ways and independently decided to assuage their embarrassment by overindulging in mulled wine, amongst other things.

 

Later that afternoon when those members of the family who had not decided on an afternoon constitutional, were asleep beside the roaring log fire, Liz drained her glass and tottered to the loo and when she emerged she met Paul walking towards her also slightly the worse for drink.

They paused in the middle of the hall and looked at each other

“Look!” she slurred pointing above her head “Mistletoe”

“Yes it is” he agreed

“We’re under the mistletoe” she slurred again “And you know what that means”

“We have to kiss” he responded “it would be bad luck not to”

“It’s actually against the law not to” She added superciliously

“Well if its Christmas law and its Christmas then we must” he concurred

So she stood on tip toe to face him and puckered up and gave him a Christmas kiss and as her lips touched his it was evident that it was so much more than a Christmas kiss or even a drunken expression of their lust.

The kiss lasted for a full ten minutes and might easily have gone on for another ten had they not heard the family return from their walk.

Fortunately they were loud and boisterous which gave the kissing couple time to go their separate ways unnoticed.

 

When they reflected on it later the nature of the kiss had surprised them both, once they started they didn’t want to stop, but stop they did, it was not just a perfect Christmas kiss, it was perfect on every level, and having broken the ice with a kiss, they wanted to repeat it.

But the next morning in the cold, sober, light of day, they felt guilty, really, really guilty, but not just for weakening, the guilt came because the kiss revealed that they were not just attracted by naked lust, after the kiss they realised it was love, so they avoided each other for the rest of the week.

 

They had both decided they would not get drunk in case they let their guard down on New Year’s Eve and kissed again.

But about half an hour before midnight they met again in the hall and there was a nervous tension accompanying them because it was the sight of their perfect kiss, a kiss which could easily have led to something else, and would certainly have gone on had they not been interrupted.

“Here we are again at the scene of the crime” he said trying to make light

“Do you mean the kiss?” she asked and he nodded

“I do”

“It was some kiss” she added wistfully

“Yes it was” he agreed and then they both stood looking around awkwardly, lost in remembrance of the kiss seven days before.

“It was only a drunken snog though” she said

“Do you think it was just the mulled wine then?” he asked

“Probably” Liz replied indifferently

“It might be nice to know for sure” Paul said after a moment’s thought

“Like an experiment?”

“Yes, just so” he agreed

“Well I suppose in the interest of science I suppose we could”

 She replied and like she had done the week before she stood on tip toe and touched her lips to his and the experimental kiss began.

It was a long kiss, a hot kiss, a passionate kiss and overall a perfect kiss, even more perfect than the previous one, a kiss against which every kiss that followed would be compared to.

After five minutes they heard a door open but this time neither of them were in any mood to stop so they just relocated to the boot room and kissed again.

That New Year’s Eve experiment proved two things conclusively, firstly that the drunken snog was not made perfect by the alcohol but by the participants and secondly that they were hopelessly in love.

Mornington-By-Mere – (95) The Unexpected Gift

 

When the Mornington Estate exercised its option to purchase Mornington Field from the MOD it also acquired all the buildings and infrastructure on the airfield itself as well as 29 houses in the village formally used as quarters for military personnel.

The buildings on the airfield itself were converted into commercial premise while the former married quarters were made available to rent and the Vineyard family moved into number 17 Military Row on the 18^th of December 2014 but Donna Vineyard was the only one still there five Christmas’ later but she shared the house with her boyfriend David Smith.

They were both hard working 30 years old’s, Donna at the Digitize Image Lab up at Mornington Field and David farmed up at Smithfield’s Farm with his family.

That year it was Donna and David’s turn to play hosts to the parents for Christmas dinner, which Donna achieved with great aplomb.

But after dinner, when the table was cleared away and the dishwasher was loaded, it was time for present giving, and this Donna didn’t take in her stride, and that was because she didn’t really like receiving unknown Christmas Presents.

Donna preferred to either get money or have already selected the gift and instructed the giver, or preferably she would actually buy it herself and then give it to the presenter for them to wrap.

