Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (99) Clandestine Christmas

Daryl Bodle had a mission to fulfill but it was a clandestine affair that could only be undertaken in the early hours of the morning.

This in itself was not an issue for him as he was a nurse so he was used to late night activity.

He arrived home from work just after 9 o’clock, showered and changed and then ate supper of cheese and biscuits following which he fell asleep during Match of the Day.

The alarm on his phone woke him up at 2.45am, so he stretched and got up from his chair, went for a pee and set off.

 

His destination was the Funny Bones comedy club in Childean and his target was Sarah Hanratty, who was also a night owl as she was the owner and manager.

Sarah was a very stern looking young woman with short brown hair with gold framed spectacle’s which she liked to peer over the top of and because she rarely smiled she was considered to be a joyless person, and as her habit was to dress in black she was known as the

“The Wicked Witch of the West”.

Some people considered it a little ironic that a sour faced old spinster should own and manage a comedy club.

But it was only the people who didn’t really know her who called her derogatory names and thought her sour faced and joyless.

 

He drove into the car park and walked round the back of the building to Ms. Hanratty’s office and he looked through the barred window and saw her sitting at her desk with her back to the glass.

She was counting the night’s takings and he smiled to himself as he thought how much she looked like Scrooge in his counting house.

It would have been a good night, being Saturday night and Christmas Eve.

 

On previous visits he had let himself in the staff entrance however since they had a break in at Halloween they had tightened up on security and now employed a biometric system requiring the staff member’s thumbprint so on that occasion as he was expected he just tapped on her barred office window.

Despite the fact that his visit was not a surprise he nonetheless startled her because she almost jumped out of her chair, which she then swung around so she could check out the source of the tapping.

When she saw it was him her stern face relaxed into a smile and she began to fuss with her hair.

Daryl pointed in the direction of the staff entrance and she nodded her understanding.

As he stood outside the door he looked through the small glass panel as Sarah appeared in the corridor and she clearly wasn’t aware he could see her, because she began straightening her clothes and when she was about ten yards from the door she hitched up her skirt and adjusted her stocking tops.

He stepped away from the door as she opened it and once inside he said

“Happy Christmas Miss Hanratty, how are you?”

“All the better now that you’re here” she said and stood on tiptoe to kiss him

“Are you done?” he asked

“I am, I just need to put the cash in the safe” she replied “and then we can go home”

“I like the sound of that” he said and kissed her

Ten minutes later after locking the takings in the safe and setting the alarm they drove to Shallowfield and spent their first Christmas together.

Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (27) Better the Devil You Know

 

It was mid-September when recent divorcee’s Matthew Charlton and Emily Waugh moved into Flat’s 3 and 4, respectively of East Cliff Lodge, overlooking the picturesque Teardrop Lake.

The view of the water from their flats was spectacular with its distinctive teardrop shape which gave the lake its name surrounded by the ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest.

It was a modest body of water as lakes go, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point, it really was a thing of beauty and was both idyllic and peaceful.

 

Matt was 32 years old with neatly styled brown wavy hair, brown eyes and a well-groomed close cropped beard.

Emily was five years younger than him and was best described as diminutive at 4’ 11”, with shoulder length brown hair streaked with red and gold.

 

They had moved there because after the divorce they both wanted to start new lives, in an entirely different part of the county.

Also they had both been heavily influenced by friends who had recommended Teardrop Lake as the perfect place to begin again.

But fate definitely took a hand.

They only discovered their collective error when Matt knocked on Emily’s door to introduce himself.

Only a few months before he knocked on her door they had still been married to each other.

They divorced, not due to a lack of love but, but a lack of conflict.

Apparently he was too enabling,

He wasn’t assertive enough,

He was too accommodating, in short he was too nice.

Though he didn’t think it was true that he was too easy going, it was just that he didn’t care whether they went on holiday to the Greek islands or to Cyprus, he knew he would enjoy either.

It was true he had no strong opinion on the colour of the lounge carpet, the style of sofa or whether the walls should be papered or painted.

If he’d had an opinion he would have put her straight.

Choices mattered to Emily so he let her make them.

