Initial doubts
"Gran, you're not listening ... I didn't say his name was Bud, I said his initials were Bud - B. U. D., same as my initials. And anyway you can be called Bud, strange as it sounds: it's a name in America - wasn't there someone called Bud Flanagan or something?"
She looked back over her shoulder at her grandmother, sat at the table doing the 'Times' crossword, and trying to beat her self-imposed thirty minute deadline, then turned back to the task in hand: getting the fire going, the wind was in the east and it was hard to get it to draw, despite sitting there with a newspaper held up against the chimney breast for what had seemed ages.
"Well what is his name then, what do the initials stand for?"
"Benedict Ulrich Dohl - his father's father was German apparently."
"Well, you certainly can't be marrying him then .. "
" Whyever not? - not that I've any intention of doing so, for heaven's sake! - stop trying to marry me off to every bloke I mention ... but why not this chap?"
"Because with your name - Barbara - you'll become a Barbie Dohl," and Rose triumphantly laid down her pen. "Finished! Finished in 28 minutes - and that newspaper's going to burn if you're not careful."
She looked back over her shoulder at her grandmother, sat at the table doing the 'Times' crossword, and trying to beat her self-imposed thirty minute deadline, then turned back to the task in hand: getting the fire going, the wind was in the east and it was hard to get it to draw, despite sitting there with a newspaper held up against the chimney breast for what had seemed ages.
"Well what is his name then, what do the initials stand for?"
"Benedict Ulrich Dohl - his father's father was German apparently."
"Well, you certainly can't be marrying him then .. "
" Whyever not? - not that I've any intention of doing so, for heaven's sake! - stop trying to marry me off to every bloke I mention ... but why not this chap?"
"Because with your name - Barbara - you'll become a Barbie Dohl," and Rose triumphantly laid down her pen. "Finished! Finished in 28 minutes - and that newspaper's going to burn if you're not careful."
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Author's Note
A recent Thinking Ten piece
Other stories by Sandra Davies
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This is nice, and a good play on/with title.
("chimney breast"--what would a translation be?)
Ha! - I never realised that 'chimney breast' was so English - it's the wall between room and chimney which sometimes, but not always, sticks out into the room. How odd - I'd never thought to try and define it until now. Thank you Matt.
That's okay, luv.
(Is that how ya'll spell it, "luv"?)
luv'll do nicely thanks!