After the accident

Well after Maud dropped the plaster Alsatian on her good foot the presents didn't stop there, because when she went into hospital we had another whip round and raised money to buy her a pair of white crutches so that she could be seen in the dark.

Sadly they only had black ones, and the day after she came out of the hospital she was knocked down by a car - well, if the truth were told, she wasn't exactly knocked down by it, it was parked and she walked into the back of it. But there you are, heigh ho. Anyway, the cottage hospital were quite good, they put her back in the same ward and even gave her the same bed, in fact it was still warm. Some of the other patients hadn't even realised she'd been gone.

Everard and I visited her the next day and there she was , lying in bed looking like Helen Twelvetrees in the film Panama Flo.

'Maud,' I said 'I've never seen you looking so well. I like the new hat.'

'Thank you,' She said 'It should have more feathers than this but some dropped off on the stretcher when they slid their equiptment into me, I felt as though I was being banged from all angles.'

'Well, fancy that, You'd never guess from where I'm standing. Now then, here are some grapes, and try not to swallow the pips, they should keep you going until we find your dentures, we had a look around the back of that triumph herald but only found a half eaten sherbert dib dab. And by the way, Everard here has brought a tin of white paint and he's going to do your crutches. He's already put a white line down the middle of your garden path so you can make the front gate safely, and when we get back he's going to put a ring round your dustbin.'

'Well, she was overcome, especially when Everard pulled out his pudding. You see, he'd stayed up all night into the early hours making it for her as a surprise, and I always remember his voice throbbing with emotion as he said,

'Here you are, Maud, get your gums round that.'