 

Over the weeks that followed their re acquaintance there were a number of chance encounters between them that led to an increase in animosity which culminated in the decisive meeting on Halloween.

 

It was at the big fancy dress party at Forest Lodge to which everyone on the Lake was invited, as well as some from Shallowfield.

It was the home of Peter Lutchford, and mine host was dressed as Herman Munster and his fiancé Claire Andrews, who was a Doctor, was dressed as Lily Munster and Peter’s actress sister Amanda Flanders was dressed as a witch, her brother Peter thought was type casting.

 

It was a marvelous occasion and everyone had a wonderful time and although they didn’t know it at the time, due to its popularity it would become an annual event.

 

Emily was dressed in a monkey costume, the only costume she had ever tried that fitted her perfectly, so it was the only thing she ever wore.

But for variety she would accessorized it for the occasion.

She did so for Halloween by adding Vampire teeth and a cape and she went as a Vampire Monkey.

Matt on the other hand had the pick of the costumers’ and went to the party dressed as Satan.

It was almost inevitable that it should happen so late on in the evening they bumped into each other again.

 

It was while he was in the conservatory.

“Oh God not you again” she said “Are you stalking me?”

“Oh lighten up Emily” he retorted having had just enough to drink to not take her seriously.

“Lighten up? Lighten up?” she exclaimed all shrill “everywhere I go you’re there”

“Perhaps there’s a reason for that” he said “maybe the universe is trying to tell us something”

“No its not” she snapped “it’s not the Gods nor is it fate or providence and any other bloody superstition, it’s just bad luck”

“I think its serendipity” he said

“Oh shut up and take me home” she barked

“No” he replied and poured himself another drink

“Then call me a cab” she said

“Call your own bloody cab” Matt said and laughed

“Charming” she said “you used to do things for me”

“Yes I did and you called me a door mat and divorced me so if you need a bloody taxi, call it yourself” he said

“My father warned me about you” Emily said coldly

“It’s funny you should mention your father” He said

“He gave me some great advice on our wedding day, he said “Emily is my only daughter and I love her with all my heart, but she can be a selfish little cow, when she was little a spanked arse did the trick, it might still””

“You wouldn’t dare raise a hand to me and you’re not man enough to put me across your knee” she said and laughed in his face and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

He took her by the wrist and pulled her across his knee.

 

Peter and Claire walked into the kitchen laughing and Amanda said

“What’s so funny?”

“We just saw Satan spanking the monkey in the conservatory” Peter said

“Eww that’s disgusting” Amanda said

“No, it’s not like that” Claire said

“There’s a girl in a monkey suit and she’s being spanked by Satan”

“It still sounds dirty to me” Amanda said.

 

With the first slap on her plump cheek she wriggled and protested but the protestations were short lived

“I should have taken your fathers advice and done this years ago” he said and gave her another good spank.

When he had finished spanking her she had long since finished protesting he stood her up and said

“Now I’ll take you home”

“Ok” she said meekly, rubbing her buttock with one hand and holding his hand with the other.

 

That night Matt took her home, but not to hers, he took her to his and from that moment on they were effectively together again.

Over the following weeks they jointly decided how to decorate and re-carpet and then they moved everything of hers into his flat, their flat.

 

It came as a bit of a shock to their friends that they were back together but on the whole, everyone was pleased.

Although there was some hostility from both sets of parents.

But they were happy, and they settled down to a pleasant life together on the Lake.

 

For New Year’s Eve, Matt and Emily had been invited to another fancy dress party this time at the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel.

Unfortunately just after lunch Emily started to feel the effects of a migraine coming on and decided not to go to the party, but she didn’t want to spoil Matt’s fun so she insisted he should go on his own.

“No it’s alright” he protested

“You must go” Emily said

“I’m really not fussed about going” he said “I’ll have a quiet night in”

“Nonsense, you must go”

“But…” he protested

But she wouldn’t take no for an answer and she made him promise.

“Ok I promise I’ll go” he gave in and then she went to bed.

 

About six hours later Emily woke up and was surprised to discover the headache had gone.

