{"id":497,"date":"2020-12-22T08:41:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T08:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=497"},"modified":"2020-12-22T08:42:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T08:42:59","slug":"a-house-is-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=497","title":{"rendered":"A House is Forever &#8211; A Christmas Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wpsocialite social-buttons large\"><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=497&amp;locale=en_US&amp;t=\" class=\"socialite facebook-like\" data-lang=\"en_US\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=497\" data-send=\"false\" data-layout=\"box_count\" data-width=\"60\" data-show-faces=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"vhidden\">Share on Facebook.<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"socialite twitter-share\" data-text=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/?p=497\" data-count=\"vertical\" data-lang=\"en_US\" data-via=\"@birdstoowit\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"vhidden\">Share on Twitter.<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n<p><strong>A House is\nForever not just for Christmas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a9Peter\nL. Barnes 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline\nwoke with a start. Someone was creeping into her bedroom. Her heart was\nthumping in her chest and she could hardly contain her excitement. She was sure\nthat Father Christmas could hear her, despite desperately trying to keep still.\nWhy did she have to have such a squeaky bed, any movement would betray the fact\nthat she was awake. Convinced that if she made any sound, Father Christmas\nwould rush out without leaving her any presents. She controlled her breathing\nas the shape cautiously crept around the room to the foot of the bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier\nin the month, she had helped her father put up the lights &#8211; greens; whites;\nreds and her personal favourite, blues. Draping them across the small tree in the\ncorner of the cottage, with a special angel on top for her mother. They were\nonly allowed to put up the decorations after 1<sup>st<\/sup> December, so that\nwas always when Pauline started counting down to the big day. Her father had\ntaken her to the local toy supermarket where the dazzling and bewildering array\nof fantastic toys were beyond her imagination and also beyond her father\u2019s\nwallet. They had bought nothing at the till and Pauline\u2019s eyes started welling\nup at the lost opportunity. Maybe if they had been to a smaller shop, she could\nhave picked out something affordable that she really wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\ndoor quietly closed behind her welcome intruder, but Pauline waited an age before\nshe felt comfortable in checking the anticipated gifts. Finally, she had waited\nlong enough, her curiosity too demanding to leave well alone. She crawled to\nthe end of her bed and cautiously pulled the stocking onto her blanket,\nthinking back to the days before Christmas break, when the children in her\nclass had talked about all the presents they would be getting for Christmas,\nfrom the latest dolls and their outfits; prams and pushchairs; kitchen sets;\nfashionable clothes; shoes; typewriters and even sewing machines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline\nhad kept quiet, in case she revealed that her chances of any meaningful\npresents was slim. Her father was a mere carpenter, didn\u2019t earn a lot, and\nsince the death of his wife, Pauline\u2019s mother, seemed to be in a state of quiet\nshock, left without his soul mate and unable to properly console his daughter. Pauline\ntried her hardest to cope without her mother who had passed away suddenly, last\nChristmas, the worst present ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline\nfelt the lumps and bumps in the stocking. A most wonderful feeling, desperately\ntrying to guess the contents. The apple and orange were too obvious, and\ndisappointing, but then a square box crackling with wrapping paper, held more\npromise, as did the strangely shaped, unusual oblong. Something soft and\nsquishy, promised maybe the cuddly teddy she had seen in the shop. Maybe her\nfather had snuck back into the shop and selected the one she had coveted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\ndaren\u2019t switch her light on, as it was far too early to get up, so she tucked\nthe unopened stocking under the covers, unwilling to let it out of her arms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline\nfelt something pressing into her side, before realising that daytime had\nfinally arrived and she had turned over onto her wonderful stocking. \u201cYippee,\u201d\nshe cried. \u201cTime to get up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\nsat up, opened the curtains and gasped with joy as she watched the snow\ntumbling out of the sky, turning everything white. \u201cWhat a perfect Christmas,\nnow for my presents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\nopened the end of the stocking and extracted the first package, ripping the\nwrapping paper and tossing it to the floor. \u201cOh, wine gums,\u201d Not the cuddly\nbear she had thought. \u201cMaybe the next one would be more exciting,\u201d but she saw\nit was only chocolate buttons. The oblong present contained only an oblong box.