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Stories & Imaginings >> Cookies & Drabbles >> 20th December Advent drabble
(Message started by: Carolyn P on Dec 20th, 2003, 12:01am)

Title: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Carolyn P on Dec 20th, 2003, 12:01am
Hope it is past midnight on the board when this goes through. I'm off to bed and don't intend to surface for at least 9 hours. Minimum!


Frau Meiders entered the domestic science kitchen early in the morning. There was a lot to prepare before the girls came and she wanted to check that there were enough ingredients for the girls, there had been so many nasty surprises when they had run out of things before and been forced to borrow from the school kitchen, or even when they had simply had to get new boxes out of their own cupboards. Frau Meiders sometimes wondered if the girls bother to read any labels at all.

“Take your seats quickly girls, there is a lot to get through this morning. The recipes is on the board, please copy it down into your books and then wash your hands before joining me at the worktable.” The girls scattered to their tasks and before long they were all grouped around the long worktable that dominated one side of the kitchen. Wearing white full length aprons, hands scrubbed and hair tied back they looked ready to work, and were all keen to proceed with this particular recipe, it was a treat for them to make a pudding, until recently they had been spending lots of time on vegetables, “Which is all very well,” moaned Francis Wilford, “But who wants to cook veggies all the time.” It had been a pleasant surprise to see that their task for today was to make Christmas puddings and they were excited as a result.

“When will we be eating them please?” queried Margot Maynard in her prettily accented French, the language for the day.
“The pudding is best kept to mature for a while, so once you have cooked these puddings, they will be stored away and heated up for the supper at the end of term,” replied Frau Meiders in the same language.
“How will we store them?” This came from an interested Ruey who had already had opportunity the previous summer to try her hand at housekeeping.
“They will be wrapped in foil and placed in airtight tins until needed, as we do also with fruit cake. Now please take your apples and peel them carefully, we don’t want to waste the best part of the fruit. Do the same with the carrot you each have. I will be round shortly to inspect your peelings so please keep them separate.” This was directed at those members of the form who still thought that by mixing their peelings with others the thickness would escape her quick eyes. It was not so, and Frau Meiders knew the capabilities of every girl present.

“Should have know we wouldn’t escape veggies that easily muttered Francie to her neighbour.
“Did you need something?” asked Frau Meiders, her sharp ears picking up Francie’s muttering.
Francie made a quick recovery, “Are we going to put things into the pudding?” she asked.
“What do you mean, of course we will put in fruit and sugar and the other ingredients you have just copied down.”
“No, I meant like rings and sixpences.”
“Why would we do that, it could be dangerous if items like that were swallowed.”
“Oh, no Frau Meiders, everyone will look for them in Christmas Pudding,” explained Margot. “We wrap them in foil and if you get the ring you will be the first to be married and the sixpence means you will be rich in the next year. It’s traditional.”

Frau Meiders surveyed the girls, suspecting a joke, but on seeing that they were in earnest she told Ruey to wash her hands and go the office with a note for Miss Dene requesting any sixpences that lady may have in the office. Ruey tempted providence by running down the corridors, but for once escaped and handed the note over to Miss Dene rather breathless, but with a brief explanation of its contents. Rosalie unlocked the desk drawer and soon sent Ruey speeding on her way back to the domestic science room with a bagful of sixpences.



Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Pat on Dec 20th, 2003, 12:07am
Oh dear, are those puddings going to be edible at all?  ::)

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by xanthe on Dec 20th, 2003, 12:09am
Thank you Carolyn, sleep well  :-*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Abi on Dec 20th, 2003, 12:15am
Well, that's just asking for trouble from Rachel, isn't it!  :o

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Vikki on Dec 20th, 2003, 1:35am
Sleep well Carolyn! :-* :-*
And thank you for a promising beginning!
*wonders what Rachel will do with this ne, and hopes she posts fairly early!!*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Rachel on Dec 20th, 2003, 2:43am
Is this early enough for you?



Shame I'm off to bed now and wont get your responses til I'm good and ready to post.
























I can tell you however that it is quite a fun one   8oo

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Lisa on Dec 20th, 2003, 2:48am
GOSH!  ::) Thought I'd happened on the 2nd posting!  ;D Looking forward to it later!
First part beautifully written as always, Carolyn!

