Mrs Stych

Land-lady  pencil drawing by Nigel A JAMES

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The Sweetness of Forgotten Moments

It is then, with memories of war-time suffering receding, that the sweetness of forgotten moments begin to stand out, and, these are the feelings of pleasure which used to brighten and lighten the darkness of hardship. And, Mrs Stych of Vienna has one such short story that she would like to relate.

    It was  the second world war.  After having been evacuated from Vienna for the safety of her children, Mrs Stych found herself amongst the fields and the forests of the peaceful countryside between Vienna and Prague. And there she lived - and there her children played.

    And life, in this paradise on earth was miles away from the falling of the bombs, the stalking of the hunger, the shortages, and, much, much worse, the fifty-fifty chance of ever waking up again in the morning!

    And, so it was, that summer became winter, and, with it, their first fall of countryside snow - and the story that Mrs Stych often looks back to.

    Her son had come home with very wet shoes, he had been sledging and snowball fighting, and, as was usual in those days, Mrs Stych took his wet shoes and put them in the wood oven to dry; so far so good. But then, as the evening advanced into the shadows of night, the family’s thoughts were on the fun they were having - and Mrs Stych completely forgot the shoes in the oven!

    But the shoes were ever present. Soon, from the stove came the smell of what was just like a joint of roasting beef - and it was making everyone hungry! It was just like being back home in Vienna!

    But still the playing continued.

    And then, all of a sudden, the penny dropped. Rushing over to the stove, Mrs Stych was just in time to rescue the shoes. But, she then had to put them into a bucket of water to cool down and loosen up again. Wet shoes! Back again to square one!

    Things, however, turned out just fine. Her son was able to carry on wearing his almost roasted shoes, and Mrs Stych was able to carry on collecting her stories. The family survived their war, and, all of them are still living happily in Vienna.

But, they no longer roast their shoes for their lunch!







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