When the garlands are hung
And the tree is
well dressed
It’s to celebrate
Christmas
Not a fictitious Winterfest
When the garlands are hung
And the tree is
well dressed
It’s to celebrate
Christmas
Not a fictitious Winterfest
It was in Germany that tinsel was first invented, and it was made from real silver.
A
crude machine was used to shred the silver into thin strips which were then
twisted onto a central wire.
This
was indeed a luxury product although and obviously only available to the
privileged classes.
However,
the silver tinsel did not last forever as Silver would tarnish and lose its
shine in time.
Despite
its lack of longevity however it remained in use by those who could afford it
until a cheaper artificial alternative was invented.
The hanging of greens, such as holly, ivy and Mistletoe is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era.
Greenery
was used to lift people’s spirits during the long winter and remind them that
spring was not far away.
Ivy,
the accepted symbol of friendship, like Holly and Mistletoe, has since pagan
times been used as a decoration at festivals.
The
ancient custom was to decorate the doorway with intertwined garlands of Holly
and Ivy which represented unity between the dual halves of divinity the Holly
was the Goddess and female while Ivy was the eternal representation of consort
to the goddess and therefore was masculine in nature.
In
pagan religions Ivy had been a symbol of eternal life while the Christians
believe it stands for the new promise of eternal life.
The
Romans used Ivy as part of celebrations related to the god Bacchus, whose
worshippers were thought to have worn Ivy crowns.
We
rarely decorate our houses with ivy anymore at Christmas, but many homes have
potted ivy plants in the home all year round.
Its Christmas time again, as if anyone could fail to notice, even without leaving my house I can see more than half a dozen houses decorated to the hilt.
Every
coloured light imaginable, Santa’s on the roof or climbing a ladder, sleighs,
elves, snowmen, bells, stars, baubles and last but by no means least standing
almost four feet high, that perennial Christmas favourite, Winnie the Pooh.
Wait
a minute though you might well be saying what does Pooh have to do with
Christmas? Well every other house seems to have one so there must be something
in it.
I
don’t recall mention of him in the bible and in the many nativity plays I have
seen over the years he was conspicuous by his absence and although there is a
donkey, but it’s not Eeyore.
The
stable did not house Piglet and the wise men did not travel from the east with
Tigger baring gifts of Huney.
Nor
in any of the Christmas traditions around the world is there a single reference
to Pooh as one of Santa’s helpers.
There’s
Black Peter, The Jolly Elf, even the devil figure Krampus but no Pooh, but
people still give him pride of place on their lawns at Christmas.
I
just don’t get it.
I first met Olwen Carmichael on a grey murky day in October when I had been into
the village of Upper Oakham to buy some essentials, milk, and bread essentially.
It had been sunny and bright
when I left Honeysuckle Cottage that morning, so I decided to walk the two
miles into the village and took one of the many paths through the woods.
However, by the time I
was leaving the village store with my essential purchases it was raining, and
it was that fine drizzly rain that soaked you in an instant and from a distance
it gave the illusion of being a mist.
In fact, due to its
inherent ability to obscure landmarks it was, to all intents and purposes, a
mist.
My name is John Gallen, and I am a writer, although no one in
the Oakham’s would have heard of me, but under my nom de plume of Neil K
Fitzgerald you would be hard pressed to find anyone who had not, for under that name I had written a series of
successful thrillers, six in all and a seventh was now well overdue.
I was recently
divorced, though not my choice, my darling wife had cheated on me, with my best
friend to boot so it couldn’t be avoided, but since the divorce I had struggled
with the latest book in the series, it didn’t even have a title yet and I was
fast approaching a crucial deadline.
So, I decided the best
thing to do was to get away, right away where no one knew me and where there
were no distractions.
So, I rented a house
in the country, a holiday cottage in fact almost two miles from the nearest
neighbour.