So, she got up and had a long relaxing soak in the bath and as she wallowed in the scented water she made a decision, she would go to the party after all and surprise her husband.

She got out of the bath tub and dried herself and dusted her skin with powder.

Emily slipped on her sexiest silk underwear and then the monkey costume which she accessorised with a Santa hat and some Led lights.

Then she jumped in the car and drove to the Lodge.

It was fairly close to midnight when she pulled into the car park and found a space.

Having parked she rushed off to find Matt so they could see in the New Year in together.

 

It didn't take her long to spot Matt in his Devils outfit, he was on the dance floor with a very leggy Cat Woman.

Emily was just about to go and cut in when the music changed and James Blunt started warbling out “Beautiful”

And the Devil moved in close to Cat Woman and then they wrapped their arms around each other’s necks and began kissing, very passionately, very passionately indeed.

Emily didn’t stay for the midnight countdown, she just ran out to the car sobbing and once she got to the car she broke down completely.

When she had finished crying she wiped her face on the sleeve of her costume and drove home and when she go inside she went to bed where she cried some more.

Emily couldn’t sleep and just lay there in the darkness, rerunning the picture of her satanic husband with his tongue down Cat woman’s throat.

It was about 1.30am when she heard the front door open and close and it was a few minutes later that the bedroom door opened quietly.

Emily lay silently in the darkness until he slipped into bed.

"Did you have a nice time?" she asked

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you” he said and kissed her forehead

“I bet you didn’t” she thought to herself but out loud she said

“So did you have a good time?”

"It was okay" he replied

"Only okay?” she pressed “Didn’t you enjoy the dancing?"

“You know I’m not much of a dancer” he said

“Well you seemed to be doing ok when I last saw you” she said inside her own head

“So you didn’t get carried along with the excitement?” she said and there was no response

“I have a confession to make” he said

“Oh God here it comes” she screamed in her head

"I didn't go” Matt said and braced himself

“What?” Emily retorted feeling the anger building, it was bad enough him kissing another woman in front of their friends and neighbours but now he was lying to her on top of his betrayal

“I know I promised Hun but I really didn’t fancy going without you”

“So where have you been all this time?” Emily asked

“I met up with Danny and Penny at their place and we had a few drinks and a catch up.

Danny Pellegrino was an old friend, who he’d known from Art School, who had recommended Teardrop Lake.

He said he had found happiness and love there only that summer and couldn’t speak highly enough of the place.  

“Dan’s cousin Josh pitched up unannounced and he was the only one who fancied going to the party, so I leant him my costume” he explained “are you really cross with me?”

“So you didn’t go to the Lodge and snog Cat Woman?”

“What? No” he replied and was prevented from speaking again as Emily was kissing him.

Snippets of Downshire Life – New Year’s Eve

 

Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, 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, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south, to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the North and it’s in leafy Roespring where our story takes place on New Year’s Eve.

 

Quiet and thoughtful Fifty year old widow Matthew Simpson was spending New Year’s Eve alone in his Victorian Cottage, for a number of reasons, the first of which being that he wasn’t big on the whole New Year’s concept and it wasn’t a time that held any deep significance for him.

Secondly he was normally feeling more than a little jaded by the time it arrived and this year, after overindulging quite spectacularly over Christmas, he was even more so.

But the final and most significant reason was because he had lost his heart to someone who was, he was sure, unlikely to return his love, as she had a younger much more attractive man dancing attendance on her, and although he was due to attend the New Year’s Eve Ball, where she would also be present, he declined the invitation as being so close to her, especially in all her party splendour, would have been too hard for him to bear.

The object of his affection was Penelope Van Der Velden, also widowed, but she was three years younger than he and she was bubbly and vivacious, so Matthew was resigned to the fact that it was not to be, so he settled down to a quite evening on his own.

He had his laptop to hand and spent about an hour writing emails to friends and family, which he left as drafts to send after Big Ben struck twelve.

The rest of the time he watched TV and picked at any and all of the nibbles within reach of his comfy chair.

By ten o’clock he was a little bored with the New Year’s Eve offerings on TV and about an hour later he decided to put on a DVD and was just returning to his chair when the doorbell rang.

