Hello everyone!
I came up with this story way back in March when we were in lockdown, and in some of the time I had I was doing some cleaning in my own room, especially my wardrobe. It inspired me to write a little story about Yvette Blackberry and her own wardrobe problems. Perhaps she is a little similar to me, haha!
One Saturday morning, Betty Blackberry, climbed the wooden stairs to her daughter's bedroom at the top of the old farmhouse. She was carrying a dress that she had just washed and ironed in preparation for Yvette to wear it to some dance in the village happening the next week.
She made her way across the tidy room, noting with satisfaction the neatness that her teenage daughter was exhibiting. Everything seemed to be in place.
Absentmindedly, she reached for the wardrobe door. It was an old piece of furniture, belonging to Betty's grandmother, made from walnut and crafted by the best carpenter in that time. The door heaved open rather reluctantly as she tugged. Betty caught one look at the mountain of stuff inside perched precariously...
...And slammed it shut behind her.
"Yvette!" she yelled. "Yvette! Your wardrobe is a mess! It's so jam-packed I can't hang your dress up! Please tidy it!" She left the dress lying on Yvette's bed and left the room, returning to the rest of the washing.
Yvette, meanwhile, who had heard her mother's every word but pretended not to hear, came up to her room and shut the door behind her. She sat on the bed and stared unhappily at the wardrobe.
The truth was, she knew how bad the mess was inside as much as anyone. She had just always shoved whatever she didn't want in sight or had nowhere else to put in there. Who knew how many year's worth of stuff was piled up in there? She supposed that she had just always hoped that she could pretend that it wasn't there and wouldn't have to do anything about it. Now, she saw that would never win this battle. Especially not now that her mother knew.
She walked across the room and lifted her hand to the door...
For a split second everything stayed suspended in one place. Yvette's hopes soared.
Then, like an avalanche it all gave way and fell with rumble and bang to the floor.
"Oh my!" said her mother and sister Ingrid, who had suddenly appeared in her room to survey the chaotic scene.
Yvette looked at it miserably once more. It was going to take forever to sort out this mountain of stuff!
Her mother bent down and picked up a duck toy on the edge of the pile. She looked at it nostalgically.
"I remember this toy! I bought it for you before you were even born. In those days the toy store had just opened and I went in there to browse and look at all the stock. I knew you would love it. And you did, didn't you?"
Yvette was still looking over all the objects when her mother returned with a big box. "Here you are, love. If there's anything you don't want to keep put it in here and we can give it away or find another use for it."
And so Yvette began the long process of sorting through all her old objects and belongings. The first thing she picked up was a rabbit toy. It had been given to her on her 6th birthday. Yvette smiled and put it in the 'keep' pile.
Hanging on the wardrobe door was a pink hat. It was far too small for Yvette to wear now, but the sight of it brought back floods of memories.
Her mother gave a sigh when Yvette took it down. "Oh I remember that! You wore it on your very first trip to the beach! I've still got photos of you splashing in the waves in that hat..."
Yvette put it in the box and continued the cleanup. Some things she shuddered to remember. A science textbook was buried beneath her snorkelling mask. She was pleased about finding the mask but the textbook only made her remember the challenging homework she had had for science that year at school. I think I was meant to return this textbook to the school at the end of the year. She thought, knowing that it must have wound its way up in her wardrobe before slipping her mind completely. Oops...
Other things astounded her. She couldn't figure how she ended up with the menu of the village pizza shop amongst the pile of stuff...
And who knew what a ball of yarn was doing at the bottom of her wardrobe? Perhaps a long time ago she had been interested in knitting...? Yvette couldn't remember. It was like digging through memories.
There were some scores, however. A perfect fitting pair of slippers was unearthed. Now I won't have to get cold feet every morning when I walk down the cold wooden stairs to the kitchen, she thought.
She was delighted to find the shawl that her grandmother had crocheted for her. She tried it on and fitted just right. It would go perfectly with her dress for the dance.