As it was out of season,
I managed to book it from October to March, though I only planned to stay until
I completed the book which I thought I would manage in a month, away from all
the everyday distractions of a town, which was why I found myself living in the
nauseatingly named Honeysuckle Cottage, which was, as the name might suggest, a
pretty little cottage.
It would originally
have been a two up two down, but it now had a single-story extension which
housed the kitchen, upstairs was a small bedroom and the bathroom, which was
equipped with a good old-fashioned man-sized bath, while downstairs in addition
to the kitchen there was a sitting room and another bedroom.
Well, I had been
walking back towards the cottage with my head down to protect my face from the slanting
rain and making slow progress on the woodland path in my unsuitable shoes and when
I eventually lifted my head up, I didn’t recognise a single tree and was
completely disorientated, and as I wasn’t that familiar with the woods, I
didn’t recognise anything.
As the rain continued
to fall, I was starting to panic when a voice behind me said
“Are you alright?”
I turned around and
saw a little creature of indeterminate age in a parka with a fur trimmed hood.
“I am embarrassed to
say it, but I appear to be lost” I said
The figure stepped
forward and pushed the hood back from her face to reveal a young woman in her
mid-twenties who was no more than five foot tall.
“You’re lost?” she
asked in disbelief and smiled broadly
“Yes” I said even more
embarrassed
“Where were you going?”
She asked
“Honeysuckle Cottage”
I replied
“Oh, you’re the writer”
she said
“Yes” I replied “John
Gallen”
“I’m Olwen Carmichael,
and we’re neighbours”
“Are we?” I asked
“Yes” She replied “I
live in Cherry Tree House, just along the lane from you”
“Well, I am pleased to
meet you Olwen”
“Come on, I’m going
your way” She said, and she walked with me all the way to the cottage, she
wasn’t the chattiest person I had ever met but I rather liked her, nonetheless.
“Here you are, safe
home” she said smiling.
“Thank you for rescuing
me and for walking me home” I said “Come in for a coffee”
“I can’t I have to be
somewhere” she replied
“Another time perhaps”
I suggested
“Yes” she agreed and
hurried off.
A few days later I had
to drive into Northchapel to do a more substantial shop to stock the cupboards,
I had exhausted the meagre supplies I brought with me when I moved in plus, I
needed some more appropriate footwear for the country.
Instead of going in
the direction of Upper Oakham I drove the opposite way down the lane which
would take me to Lower Oakham, and I drove past Cherry Tree House where my
nearest neighbour lived.
It was roughly two miles
from my cottage and despite being called a house it was also a cottage, though
it was much bigger than mine.
I drove slowly as I
passed it and I was surprised to find myself disappointed that there was no
sign of life.
Beyond that were
another three houses before the lane reached the Northchapel road, one of which
was the home of my landlady, or at least the woman I was renting the Cottage
from, Sandra Brown, who right on cue came out of her front door and waved.
I slowed down and
waved back, and I was about to drive on when she flagged me down.
“How are you settling
in?” Sandra said
“Fine” I replied “I’m
just going into Northchapel to stock up on groceries”
“I won’t keep you then,
but Pop in for tea on the way back” she said
With a boot full of Tesco’s
finest tinned and dried goods I returned to Upper Oakham and didn’t really feel
like stopping for tea with Mrs Brown, but she had invited me, and I thought it
would have been rude not to, so I pulled up outside The Villa.
As we sat in her
lounge drinking from her best China, I related the story of my getting lost in
the woods and being rescued by a young woman called Olwen.
“Oh, she’s my niece” Sandra
said with a mixture of pride and a little sadness “I worry about her”
“She seemed very sound
when I met her” I said
“Oh, she is but the
poor girl is an insomniac, she
hasn’t slept properly for four years or so” she said “She only ever cat naps”
“Why is that?” I asked
She was thoughtful for
a moment and then she said
“More tea?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t
mean to pry” I said
“It’s ok Mr Gallen”
she said “It just makes me sad”
“I understand but please
call me John”
She nodded and went
all thoughtful again before she said
“Olwen always had a
small problem with sleeping after her grandmother died in her sleep when she
was 12, but she seemed to grow out of that in time” She paused to take a sip of
her tea.
