September 2002 Second Prize "The Old Chair" In my bedroom stands a chair, nowadays usually only half visible beneath piles of clothes waiting to be put away in the wardrobe when I’ve time to drag myself away from the computer. It’s an old fashioned chair with a high back and no arms, with a once elegantly upholstered seat now faded and threadbare, the sort you could imagine a stern Victorian Governess urging her charge to sit upright and not fidget while they were sitting on it. Whenever I look at that chair, I remember my childhood and my very earliest memories. The chair didn’t always live in the bedroom but together with an identical one, used to be on either side of the bay windows in the lounge, or front room as we always called it. The lounge was my Aunt’s domain. She was a stern lady born in the Victorian era, who’d never married and still lived as if in a bygone era. I was only seven years old when she died, so have few memories left of her, but I do remember her sitting on the chair each evening and sewing to catch the last rays of sunlight in the west facing room. At least I think I remember, or did my Mother tell me that? I was fond of my Aunt though, as she had a soft spot for me beneath her stern exterior. She was always telling me to be ladylike and I can remember her horror when I expressed admiration for the boy who brought the evening paper and said I’d like to do that when I was grown up. "Indeed not!" she said "if you wish to deliver anything, the Church Magazine would be far more appropriate !" My Aunt loved to sew and embroider and felt she needed a hard chair to concentrate properly on her work. She loved to make things for the local church where was the Verger and painstakingly sewed and embroidered an altar cloth and matching set of communion cloths. In the months before she died, I remember how she struggled to finish the altar cloth and the evenings she and my Mother sat opposite each other on the matching chairs, discussing details of the design. I remember her box of embroidery silks and the pleasure of being allowed to play with them, arranging them in rows according to what colour they were. The brightly coloured threads were wound round strips of card and I always wondered why my Aunt had more browns and beiges than the jewel like reds, greens and golds that I thought so pretty. They say you don’t remember anything before you are three years old and my earliest memory is of my third birthday. I had been sent a lot of cards from Aunts and Uncles and my Mother had put them on the chair, which I could just reach and I remember looking through the cards and liking their colourful designs. When my Aunt died her rooms remained unused for a while until I reached my teens ,and my Mother decided I needed more space of my own and she suggested I move into my Aunt’s bedroom. At the same time, she had the lounge redecorated and bought some new furniture. The old chairs, which were upholstered to match the old furniture, looked out of place with a modern three piece suite and my Mother decided to banish them to the loft, but I begged one for my bedroom. I’m glad I did for though I can’t recall anyone ever sitting on it since it was moved, every time I look at it, it brings back so many memories. If chairs could talk, I wonder what memories of its own it would share? Contributed by Rose Moonbeam (R) Copyright © 2002 Rose Moss. May not be used without the author's written permission. To return to the contest winners page, just close this window. We invite you to explore our other Constellations, designed to help you chart your course and destiny as members of Sisters of the Golden Moon. Beauty Unity Reception Wisdom Causes Membership Scribes Celestial Dusters Home Covenant Join Links Constellations Membership E-mailGuestbook Web Ring Submissions to Scribe contests are all offered by members of Sisters of the Golden Moon. If you are a member and would like to contribute to future contests, please contact Galaxy Star Honor74 . Except where noted, all articles, submissions and graphics are copyright © 2004, Sisters of the Golden Moon, all rights reserved. To the best of our knowledge, all entries submitted to Scribe contests are the original work of the person submitting them. Graphics created by Heronwing for Sisters of the Golden Moon. "Fragrant Memories" image copyright © 2002 Josephine Wall. Our thanks to this talented artist for making her works available.