That way she avoided having to employ one of the stock phrases for responding to the Christmas present she would rather not have received.

Her comment’s included,

“Thanks a lot”,

“My word! What a gift”,

“You shouldn't have”

And “Wow”

Or “Well, well, well”

She would have liked to have been facetious but she loved Christmas too much to say something like

“If I had put on 4 stones it would have fitted me perfectly”,

“It's lovely, but I'm worried about the jealousy it may create”,

“Just my luck to get this, on the Christmas I promised to give all my gifts to charity”

Or “Unfortunately, I am about to enter MI5's Witness Protection programme”

So imagine her dismay when her boyfriend of five years presented her with an unexpected gift in front of all the assembled family.

“Oh I’ll open that later” she said “let someone else go next “

But they all insisted she open it and inside she was seething, but externally she had to adopt a calmer stance and David knew precisely what was going on behind the façade and smiled at her discomfiture as he put the gift box in her hand as she sat down on the chair.

It was a box about the size of a bag of sugar and painfully aware that all eyes were on her she pulled the ribbon which undid the bow, then she removed the lid to reveal a smaller similarly wrapped package which she removed and smiled with gritted teeth.

David knew that parcels within parcels were another one of Donna’s pet hates, which is why he did it.

So she again pulled the ribbon which undid the bow, then she removed the lid to reveal another smaller similarly wrapped package.

This was repeated twice more before she held a small bundle wrapped in tissue which, urged on by the spectators, she began to unwrap, and the only audible sound was that of Donnas teeth grinding.

But finally the last layer had been conquered and everyone expected one of her stock response’s but instead there was just silence, even the grinding of teeth had desisted because her mouth was open as she stared at the item at the centre of the unfolded tissue paper, which was a platinum set solitaire diamond engagement ring.

No one else in the room could see it so they weren’t entirely sure what was going on until David asked

“So Donna Vineyard, will you marry me?”

 

LONELY CHRISTMAS

 

The room is full

Of good friends

And loving family

But I’m still lonely

 

There is laughter

Happiness and jollity

Kindness in abundance

But I’m still sad

 

There is warmth

In the familiar smiles

And in the tender hugs

But I’m still cold

 

I continue to be lonely

I continue to be sad

I continue to be cold

Because you’re not here

GLASS DECORATIONS ON THE TREE

 

Glass Decorations on the tree

Candy canes of red and white

Tinsel sparkles delightfully

And reflects the coloured light

A garland graces the mantel

With boughs of fresh cut holly

Mistletoe is hopefully hung

To steal a kiss from Molly

Snippets of Downshire Life – Feast of St Stephen

 

In the north of Downshire is the old market Town of Nettlebridge which was quainter and more peaceful than its neighbour Nettlefield, which was a Military Town whereas Nettlebridge prospered from the sheep and wool trade, which is evidenced by the road names,  Sheepfold Street, Woolsack Lane and Shepherds Bridge, and this trade had historically generated a great deal of wealth, and it was also the village where the family home of the Porthnall’s was which was where the family were expected to return to for Christmas.

There were four daughters in the family Julie, May, April and June, the older two were married and had been in Nettlebridge since the schools broke up for the Christmas Holidays but the younger pair couldn’t get there until Boxing Day because they were both Nurses at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford and were both on duty on Christmas Day.

         

April and June lived together and were as different as chalk and cheese, June was tall, slim and blonde while April was shorter and brunette, in fact the only things they had in common were blue eyes, a surname, a profession, and a taste in men, in every other way they differed, and the best way to sum them up would be to say that April had a heart and a brain whereas June possessed neither.

 

They set off from Abbottsford at the crack of dawn after June’s boyfriend Dave Hicks pick them up from the hospital, he was medium height, black hair, gypsy eyes, a kind heart and April loved him.

As the sisters had been on duty all night they slept all the way to Nettlebridge and when they arrived, refreshed by a few hours’ sleep, they found there was a house full at the Porthnall’s and a great day followed, a huge family dinner and plenty of wine and as they were staying the night they all got a bit merry, apart from June who got hammered after gorging herself.