“Then when she was at University
her best friend Gina suffered an embolism and died one night. Olwen was
absolutely devastated but I think she would have come out the other side had it
not been for the Kirby’s”
“The Kirby’s?” I asked
“Yes, they were a
family from the village who died in a house fire.
It happened in the
early hours as they slept, five of them, it was so tragic.
Olwen knew the family
very well and she had even baby sat the children; it was the final straw for her
and ever since that night Olwen has had a morbid fear of sleeping”
As I arrived home, or
at least my temporary home I reflected on how candid Sandra had been, after all
she could just have said she suffered from insomnia and left it at that.
I suppose not being
honest might have failed to explain her irregular hours and her habit of
walking the woods at all hours of the day and night.
I could relate to that
in some ways as I was prone to keeping irregular hours myself, but I was
pleased Sandra had told me everything as a writer I was naturally nosy but there
was something about Olwen that struck a chord with me.
I continued to see
Olwen walking the lane or one of the many woodland paths, though she never stopped
to talk but she did occasionally wave, I did wonder what on earth she did with
herself, there must be more to her life than walking the woods.
One day towards the
end of October I was in the Upper village on a milk and bread run when I bumped
into Sandra again.
“John” she said, “how’s
the book going?”
“Hello Sandra, slowly
I’m afraid”
“Well, I won’t keep
you from it then” she said and laughed
“Don’t worry I need to
rest my brain for a bit” I replied “in fact why don’t you pop in later and I
will return your hospitality, I have cake”
“Well in that case I would
love to”
On the way back to the
cottage I wasn’t sure if I had given Sandra the wrong impression and my invite
might have been misconstrued, she was an attractive woman some ten years my
senior but nonetheless attractive, and a ten-year age gap wasn’t unheard of after
all.
There was a knock at
the door about 3 o’clock that afternoon and when I opened the door, I saw it
was Sandra in a grubby Berber jacket, dirty wellies and mud-spattered jeans which
put my mind at rest, she was hardly in the mode of dress for a woman who
thought she had been invited for a tryst.
“Is it alright if I
leave the dog in the porch?” she asked as she slipped off her wellies.
“Bring him in” I said
“Are you sure?” she asked
“there is nothing worse than the smell of wet dog”
“Nonsense bring him in”
I said
“Come on Skipper” she
called, Skipper was an American Cocker Spaniel, very wet, very muddy, and very
friendly.
He paused briefly for
a stroke and then went straight to the hearth.
I made the tea and
took it into the sitting room.
“No china cups I’m
afraid” I said
“That’s good I prefer
a mug” she responded, and I gave her a look because she had served tea to me on
her best china.
“I know” she replied
to my unasked question “I blame my mother”
And we both laughed,
my mother was like that as well.
As we drank our tea, I
found myself quizzing her about Olwen again, the nosy writer again I supposed,
“I see her in the
woods or on the Lane a lot” I said
“Yes, she has a lot of
time on her hands” Sandra replied
“She can’t hold down a
job because she doesn’t sleep regularly and is prone to nodding off from time
to time”
It seemed that
financially she was set, her house was hers out right and she had an annuity
from her parent’s estate which was enough for her to live on, as she led a very
modest existence.
“So, what does she do
to fill her days?” I asked
“She’s an avid reader”
she replied “She’s reading all of yours at the moment”
“Really?” I said
“Olwen is also a bit
of a movie buff especially classics” Sandra said “and of course she likes to
walk”
I nodded
“It’s silly isn’t it
that she feels safer walking the woods in the middle of the night that she does
in her own bed”
“It is” I agreed
“She doesn’t eat
properly either” she added with a lump in her throat and I thought how
wonderful it was to have someone care about you that much.