Matthew had no idea who it might be, he certainly wasn’t expecting anyone.

 

When he opened the door he was surprised to see the diminutive figure of Penelope Van Der Velden standing on the doorstep in full evening wear and over her shoulder he could see a taxi pulling away.

“Hello” he said with genuine surprise

“Hello Darling” Penny said, “Can I come in? It’s bloody freezing”

“Of course, of course” he said fussily “come in, come in”

Once inside she slipped off her stole and walked through to the lounge and he thought she looked absolutely gorgeous in a full-length magenta evening dress.

“Lead me to the wine” Penny said “I’m gasping”

He led the way to the kitchen and opened the fridge and took out an open bottle of wine.

Then he took two large wine glasses from the cupboard and filled them both generously then handed one of them to her.

“Thank you darling” she said and took a large slurp and then they proceeded to the lounge.

Matt followed her along the hall and had another chance to admire her form encapsulated in her evening dress.

As usual she was perfectly accessorized with long elbow length gloves, and clutch purse etcetera, and knowing what a classy lady she was he imagined her to be fully accessorized under the dress as well.

“You’re a bit overdressed for my humble abode” he observed.

“I know” Penny said as she sat down “I was going to the New Year Ball but…”

“But?” he asked

“I couldn’t face everyone quizzing me about Owen”

“About what?” he quizzed, fearing the worst.

“He told everyone that we were a couple, and very much in love” she replied, “and that we were moving in together”

“And you’re not?” he asked hopefully

“No we’re bloody not” Penny said definitely “But people believed him, how could they think that, why on earth would I do such a thing?”

“Well he’s a good looking man, a very athletic man” Matt said

“Yes he is both of those” she agreed “but he’s also a boy”

“He doesn’t look much like a boy to me” he said

“None the less, he is” she corrected him “It’s flattering of course, to have a young stud pay me some attention, but a physical relationship with someone like that, on tap 24-7 would probably kill me”

Penny laughed at the thought and then continued

“It would probably be like Zumba and Pilates combined, and would send me to an early grave”

She was laughing again while Matthew digested the information that there had been no physicality between them.

“He did however open my eyes and show me that I’m still an attractive woman, still a sexy woman”

“I could have told you that” Matthew said a little to definitely, which didn’t go unnoticed by Penny as she continued

“My husband didn’t appreciate that, and I need to be with someone who sees me the way that you do”

Matt raised his eyebrows and she laughed and then said

“I’m not just here because I couldn’t face the Ball” 

“Oh” he said and Penny was giggling and blushing as she slipped out of her seat and knelt on the floor in front of him, and when she had slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him to the accompaniment of Big Ben chiming and Penny kissed him from one year to the next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snippets of Downshire Life – Old Year’s Night

 

Downshire is a relatively small English county but that didn’t bother its inhabitants, they may not have been the biggest but they were in no doubt that it was the best.

And that belief was no more truer than in the southern town off Abbottsford which was Downshire’s administrative capital and the seat of the Downshire government.

It was also a place of learning thanks to the Downshire University, it could also boast that it was a Cathedral City, was home to Abbottsford Town football club and benefitted from the renowned Winston Churchill Hospital, and twin sisters Ariadne and Scarlet Shakespeare were both nurses at the Churchill.

They were identical twins, Ariadne was the older of the two by an hour and was five foot eight with bobbed brunette hair and an olive complexion and hazel eyes.

Scarlet was two inches taller than her sister and had more hair.

The girls were both foot lose and fancy free and liked to party and had no intrest in tying themselves down, but on the occasion of their 27^th birthday, on New Year’s Eve, that all changed, when they met best friends Marcus Birkin and Gareth Clare.

 

Marcus and Gareth both worked for Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe solicitors in Abbottsford, although they hailed from 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.

The Birkin and Clare families had lived in the village for many years and were of the landed gentry and the boys were public school and Cambidge educated.

 

Abbottsford was a world away from Turnoak-Under-Hawthorne and socially the Shakespeare girls were a world away from Marcus and Gareth and their meeting on New Year’s Eve was purely by chance.