"My first camera!" Yvette cried when she pulled out the little pink toy. Even from a young age she had loved photography. Now she had a proper one, but this one still had a special place in her heart as the first stepping stone to her hobby.
Postcards from old friends that had moved away on gone on holiday, books from when she was at nursery... all sorts of things were hidden in her wardrobe.
"So that's where those sneakers got to!" she exclaimed.
"Too bad they don't fit you anymore." Betty said. "You hardly wore them. Never mind, I'm sure we can find another owner for them."
For the next half hour Yvette pulled out even more stuff, with each item recalling the memories they brought. She was beginning to rather enjoy herself surprisingly. Perhaps cleaning wasn't as bad as she thought...
When her old recorder surfaced, Yvette laughed. When she was ten she had begun taking lessons for a few years and even played it in a couple of school concerts.
There was no reason why she shouldn't be able to still play it. She held it to her lips and blew. Out came an undignified toot. "Well, perhaps I need to practice some more." she said to the others as they fell about laughing.
Something hanging behind Yvette's winter coat caught Ingrid's eye and she pulled it out, bursting out laughing. "You used to wear this?"
Yvette glared at her sister fiercely. "Oh, be quiet. I only did ballet for half a year and then I got sick of it."
"Stop bickering you two." Betty said. "I'll wash this dress and then we can take it back to the ballet school. I think Jane Appleblossom buys back the secondhand dresses and then sells them on. And yes, Ingrid, your sister did do ballet. She looked very nice."
At last the only thing left was Yvette's winter coat, which could stay in there till she needed it again next winter, and two piles of stuff on the floor, the one to the right the keepers, and the other stuff to give away...
It was later that afternoon and Yvette was satisfied that her wardrobe was now presentable.
It was a couple of weeks later and Yvette was resting on a bench on one corner of the village square, on her way to Jane Appleblossom's ballet school to drop off the dress and shoes. It wasn't far from the square to Jane's place but it had been quite a walk from Blackberry Farm into the village. The farm was fairly isolated.
Her mother had told her that Jane bought back the second-hand dresses cheaply. It wouldn't give a huge amount of money, but it would be enough to buy Yvette a couple of new films for her camera.
She sat on, dreaming about all the potential things she could photograph with the extra films. The riverbanks were always ripe with prospective subjects. Perhaps this time she would be able to capture that magnificent dragonfly she had seen while out rowing last time...
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice from a seat nearby. Yvette looked across. A young mother was sitting on the bench with her child. Yvette didn't know either of their names as she listened to them.
"I'm sorry darling." the mother was saying. "You know that I'd love to be able to give you the things you want. But I'm afraid we just don't have enough money to afford the dress and the shoes you'd need. Perhaps you could do ballet in a year or so..." Her voice sounded tearful.
Yvette watched as she touched her daughter's cheek and gave a sniff. "I'm sorry..." she said again.
For a second the new camera films flashed in Yvette's head. Then she slid off the bench, picked up the bag and walked over to them.
"Excuse me, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I couldn't help overhearing." The mother's face turned red and Yvette continued on quickly. "I have a ballet uniform, dress and shoes, right here that I have no need for anymore. It may be a little big, but the dress could be altered-and the shoes too can be adjusted. I'd like to give it to you." She gave her warmest smile.
"Really?! Oh thank you! Thank you so much!"
The mother leapt off the seat and hugged Yvette.
"Really, I don't know how to thank you." she wiped a tear from her eye. "Cottontail has been asking about doing ballet for years and it was awful having to deny her that just because we couldn't afford the uniform."
She turned to her daughter. "Come on love, let's go enroll you in ballet classes!"
Yvette watched them skip off together, hand in hand, knowing full well now that she could easily live without those extra films that selling that dress would have supplied.
She turned around to head for home, smiling to herself as she went.
Be kind. It may take only one moment but it will mean the world to someone else.