It was a big house but even so a reshuffle on the accommodation front was required, due to their mother’s insistence that June and Dave sleep in separate rooms, because their mother was a good Christian woman and didn’t believe in that kind of thing.

The result of the reshuffle meant that Dave shared the spare room with Cousin James while April was forced to endure her sisters’ constant drunken snoring and farting as they each slept on a sofa in the lounge.

April found it difficult to drop off, partly because of June and her horrendous snoring, but also because her head was full of images of her sister’s boyfriend.

After tossing and turning for about an hour her attempts to drop off were further frustrated by an acute need to pee so she got up and tiptoed her way upstairs to the loo.

April was yawning as she left the bathroom and stepped back onto the landing not really paying attention to what she was doing and subsequently bumped into David coming the other way, who wrapped his arms around her and carried her back into the bathroom where he planted a passionate, sensual kiss on her lips.

“We shouldn’t be doing this” she said coming up for air

“Why? You were enjoying it” Dave said and kissed her anew

“That’s not the point” she protested

“So, you admit you were enjoying it” he said “so let’s do it again”

“We mustn’t” April insisted and opened some distance between them

“But it’s really nice” He said wistfully

“I know but we can’t be doing it anymore” she said indignantly

“I know you like me” he continued as he leant against the door

“I’ve seen you looking at me when you think no one’s looking”

“Ah” she exclaimed and sat down on the loo.

David had been going out with June for about three months and April fell in love with him the instant she brought him home.

But the thought never crossed her mind to do anything about it, she had a strong moral compass and you didn’t do things like that, it wasn’t cricket, even if her sister didn’t deserve him.

So, she just worshipped him from afar.

“I’m sorry” she said

“Why are you sorry?” David asked

“For being too weak” she replied “I had no right to fall for you”

“I don’t think you’re weak” David said “Far from it, a weak person wouldn’t have stopped me kissing them”

“Maybe” she conceded

“Your sister wouldn’t have stopped” he added

“I’m not my sister” she pointed out

“I realize that only too well” he said and stepped forward

“I’d better go, but this is for Christmas” he said and kissed her gently

“Merry Christmas”

 

April went back downstairs and tried to sleep but she found it even more difficult after her encounter with David, than she did before.

“This is a real Christmas surprise” she thought as he lay wide awake with only her sisters snoring for company.

When June rolled over onto her side she let out a ripping fart, which was as a result of her skinny body trying to deal with all the food and drink she shoved into it during the course of the day.

A minute or so later a cloud of noxious gas drifted over April and was so foul she decided to leave the room and take sanctuary in the kitchen.

 

She walked out into the hall and turned towards the kitchen and just as he reached the kitchen door a voice from behind said 

“Hello again”

She turned around to see David sitting on the stairs.

“Hi David” she said, “Are you stalking me?”

“Would you mind?” he asked

“No comment, do you want a drink?” she said and went into the kitchen and David followed on behind.

 

She made the drinks and sat down at the table opposite him.

“So, you can’t sleep either then” she said

“I’m afraid not”

“Something on your mind” April asked

“Something” he agreed but didn’t elaborate so she didn’t pursue it any further.

But after five minutes he asked

“Would you go out with me if I wasn’t spoken for?”

“If you weren’t going out with June I’d go out with you in a heartbeat”

She replied

“Why?” David added

“Why would I go out with you?” she said

“Where do I start? Your hair, your eyes, your smile, your laugh but most of all your heart”

David gave her a dazzling smile when she had finished her catalogue and said

“I’ve broken up with her”

“What?” April asked

“We broke up” he replied

“When?”

“Last week”

“But why?”

“Well partly because she’s been seeing my best friend Kenny” he replied “or my ex best friend Kenny I should say”

“Was she?” April asked in disbelief

“You didn’t know then?”

“No, I didn’t, honestly” she said “she wouldn’t tell me something like that because she knows I’d disapprove”

“No, that’s because you are a better human being” David said proudly

“I don’t know about that” April said, “What was the rest of the reason?”

“What?”