The twins were travelling from home after getting ready to party into the New Year, and the solicitors were in Marcus’s car travelling in the opposite direction from work when the two vehicles collided.

It wasn’t serious just a bit of minor damage, but Marcus had only had the car for a month so an angry exchange between him and the cab driver ensued, which Gareth tried to cool, to no avail, but when the two leggy drop dead gorgeous brunette girls emerged from the Taxi, the two adversaries and the peacemaker all went quiet.  

They were both stunningly beautiful and wearing low cut party outfits and when Marcus first saw the one with the bobbed hair, he was smitten and the fender bender was no longer of any importance to him, whereas Gareth felt the same about the tall one.

The taxi driver, who had been at fault for the accident, took full advantage of the distraction and got in his cab and sped away.

“Hey come back!” Ariadne shouted

“What are we going to do now?” Scarlet asked as the Cab disappeared around a corner

“Don’t worry” Marcus said “We’ll get you to your destination”

“You don’t know where we’re going” Ariadne pointed out

“You could tell us and then we would” Gareth said

“Problem solved then” Scarlet added and gave her sister a look that said “just get in the car”

Ariadne complied because it was obvious her sister fancied the drivers friend, and she thought the driver was ok, and he was posh, and she liked posh.

 

They were on the way to a New Year’s Eve Party at the Hospital, and by the time they got there the twins had persuaded the guys to join them at the party rather than just drop them off and go their separate ways, not that it took much persuading.

During the relatively short drive across town the four passengers had come to the conclusion that they weren’t going to accept any other outcome than to see the old year out together.

 

The Shakespeare’s were determined not to let their chosen solicitor out of their sight and they in turn had resolved not to let the girls out of view.

So they spend most of the night on the dance floor and the time that they were not dancing they were at the bar, with the exception of spending a penny.

 

At midnight, Scarlet was dancing with Gareth to a slow number by James Blunt when the music was suddenly replaced by the sound of Big Ben through the sound system.

“Happy New Year” Scarlet said and kissed him before he could respond, and then he didn’t want to speak.

Ariadne looked across at her sister kissing Gareth and then she looked at Marcus and thought “why aren’t we doing that?”

She smiled at him as Big Ben continued to sound, and he smiled back, but no kiss, “plenty of time, six bongs to go”.

Bong,

Bong,

Bong, and nothing happened so she said

“Have you seen what Scarlet and Gareth are doing?”

He turned to look at the kissing couple

“Oh yes”

Bong,

“Can I ask you a question Gareth?”

“Of course”

Bong,

“Why aren’t we doing that?” she asked and before the final bong he was kissing her.

As things turned out that night didn’t just mark the end of the old year for the two couples it marked the end of their old lives.

 

 

 

UNDER THE CHRISTMAS MOON

 

Moonlight glinted

On the frozen land

Of the silent vale

Dressed crisply

In winters cloak.

A shooting star

Flashed across the sky

And I made a wish

Nothing profound

Just a simple thing

But immensely special

Because I wished

For a Christmas kiss

With the girl I loved

A RED RIBBON TIED IN YOUR HAIR

 

A red ribbon tied in your hair

You’re a lovely Christmas miss

Come under the mistletoe

And let me steal a Christmas kiss

MY PRETTY LITTLE MISS

 

The first time I met

My pretty little Miss

We needed mistletoe

To share a Christmas Kiss

 

Now when I meet

With my pretty Miss

We need no artificial aid

For us to share a kiss

 

And when we meet

And we share a kiss

Every day is Christmas

For me and my little Miss

Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (98) Christmas Memories Evoked

 

When Keith Fulbrook was growing up Christmas was a very special time for him and every year the season evoked so many memories and many of those memories were of the times he spent at his grandparent’s farm in Shallowfield.

A row of wellington boots standing on the flagstones, fresh from hours of play in the snow and dripping wet mittens drying on a string behind the tortoise stove in the kitchen, the smell of burning logs and damp wool invading the nostrils, soon to be replaced by the scent of a fresh cut fir tree in the living room filling the air with the aroma of Christmas joining the smells of nutmeg and ginger coming from the pantry.

