Nana's Story

CH 1 - 1942

Although Elizabeth was eight years of age, she still took Momma Bear with her wherever she went which is why we will find together early this morning in Moyses Steven's florist.

It was Valentine's Day the following day and Elizabeth wanted to get some pretty flowers for the fearies who inhabited the nearby wood so she had done more work around the house than usual and earned herself a few pennies, enough to buy a bunch of roses. Of course her mother had insisted that she should be doing those things anyway and not getting paid but as usual her father stepped in and said it would be a good way for the girl to learn how to spend your money wisely.

"Morning Henry, morning Phyllis," she chirped to the two florists on duty.

Moyses Stevens always had a sweet and fresh smell of flowers. You could never describe the exact smell for it was different every day thanks to the wild array of new flowers that were always moving in and out of the shop. Today the smell was one of spring and happiness; a mixture of daisies, lavender, rosemary and so much more. Elizabeth would describe the smell as 'yellow'. Whenever they smelt something beautiful that they couldn't quite pin, the locals would say "Ah, it's got the Moyses smell."

"Good morning Miss Elizabeth."

"How are you today?" Came the replies.

"I'm absolutely marvellous thank you. I came to buy a bouquet of one dozen ruby red roses." She proudly told them.

Phyllis and Henry looked at one another, surprised. Did sweet little Elizabeth have someone special that these were for? Was the little munchkin that would ogle at their flowers as a toddler finally growing up?

"Absolutely, you know how much they are; would you like to choose which bouquet you fancy?" Phyllis offers after a moment of silence.

Feeling content, Elizabeth waltzes to the rose display, taking about five minutes to choose the correct bouquet before walking back to the till and proudly handing over her hard earned money.

With Momma Bear in one arm and her flowers in another, Elizabeth said her farewells and left the store, the bell chiming a lyrical tune as she did so. She always felt happy walking down the cobbled street. The florist was always the first store she'd stare at or enter. She would then turn down into Jermyn Street and walk past the souvenir shop.

The souvenir shop was one that she had never entered, but had always observed from the outside. Elizabeth always wished that she had enough money to enter that shop and buy one of the porcelain ladies that so elegantly stood on the shelf, their delicate parasols resting on their shoulders, protecting them from the harsh non-existent sunlight.

Her next stop of her journey was the haberdashery store named Floris. She would completely forget about the delicate porcelain ladies standing in the souvenir shop. Now all she wanted money for were the needles and threads on display inside the shop. There was an entire wall filled with colourful threads. Thick threads, thin threads, black threads, pink threads. If you could think of a thread, it was there. There was even a rainbow thread!

There were a few other stores along her journey, but none of them would ever catch her eye. The road eventually thinned out, leading her into the forest. She could just about walk this path with her eyes closed. She had in fact done it on a few occasions, just to immerse herself in the sounds and smells of this magical Garden of Eden.

The birds were always tweeting and chirping their tunes and the forest always smelt fresh and crisp.

This morning, Elizabeth was on her way to the little waterfall at the end of the pathway. This is where she believed the faeries lived and played. In the summertime she would bring a blanket, a picnic and momma bear out here to see if she could ever spot one of the elusive creatures but today she was only going to place the flowers down.