A while ago I set myself a writing challenge – I found a list of random words and decided I would write something for each ot them. The third on the list was ‘lumber’, and after a while of thinking, I wrote another chapter of my children’s story about a young girl called Peggy. It is set in the 1950’s and Peggy is staying with ehr grandma who lives by the sea.
Lumber
When I had asked granny why it was called the lumber room, she couldn’t tell me,because it is, she said. What does lumber mean, I asked, well, it’s just the lumber room, she said.
“But what does it mean, what is lumber,” I asked. She gave a big sigh, because I was asking so many questions. I don’t mean to, they just leap out of my mouth when I don’t know something.
”I suppose it means rubbish, junk, things people don’t want,” she said in a kind voice, but I knew she was getting fed up with my questions – not in a nasty way i don’t mean. Mum would have told me to stop being so irritating and be cross and I would realise I was being inconsiderate by keeping asking silly questions.
“Maybe Mr Benstead knows, why don’t you ask him when we next see him,” she said with a little chuckle.
This was a very good idea because Mr Benstead knows so much, and if he doesn’t know something he will look in his big dictionary. Granny has a dictionary too but it is a pocket dictionary and it is called that because it can fit in your pocket.
We went up the stairs and up the little staircase behind the door next to my bedroom. Granny sneezed because it was very dusty. I had not been in the lumber room before. I had asked Granny what was up the stairs and she had told me and that was when I asked what lumber.
It was quite warm and quite dark because there was only one window in the roof.
”Good gracious,it’s very dusty up here!” Granny said.
She was right, it was really really dusty!
“There is a place in America called the Dust Bowl, Granny, it was called that because there was a terrible drought and all the soil blew away because it was so dry and that’s why it was called the Dust Bowl.”
I stopped talking because Granny was staring at me, and I felt all hot because I was talking too much and mummy said it’s very rude to talk to much to grown ups because I am a child and have nothing interesting to say.
”Good heavens, Peggy, the interesting things you know!” Granny exclaimed – exclaimed is the way someone speaks suddenly and in surprise. “You are so clever and knowledgeable!”
Was she making a joke? Sometimes mummy says things but means the opposite of what she says. I think this is called being sarcastic.
’Was this a long time ago? You must ask Mr Benstead if he knows about it because he went to America when he was a boy.”
I realised that Granny wasn’t cross or sarcastic. She was interested and I felt happy.
Lois Elsden 