He just had to smell pipe smoke and he was back with his grandpa with his twinkling blue eyes and wry smile as he puffed out a dense cloud of aromatic smoke from his meerschaum pipe.
But it wasn’t just smells, the house was always alive with the ringing sounds of boisterous laughter of ten grandchildren of varying ages filling the house.

And when the house wasn’t resounding with laughter it was music as the family gatherings always prompted renditions of the carols and songs of Christmas played on guitar and fiddle and sung with gusto.
But that wasn’t the only Christmas music he remembered there was also the sweet sounds of a choir at the candlelit midnight mass.

But candlelight was eclipsed by the sparkle and twinkle of the fairy lights reflected on the fragile glass ornaments and heirloom decorations that magically transformed his grandparent’s living room into his childish vision of a magic wonderland.

And then there were the tastes candy canes and chocolates from the tree, satsumas and nuts in their stockings, sugar almonds, jellied fruits, dates, liquorice, and mints.

Turkey and all the trimmings, Gammon, Christmas pudding, brandy butter, mince pies, shortbread, pies, tarts, fruit cakes, sausage rolls.

But all the bounty of the table was far outweighed by the abundance of love which was linked to every single memory.

But his favourite Christmas memory came when the winter delivered up the perfect Christmas gift, snow.

 

When Keith went to bed the wind howling through the trees gave no clue that it was carrying Jack Frost to the Vale but the next morning when he woke up to the sound of excited squeals and when he looked outside he gazed out at the whitened landscape and ten minutes later all the grandchildren dashed out into the white magical world, screaming and shouting like released convicts rejoicing in a new-found freedom.

The warm knitted gloves were soon abandoned as snowballs were hurled in all directions.

Shrieks filled the winter air as aims improved and increasing numbers found their mark.

As the battle ground expanded they joined forces with a group of village children and that was the moment he first saw Yvonne Sage and he discovered there was something even more exciting than a white Christmas.

Yvonne was the same age as him, give or take, and she was tall for a fourteen year old girl, lean and wiry with braided brown hair and a bit of a tomboy but he was smitten.

But he had never noticed a girl before so he didn’t really know what to do about his infatuation.

But because she chose to join a group building a snowman so did he.

   

Rudolf, their giant snowman, gradually took shape on the village green.

A red tartan scarf was draped around his broad shoulders and a boy produced an old battered black hat, which was accidently set at a jaunty angle on his huge head which gave him a rakish look.

Two un-sucked gobstoppers provided him with staring blue eyes.

Keith and Yvonne held the ends of a length of old rope which they tied around Rudolph’s substantial waist, some pebbles substituted for buttons, a carrot nose and a stick mouth completed the magnificent figure.

And then they stood back to admire their handiwork.
Despite being pleased with the finished article Keith panicked because he didn’t know what to do next if Yvonne suddenly went off with her friends.

But then Tom and Lindsay Collingwood suggested going up to Coopers Hill for a bit of sledding.

“Yeh count me in” Yvonne said “What about you Keith?”

Keith was so releived that he didn’t know what to say so he just nodded his agreement and she smiled because she really liked him and she wanted him to go with her.

And so they walked up to Coopers Hill together and the fact that they didn’t have a sled or a toboggan didn’t seem to faze them at all, so on the way there they collected some cardboard boxes from outside Stephenson Supermarket and shared a sheet of cardboard and used it to ride down the hill, screaming at every bump, and when they got to the bottom Tomboy Yvonne had a boyfriend.

Although they didn’t realise it at the time they were victims of love at first sight and it was a love that lasted a life time.

Mornington-By-Mere – (98) Christmas Cards

 

Mornington-By-Mere 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 formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and Mariana Harding was staying at number 1 Dulcet Mill Lane in the house she was raised in, along with her brother George, by their Aunt Julia.

 

She was a well-travelled woman in her mid-thirties who hadn’t put down roots anywhere but she had made lots of friends which became problematic at Christmas time when it came to sending Christmas cards because a considerable amount of strategic planning was required to ensure that maximum effect was gained from sending Christmas cards, because, design, timing, size and quality are of paramount importance.