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Lesley on Dec 20th, 2003, 7:12am
Excellent beginning as always Carolyn.

Await Rachel's ending with fear, dread and longing!

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by KB on Dec 20th, 2003, 7:45am
*hopes Rachel's sequel is more logical than the previous one* :o

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by LulieCat on Dec 20th, 2003, 9:03am
*anticipates all sorts of disasters with Christmas puddings*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Chloe on Dec 20th, 2003, 10:12am
Thank you Carolyn

*wonder where this will all end*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Ally on Dec 20th, 2003, 10:35am
Somehow I feelt that these puddings are going to cause a lot of trouble

*wondering how much the body count will rise*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Rachel on Dec 20th, 2003, 11:18am
The lesson proceeded smoothly, and at the end of the morning, all the girls looked proudly at the rows of Christmas Puddings laid out. Frau Meiders, pleased with how hard the girls had all worked, amiably agreed to take responsibility for packing the puddings away until they would be brought out again at the end of term.


The last night of term was great excitement for all of the girls involved in the making of the Christmas Puddings. They watched smugly as the trays of puddings were brought in, but suddenly Margot Maynard jumped to her feet.
“We have to set fire to them first!” she exclaimed loudly.
The rest of the form murmured agreement that this should be done, and Ruey hastily got to her feet and headed to where the matches were kept in the Speisesaal, one of the drawers near to those where tablecloths and napkins were kept.
Miss Annersley rose to her feet, and raised her hand, “Now girls, I don’t think this is necessary,” she began in her beautiful voice, but alas and alack, too late.

Ruey had brought out the box of matches and struck the first one even as Miss Annersley was getting to her feet. Fascinated by the little flame, Ruey gazed at it, until with a cry of pain as the flame reached her fingers, she dropped the match to the floor. This would hardly have mattered, if the silly girl had not also dropped the open box of matches at the same time. Several of the matches landed near the little flame, and immediately burst into flames themselves. Instead of stamping hard on the minor inferno at her feet, Ruey screamed and ran away.

Miss Annersley hushed the girls who were all beginning to make alarmed noises, and bade them all to move out of the Speisesaal and follow their usual fire drill. Miss Ferrars, deeply ashamed that it should be one of her own form behaving like a blethering idiot, rose to her feet to catch hold of Ruey as the girl ran past her. Kathie Ferrars hand just caught the back of Ruey’s blazer, bringing the girl up short and almost choking her. The shock caused Ruey to trip up and she fell spreadeagled in front of the doors from the Speisesaal, blocking the only route from the room.

The little flames had spread quickly amongst the remaining matches, and taken hold on the wooden floor. Little flames became bigger flames, and bigger flames became huge flames.

Ruey was lying in a hysterical heap in front of the doors, refusing to move or be moved. Several mistresses had already been kicked violently in their attempts to move the distraught girl, and Kathie Ferrars had an obviously broken arm from another of Ruey’s wild kicks.

The flames spread along the floor, and began climbing up the tables by way of the tablecloths. The napkins soon burst into flames, and the curtains at the windows led the flames up the walls to the ceilings. Within mere minutes, the entire room was ablaze, and the entire staff and students were trapped, many of them passing out from the effects of smoke inhalation. Gradually the smoke took effect on Ruey who had her face to the door and was therefore the person to be last affected by the smoke. She came to her senses enough to crawl through the doors and out of the school, where she lay in a heap on the lawn, watching the school blaze.

When she was later found, all she could mutter was Christmas Puddings. Ruey was the only person to have survived the inferno that swept through the school, and the bodies were burned beyond recognition. All that was ever found in the charred wreckage that had once been the chalet school, was a collection of fire damaged sixpences.

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Abi on Dec 20th, 2003, 11:22am
Oh RACHEL!!!!!!!!

*rofl-ing hysterically and waking up the entire house (I'm the only one out of bed)* 8oo8oo8oo

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by LauraT on Dec 20th, 2003, 12:37pm
RACHEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??!  :o

So who on earth is going to be in the advent drabble tomorrow - they're all DEAD!







Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Carolyn P on Dec 20th, 2003, 1:40pm
As soon as I saw the body count I knew this was going to be a good one!

Well done Rachel.

8oo

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Esmeralda on Dec 20th, 2003, 2:55pm
Well done Rachel, neatly bringing in the sixpences without taking the obvious route!
You were right, it was a fun one.

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by xanthe on Dec 20th, 2003, 3:36pm
*giggling weakly* thank you Rachel 8oo

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Lisa on Dec 20th, 2003, 7:55pm
Oh, very good! Love the image of the charred sixpences! Wonder how Ruey will ever come to terms with what she's done!

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Cumbrian_Rachel on Dec 20th, 2003, 7:59pm
*wondering just how Rachel could possibly top that body count!*

Another excellent ending (and beginning) - I was just a little disappointed that there were any octopuses this time  ;D

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Chloe on Dec 20th, 2003, 8:05pm
Rachel you make me laugh so much, thanks! 8oo

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Lesley on Dec 20th, 2003, 8:31pm
Excellent as always - wonder how Ruey explained that! 8oo

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Ally on Dec 20th, 2003, 8:54pm
Fabulous! so Ruey killed the whole school, Joey will be proud of her!

*Wonders how many people Rachel considered to be at the school at the time!*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Rachel on Dec 20th, 2003, 9:05pm

on 12/20/03 at 20:54:19, Ally wrote:
*Wonders how many people Rachel considered to be at the school at the time!*



After careful examination of all the texts available, thorough study of every name mentioned, detailed consultation with various CS experts and intense scrutiny of various non-fiction works, the number I pulled out of the air was 612   ;D

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Pat on Dec 20th, 2003, 9:21pm
How many of us are you planning to slaughter over the coming week, Rachel?!!   ::)

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Emily on Dec 20th, 2003, 10:22pm
Shh, Pat! Don't ask dangerous questions! Do you want to draw her attention to the fact that some of us are still alive?!!!

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Pat on Dec 20th, 2003, 10:23pm
Could she miss the fact that we are posting here, Emily?  Unless we claim to be our ghosts, of course!!  ;D

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Emily on Dec 20th, 2003, 10:28pm
You mean you can see through my ingenious double-sheet-with-eyeholes ghost disguise?  >:(

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Pat on Dec 20th, 2003, 10:32pm
Since it's the twin of mine - yes!  I'm also wearing a necklace of garlic incase that helps at all!!

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Rachel on Dec 20th, 2003, 11:58pm
MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!


I love garlic!

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by KB on Dec 21st, 2003, 3:33am
*hopes Rachel isn't paying close attention to this thread*

*thinks hope may be belied*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Vikki on Dec 21st, 2003, 4:11am
8oo 8oo 8oo

*lies on floor in a limp heap, whimpering feebly with the aftermath of hysterical laughter*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by KB on Dec 21st, 2003, 4:26am
*helps Vikki to sit up and gives her a glass of water to ease the stitch that will certainly be coming soon*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Vikki on Dec 21st, 2003, 4:38am
*thanks KB and leans against her, while trying to catch her breath!*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by KB on Dec 21st, 2003, 4:41am
*pats Vikki's shoulder and smooths her sweat-soaked hair*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Rachael on Dec 21st, 2003, 9:50pm
Ingenious!

*impressed by body count but worried that she might move on to CBBers next ....... yes, the cat's mother!*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Susan on Dec 22nd, 2003, 1:20am
Another wonderfully funny story Rachel.   Well done.

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by KB on Dec 22nd, 2003, 3:32am

on 12/21/03 at 21:50:00, Rachael wrote:
Ingenious!

*impressed by body count but worried that she might move on to CBBers next ....... yes, the cat's mother!*


*suggests that Rachael that, as we're going to be the subject of all future stories, it might be wiser not to give Rachel (or even Carolyn) any ideas*

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by Rachael on Dec 22nd, 2003, 9:50am
*giggle*

Well, in fairness, they don't seem to be struggling off their own bats!!

Title: Re: 20th December Advent drabble
Post by KB on Dec 23rd, 2003, 4:53am
*admits that this is true, but still worried*



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