Bedtime Story (27/12/2017)

With the Christmas festivities all over and done with, this is the time of year I like to start thinking of all the other things I have to look forward to (it staves off the post-Christmas blues!).  So, this story was written with that in mind!

Please remember that this is the last bedtime story before I take a month off in January.  The weekly feature will return in February!

If you'd like to listen to me read this story as a podcast, just click here!

"What Will We Do Next Year?!"

Chrissie was feeling a little blue.

Christmas was over and Boxing Day, too!

She sighed at her big sister and whispered in her ear:

"Carolyn?  What will we do next year?"

Carolyn shrugged and simply replied:

"Think of all the ideas you have inside.

A new year's a blank canvass for you to paint on.

We can do whatever you like, when this year has gone!"

Chrissie frowned: "Anything at all?

Even ride my skateboard along the garden wall?

Because I can't do that yet, but I'd like to try.

Can I do it next year?"  Came Chrissie's reply.

"You can give it a go," Carolyn said,

As thoughts went whizzing around Chrissie's head.

"With another year, you'll be older and wiser,

But I'll still be here, to be your adviser."

"Can we invent new games and find new things to do?

And maybe visit some new places, too?"

Chrissie was suddenly losing her fears,

As she filled the new year with so many ideas.

"We'll think of somewhere to go on holiday,"

Carolyn said.  "And of course we can play!

The new year is ours, we can do what we choose;

Twelve brand new months, for you and I to use."

"Will we go down to the park, together?

And play outside, no matter the weather?

Will the trees grow new, fresh green leaves?"
Chrissie beamed.  "Oh, say they will, please!"

"We'll have brand new seasons to watch," Carolyn said.

"From Spring back to Winter; it's all ahead!

The days will grow longer and warmer and then,

They'll suddenly grow shorter and colder again."

"What about all the things that happened this year?"

Chrissie asked into Carolyn's ear.

"Can I keep all the friends I made and the fun that I had?"

If she could, then the new year didn't seem so bad.

Carolyn nodded: "Those things are yours.

So, yes, you can keep them.  Yes, of course!

When an old year ends and a new one starts,

You carry all you need, safe in your heart."

"But will things change, when the new year begins?

What if I forget all the things that have been?

What if the world moves on and I'm left behind?"

All these worries preyed on young Chrissie's mind.

Carolyn smiled: "The whole world will change,

And yet really, it will somehow still stay the same.

The world will seem big and we'll feel much smaller,

But we'll have birthdays and get older and taller."

"So I don't need to worry about the year being new?"

Chrissie asked her sister, thinking things through.

"Because a new year is just like fresh start,

So we should welcome it with an open heart?"

"A new year brings hope and the prospect of change,

But if you're happy it can offer you more of the same.

Carolyn gave Chrissie a sisterly squish:

"A new year is yours to do with as you wish."

Chrissie looked at her sister and gave her a grin.

She suddenly couldn't wait for the new year to begin!

"You know, Carolyn, it doesn't matter what we do,

As long as next year, I still have you."

THE END