There are all kinds of do’s and don’ts, one of them is sending Christmas cards too early, which is not only ineffective but can be humiliating for the sender because it is very revealing, by disclosing the size and quality of card, it exposes the sender to the possibility of a devastating counter-attack.

On the other hand, a very late Christmas card runs the risk of negating the recipient's ability to respond, and reduces one's total card count, and it can look like an afterthought.

Mariana thought it was better to be on the early, rather than late side, because the pre-emptive Christmas card sets the pace and compels the opposition to reply.

And it is a brave opponent who will respond with either a lesser card or better than card.

The second thing she considered was the value and size of cards. Important people, certainly people who think they are important, send big and important looking Christmas cards which was designed to make the recipient feel small.

It was a costly option but she thought it was worth it.

She didn’t consider herself a snob though and she thought there was definitely a place for cheap and nasty Christmas cards.

They could be used for a variety of reasons they didn’t just imply bad taste or poverty, they could be used to disrespect the recipient, and possibly lead to deletion from their Christmas card list.

She found cheap cards were particularly useful for terminating pointless Christmas card exchanges with people she met on holiday or business trips when she foolishly exchanged addresses on drunken night’s outs.

She tried to avoid First-time Christmas cards sent on impulse to recent acquaintances because they can have devastating consequences or disappointments.

But she didn’t follow her own protocols so when she was in Denver for a conference at the end of November and she met a man called Seelie Dawson, with whom she let her guard down, and one night after dinner, when alcohol had been taken, she gave him her address and phone number.

Following that breach she was overcome with regrets, firstly for the breach, second for not getting his details, thirdly for not giving him her email and finally for losing her phone on the journey home.

And ever since she got back to Mornington she had thought of nothing else but him and had abandoned her long standing and well-honed system and sent no cards at all and occupied her time examining the abundance of cards that arrived through her door every day hoping there would be one from him and each day she was disappointed.

But she never gave up hope and then on Christmas Eve she perused the pile of mail on the door mat once again and on that day with wonder in her eyes she received a Christmas card and the postmark was from Colorado, and she only knew one person there.

Her hand was shaking while she opened the envelope and withdrew the card, but before reading it she looked inside the envelope and saw a photo and it was a picture of her and Seelie, together and smiling, which recalled the evening to her mind with perfect clarity.

She turned her attention to the card, but she closed her eyes and took a breath before opening it, but when she did she read.

 

Mariana

 

I hope you liked the photo, it was a very memorable evening.

I have tried several times to phone you on the mobile number you gave me.

I am going to be in England for the New Year, I would very much like to see you while I’m there, perhaps we could have dinner.

I’ve written my contact details on the back of the photo.

I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope very much that we can get together in the New Year.

 

Have a Happy Christmas

Seelie x

 

She flipped the photo over and saw the full gamut of details and her joy could not be contained so it was twenty minutes before she had calmed down enough for her start using them.

 

Despite the fact she didn’t send a single Christmas card that year she had her best Christmas in a decade and a very Happy New Year.

THE WONDROUS BEAUTY

 

The wondrous beauty

Of your pale white skin,

That seductive landscape

Pure as exotic silk

Fresh as winter snow

And as cold as your heart

IT WAS THE OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY

 

It was the office Christmas party

Where I met my girl Lottie

I felt really out of place

Every girl there was totty

I was out of my comfort zone

They were all pouty and hottie

I was just about to go home

When she said, “Are you Scottie?”

I said, “yes how did you know?”

“I asked” she said “I’m Lottie,

So, you could ask me to dance”

I looked at her like she was Potty

She just smiled at me patiently

I smiled back and said, “What me?”

She nodded and smiled again

And was swept off my feet by Lottie

WE WOKE UP EARLY ON CHRISTMAS DAY

 

We woke up early on Christmas day

And she reached for her negligee

While I checked the children’s room

And finding them asleep in the gloom

I held her in the first light of dawn 

And we made love on Christmas morn

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.