\nPauline began to realise that maybe this Christmas would be the same as all her\nprevious years. The apple and orange were placed carefully on her bedside\ntable. \u201cOnly one more,\u201d she said, crossing her fingers as she slowly opened the\nplain cardboard box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside,\nlaid out carefully, were three miniature dolls. One dressed as her father, one\nof herself and the third, a beautiful depiction of her mother. Tears welled up\nin her eyes and dribbled down her cheeks. Not only at the memories of her\nmother, but also at the thought that her father, and his small income, had\nmanaged to construct such beautiful present. She knew in her heart that her\nfather played Father Christmas and loved him for the intrigue and pretence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\nwas time to go down and thank her father, not only for the presents but the\nwonderful thought behind them. Miles better than all the expensive,\nimpersonally built toys from far off factories. She dressed in her best outfit,\nwell cleanest at any rate, and walked downstairs, smelling the toast and hopefully\na soft-boiled egg for her breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGood\nmorning dearest sweetheart,\u201d said her father, giving her a kiss on her\nforehead. \u201cHappy Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHello\nDaddy,\u201d said Pauline, giving him a hug as he leant down to the floor. \u201cLook at\nthe dolls Father Christmas made for me. They look just like us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow\nwonderful,\u201d said her father \u201cLet\u2019s have breakfast and the see if there\u2019s\nanything else Father Christmas left under the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMore\npresents?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMaybe\nonly one, but let\u2019s eat first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline\nhad never eaten her egg quicker than today, dipping her soldiers into the egg,\nspilling bright yellow yolk down the sides of the shell and onto her plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCareful!\nDon\u2019t waste it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSorry,\u201d\nshe said, wiping the side with her finger to get the last morsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cReady?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOh\nyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cClose\nyour eyes,\u201d as he led her into the lounge. \u201cOpen them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline\ngave a shriek as she saw huge present by the tree, \u201cFor me?\u201d Maybe this would\nbe something she could talk about, as she knelt down and slowly undid the brown\npaper wrapping. A roof emerged, with all individual tiles marked out, followed\nby the outside walls and windows. \u201cA doll\u2019s House!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNot\nany doll\u2019s house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo,\nit\u2019s our House,\u201d she replied. \u201cHow wonderful. But it has no insides and no\npeople.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhere\nare your other presents?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOh upstairs.\u201d She said excitement\nbuilding once again. \u201cI\u2019ll get them.\u201d Pauline rushed up the stairs and\ncollected the box and fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRight. Now open the front wall of the\nhouse, there\u2019s a small catch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline fumbled on the catch with her\ntrembling fingers and finally opened the door wide. \u201cBut there\u2019s nothing\ninside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her father brought another rectangular\nbox from behind the tree and handed it to Pauline. She was shivering with\ndelight as she ripped open the package to reveal a perfect Kitchen, just like\ntheirs, complete with another Mum doll, this time in her pinny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRight, now push the kitchen into the\nhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline eased the kitchen in and set\nher mother in front of the oven. \u201cLook Dad she\u2019s cooking our supper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo she is,\u201d as he handed her another\nbox. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline opened this one more carefully\nas it rattled slightly, inside was a perfect dining room this time with her\nmother laying the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A third box appeared as if by magic,\nnow she had a lounge with her mother sitting in front of the fire, knitting a\ntiny blue jumper. \u201cOh Daddy, this is wonderful thank you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She unwrapped the fourth box to reveal\na beautiful model of the main bedroom with her mum doing her hair in front of an\nexquisite mirror. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPut that on top of the lounge,\u201d\ninstructed her dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline carefully slotted the bedroom\ninto the first-floor section, followed by another room her father passed her, made\nto look exactly like their bathroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhere\u2019s my bedroom?\u201d queried Pauline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the other box you have. I\nthought we could decorate that together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, he produced a tiny garden\nwith mum in her gardening clothes, planting flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDad this is the most wonderful\nChristmas, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe both miss your mother so much and\nI thought that if we couldn\u2019t have her with us, we could have her in spirit, in\nthis house and we can do all the things together, as if she had never left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pauline hugged her father so tightly\nto make sure he realised what a wonderful gift he had made for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow then, how are we going to\ndecorate your room?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll get some things but I think\nmother should be reading me a bedtime story.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A House is Forever not just for Christmas \u00a9Peter L. Barnes 2018 Pauline woke with a start. Someone was creeping into her bedroom. Her heart was thumping in her chest and she could hardly contain her excitement. She was sure that Father Christmas could hear her, despite desperately trying to keep still. Why did she [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":499,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions\/499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peterlbarnes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}