“You said June and Kenny was only part of the reason”

“Oh yes I see” he said “well mostly I broke up with her because she’s not you”

April couldn’t believe her ears, did those words really come out of his mouth, it wasn’t possible that he was really attracted to her.

“So, if you broke up with her last week why did you still come today?” she asked

“Because you’re here” he replied and walked around the table, bent down and kissed her.

It was a long and lingering kiss and when it was over she enjoyed it so much she was feeling guilty.

“Does June know?”

“Yes” he said eager to resume

“So why didn’t she say something?” he asked “she’s rubbish at keeping secrets”

“Because I told her I’d send the nude selfie she’d sent me to all my friends if she didn’t, especially if it spoiled my chances with you” he replied and kissed her again before she could speak anymore.

The prolonged kiss showed no sign of abating until a voice said

“What’s going on in here then?”

It was Cousin James who David was sharing the spare room with.

“He’s just wishing me a Happy Christmas?” April said

“Result” James remarked as he poured himself a glass of water and then added

“I’ll leave you two alone”

“Good because I want to wish her a Happy New Year now” David replied

“I think that’s a given” April said

 

They left Nettlebridge shortly after lunch the next day and had a clear run back to Abbottsford.

David was driving and April rode shotgun while a rather fragile June sat in the back and judging by the aromas emanating from back there it was obvious her digestinal tract was still processing the garbage she consumed the previous day.

It was a very quiet and uneventful journey home with all of them lost in their own thoughts.

Aprils were quite philosophical as she pondered the difference a day makes, on the journey up she was envious of her sister and felt guilty for the way she looked at David, while on the way back she couldn’t stop smiling and looked like the cat that got the cream, which of course she had.

Snippets of Downshire Life – Boxing Day

 

In the small but thriving English county of Downshire people go about the tasks of their everyday existence in ways that range from the mundane to the extraordinary as their forebears had done for centuries before, in the varied and diverse landscape, from the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, to the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and the short but beautiful coastline to the east.

But our story is set in and around Turnoak-Under-Hawthorne, a large rambling village, originally settled in the 12^th century on the sparsely wooded slopes on the Northern fringe of the Finchbottom Vale about 5 miles from Purplemere, and it was everything you would expect from a Downshire Village.

It was the village where the Higgins and Hewer families lived next door to each other and the families should have been tied by the marriage of Helen and Neil, but instead of a joining of the two families they were split apart when Helen ran away, and two years passed before the couple met again, on Boxing Day.

Neither knew that the other would be in the village on that day and they were both taken aback when they bumped into each other at the Hen and Chickens, he was on the way up the steps and she on the way out, and they stood there as the snow fell and minutes past before either spoke, but it was Neil who broke the silence.

“I’ve really missed you”

She seemed both surprised and pleased by the revelation and he wondered if she had heard him correctly or if it was just whatever she’d been drinking having an effect on her processing ability,

“I’m sorry” she replied

“Why did you go?” he asked “I never understood why you left”

“I had to” she replied earnestly

“But why??” he asked

“Because I was scared” Helen confessed

“Scared?” he asked aghast

“Yes” 

“Of what?” Neil asked angrily

“Marriage” She admitted

“So, all you had to say was no” he said and then there was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes as the snow began to fall faster but then she said

“I thought it was for the best”

“It wasn’t the best for me, or you” he said and turned and began to walk away and Helen followed him

“Let me explain” Helen said as she trotted behind him, but he ignored her and pressed on across the car park towards the road, but she caught up with him as he stopped to allow a car to complete its maneuver.

“I made a mistake” she said from behind him and he span round on her

“I realised almost immediately” she continued

“So why didn’t you come back?”

“I didn’t know how” she said and fell in to his arms

“So, you just made us both unhappy” he said gently

“Yes” she replied, and Helen began to cry

“Don’t cry honey” he said

When he imagined them meeting again he hadn’t expected to see that side of her, vulnerable, that was a different girl to the one who had run away, she wasn’t vulnerable or unsure of herself on that day.  

So, when she looked up at him through tear filled eyes he kissed her, a kiss they had both longed for, and dreamt of for two years.