Thursday 12 November 2015

The bread bin



Many, many years ago two young boys had been left alone during the school holidays with both parents at work so they spent the day playing outside in the yard until the rain came down so they rushed back inside and so did the cat who didn't like the rain at all.

They played for an hour or so with their toys before hunger took hold of them and they searched the house for something to eat but they could find nothing.

Brian finally remembered the bread bin and lifting the lid they found only two crusts left so they both grabbed one while the cat looked on.

"We can't leave it empty" Robin said, so Brian grabbed the cat and put him inside then put the lid back on while they went back to playing with their own toys waiting for their mother to come home.

She was not pleased to find the house in disarray, the cat howling in the bread bin, her shopping still to put away and a meal to prepare before their father came home, so the boys were sent to their bedrooms hungry...except for one who still had his crust of bread stuffed up his jumper.

That boy was me in war torn England in 1943.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, amazing story. I have so many questions about living through that time. ...of course my first thouvht about this is really?! You put the cat in the bread bin!?

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    1. Brian put the cat in; as a 6yo I was too much of a wimp to do that. The cat was quiet until Mum came home then yowled.

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  2. Dude! (so were you the one with the observation* or the one with the remedy**?)

    *… you might have left it empty
    **… because, like, naturally they'll mistake a car for bread crusts!! anyone would lol

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    1. Kids were not rational in their thinking with empty stomachs in those days. Sadly I was bullied by my older brother who resented having to share what little food there was with a pipsqueak sibling. We were often told to go outside and play together which was fun for him and punishment for me. However we were lucky Britain was not occupied by the enemy otherwise we may have eaten the cat!

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