It was Halloween and
that time of the day when in my hometown there would be a constant stream of
expectant children knocking on the door, however due to the remoteness of the
cottage and the foulest weather I had seen for many a day, I wasn’t expecting
even one.
So, imagine my surprise
when there was indeed a knock at my door and when I opened the door, the sight
that greeted me was as fearful a sight as you could imagine on any Halloween
night, it was a drowned rat, caked in mud, and looking very sorry for itself.
“Hello Olwen” I said, “what
on earth are you doing out in this filthy weather?”
“It wasn’t this bad
when I started” she replied
She looked like she
had been on manoeuvres with the SAS.
“Come in, come in” I said,
“what happened?”
“Don’t laugh” she said
“but I fell in a ditch”
“My God you are
actually squelching” I said “get your coat and boots off”
I left her and went to
get a towel when I came back, she was walking towards the warmth of the fire
and she was still squelching.
She stood in front of
the fire in her squelchy socks and shivered.
I went upstairs and started
the bath running and put fresh towels on the rail and went downstairs again.
“Right, you need to
get out of those wet things” I said in a fatherly tone
“I’ll be fine I just
need to warm up a bit” she said
“Well, you won’t warm
up if you’re wearing wet clothes” I said “so do as you’re told; the bath is
running”
Olwen tried to protest
but I wouldn’t let her
“Throw your wet things
on to the landing and I’ll put a change of clothes in the spare room for you”
“Ok Mr Gallen” she
said like she was addressing a teacher.
I went downstairs
again and turned my attention to my dinner, I tended to only cook from scratch
once a week, but I always made more than I needed, and the extra would be
frozen and ready to use whenever.
On that particular day
I was cooking lamb stew, so I gave it a stir and went to the airing cupboard in
the spare room and looked for something that would be suitable for Olwen.
It wasn’t easy
choosing from a selection of clothes made for a six-foot-tall, fifteen stone
man and find something that would do for a tiny girl barely 5 foot tall and
less than seven stone soaking wet.
The only thing I could
find was a rugby shirt that was a bit long even on me so it would be like a
dress on her and a pair of football sock that would reach her thighs.
I lay them on the bed
and picked up the pile of wet clothes and carried them downstairs with me.
Once downstairs I set
up the clothes drier in front of the fire and draped her things over it and
almost immediately steam started to emanate from her socks.
Her boots were already
on the hearth and her coat was draped over the back of a chair.
About half an hour
later Olwen appeared in her oversized Harlequins Rugby shirt and black football
socks fiddling with her tousled damp hair.
“Do you feel better
now?” I asked
“Much better thank you”
she replied
“I’m sorry about the
wardrobe” I added “it was the best I could do”
“Its fine at least I won’t
get cold” she said and laughed
“Well sit yourself
down and I’ll get you some food”
“No don’t worry I’m
really not hungry” she said, and I gave her a look
“Ok I’ll have a little
bit” she said
“A wise decision” I said
and went out to the kitchen.
I returned a few minutes
later with a steaming bowl on a tray.
“Lamb stew” I said
I thought back to the
conversation I had with Sandra about Olwen not eating properly and Olwen’s own
statement not half an hour previously when she said
“I’m really not hungry”
Well for someone who
wasn’t really hungry she did extremely well to polish off three bowls of Lamb stew.
While we ate, we watched
an old Cary Grant movie called “Holiday” and when it was finished, she
said
“Well thank you for
looking after me and entertaining me but I’d better change my clothes and get
home” Said Olwen
I got up and went to
the front door and when I opened it the rain was still coming down like stair
rods.
“Just put your coat
and boots on and I’ll run you home” I said
“No, you’ve been too
kind already” she replied
“I’m not having you
getting soaked to the skin again” I insisted
“You’re very bossy”
she said with a smile
“I know” I said “That’s
probably why I’m divorced”
I drove her the two
miles up the lane to her cottage and she thanked me again and got out, but
before she closed the door, she said
“Don’t get lost on your
way home”
And 0she laughed like
it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard in her life.
It was a day later
when Olwen “popped in” for the first time and for the first of many times over
the coming weeks, and we shared a conversation and a drink of coffee across the
kitchen table.
The “pop ins” happened
at any time of the day or night partly because of her insomnia and in part
because I was a writer and kept irregular hours myself.
Sometimes when the muse
was with me, I would just carry-on writing until I couldn’t see straight, so I
had no set time to go to bed or to get up in the morning.
According to my
ex-wife it was one of the things that contributed to the breakup of our
marriage.
As we moved slowly
through November the “pop ins” increased exponentially as we raced headlong
towards December and I was disappointed on the days when I didn’t see her.
Once we got into December,
I was no longer disappointed at her absences as I saw her every day.
It began on the 1st
of the month when she helped me to put up the Christmas decorations and as we
were hanging the last of the garlands, she said
“I love Christmas
decorations”
“Me too” I said “I’ll
help you put yours up when we’re done here”
“No thanks” Olwen
replied
“Why not?” I asked
“I never put decorations
up at home” she said
“Why not?”
“I don’t know really”
she mused “it makes me sad I suppose, it reminds me of a happier time, and I
suppose that makes me sad”
“But you love
decorations?” I said
“Yes”
“You love these
decorations?” I asked
“Yes”
“Do they make you sad?
I asked
“No”
“Why not?”
“Because I wasn’t a
child in this cottage” she replied
“That’s nuts” I said
“I know” Olwen agreed “what
can I say”
Anyway, Olwen came to
the cottage every day to enjoy the decorations, watch classic Christmas movies and
eat my stew, but we had kept most of her visits during normal hours until
Christmas Eve.
I was burning the
midnight oil because I was stuck on a tricky chapter the first of three
chapters which needed to be submitted to my publishers by New Year’s Day.
It was partly Olwen’s
fault I had gotten behind, but she was such a pleasant distraction, but to be
perfectly honest she had become more of a distraction when she wasn’t there.
So, it was just after
eleven o’clock on Christmas Eve and I was rewriting the same section for the
umpteenth time when Olwen knocked on the door.
I could tell it was
her before I opened the door by her unique knock.
“Hey” I said
“Do you mind me
popping in on Christmas Eve, I don’t want to upset your artistic flow” she said
“No flow to interrupt
at the moment I’m afraid, this chapter is giving me a lot of trouble” I replied
“What is it, writers
block?” Olwen asked
“No, I’m not blocked,
I’m writing ok, it’s just not very good” I said and laughed
“I could use a break”
I lied
We sat on the sofa
watching an old movie on cable, we chose it because of the title, “The Dream of
Olwen”.
About half an hour
into it she yawned and rested her head on my shoulder, I assumed it must be one
of her infamous cat naps, and half an hour later she was still sleeping.
I could tell by her
breathing, even though I couldn’t see her, that she was properly asleep.
So, I placed a cushion
on my lap and gently lowered her head onto it.
Her legs were already
on the sofa as she had been sitting in that side saddle fashion that girls
have.
So, I dragged the edge
of the throw from the back of the sofa and draped it over her slender body.
I watched the end of
the movie and then switched off the TV.
Olwen was still sleeping
so I reached for the A4 note pad I kept on the end table and resting it on the
arm of the sofa I began writing and the words flowed from my pen like an
inexhaustible stream and after three hours of furious writing I had put the troublesome
chapter to bed.
I looked firstly at the
sleeping girl with her head on my lap and saw she was still sleeping soundly
and then up at the clock which told me it was 6.45am,
Not that the time was relevant,
but I desperately needed to pee.
I slowly extricated
myself, being careful not to wake Olwen and settled her onto the sofa and then
tucked the throw around her.
As soon as I was up, I
realised the temperature had dropped so before I went to the loo, I revived the
fire in the grate and put some more wood on.
I then partly closed
the door; I didn’t want her to wake up in a strange place and panic.
After having a much-needed
pee I went into the kitchen to make a drink, which was when there was a knock
at the door.
I couldn’t imagine who
would be knocking on the door at 7 am on Christmas morning, but I opened it
anyway and found Olwen’s Aunt Sandra standing there.
“Happy Christmas Sandra”
I said
“Happy Christmas John”
she responded but without any real conviction.
“Have you seen Olwen?”
she asked “I saw her coming this way last night when I was walking the dog”
“I went to the cottage
to wish her Happy Christmas and there’s no sign of her and her bed hasn’t been
disturbed” she continued pacing the small hallway.
“All the lights are
still on but there’s no sign of her and I’m really worried”
“Shhh” I said putting
a finger to my lips “Come here Sandra, she’s asleep in the lounge”
She crept to the door and
had a glance through gap into the sitting room.
“How long?” she asked
“Over six hours” I
replied
“She obviously feels
safe with you” Sandra said
“I won’t wake her” I said
“I’m sorry you have been disturbed like this” she added
“Nonsense, I enjoy having a beautiful girl for company at Christmas”
“You think she’s beautiful?” she asked
“Of course, doesn’t everybody?” I asked
Sandra smiled at me and kissed my cheek “Happy Christmas John” she said
“Christmas Dinner is at 3 o’clock”
After Sandra had left,
I finished my drink and the lack of sleep suddenly caught up with me and I knew
I had to sleep.
I didn’t want to leave
Olwen to wake up on her own, but I was too tired to sleep in an armchair.
I thought for a moment
and then went into the bedroom and got out the spare duvet before returning to
the lounge.
I carefully drew back
the throw from around her small frail frame and then picked her up.
“Hmmm” she murmured as
I held her, then I carefully carried the beautiful featherweight little
creature into the bedroom.
I laid her on top of
the duvet and covered her with the spare.
I then went out and
turned off the lights and locked the front door before returning to the bedroom
and gently slipping between the duvets to lay down beside Olwen.
“Hmmm” she murmured as
she snuggled in against me, so I put my arm around her and drifted off into a
contented sleep.
It was remarkable how
life can surprise you, when I rented Honeysuckle Cottage it was only ever
intended as a short let, but I knew when I woke up in bed next to a smiling
Olwen on Christmas morning, I would never leave the village.
The book was well under
way now and I could easily have moved back to civilization, but while I had
struggled with a particularly troublesome chapter, she had become my muse and
my love.
Olwen, who had for so
long held the world at arm’s length and avoided forming emotional attachments of
any kind for fear they might lead to her heart being broken again, never
imagined the course events would take after she rescued the panicky man lost in
the woods.
She certainly never imagined
she would wake up in his bed three months later or that she would have fallen
in love with him.
When we woke up, we
just lay beneath the cosy comforting warmth of the duvet and talked for an
hour, all the unsaid things we had wanted to say in the weeks preceding
Christmas when we had lost our hearts, before we reluctantly agreed that we
needed to move as we couldn’t disappoint Aunt Sandra.
I got up first and
showered shaved and dressed then Olwen showered while I warmed up the car.
When she had redressed,
I drove her to her house where she finished getting ready and I waited in the
house.
It was the first time
I had been in there and it had an almost museum feel to it, no wonder she was
always wandering, then we left the car outside Olwen’s house and prepared to walk
the hundred yards or so to Aunt Sandra’s when it began to snow.
“This is the best
Christmas ever” she said and took hold of my hand
“It’s a perfect
Christmas” I concurred and kissed her
The moment we walked
in through the front door of the Villa I realised the wisdom of leaving the car
at Olwen’s because I would not be using it anymore that day as Uncle Norman
thrust a cocktail of gargantuan proportions and indeterminate strength into my
hand and I had no reason to suppose it wasn’t to be the first of many.
Oh, I almost forgot I finally
decided on the title for the latest book.
“The Girl Who Never
Slept”