John loved this time of year. The summer was long gone and now Christmas was just two days away. The cold crisp mornings looked beautiful. The sun low in the sky shone through winter snow clouds, lighting up the frost along each branch of bare trees and twinkled like Christmas lights. The cold air made breath linger, looking like fog.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/snowscape.jpg?resize=500%2C333\")
<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t easy getting up so early on these cold mornings to do a paper round, leaving behind a warm cosy bed. But John had to help his parents to make ends meet; these were difficult times. His father had suffered a severe head injury at work six months ago, and this had stopped his working life abruptly. Mum had increased her working hours at the local hospital. John aged thirteen was still at school, but he wanted to contribute to the household budget. Each week he would give all his wages apart from \u00a35 to Mum. There was a reason for this \u2013 he was trying to save enough money to buy the beautiful model car that stood in the window of the Model Shop he passed twice each day whilst on his rounds. The Lamborghini was silver with such detail it was breath-taking. The shop owner could set his watch by John\u2019s daily visits.<\/p>\n
The time was 5.30pm, his paper round was finished and it was payday. As usual, John would open the small brown envelope to take out his \u00a35 and then put the rest safely in his pocket for his Mum.<\/p>\n
It started to snow and the little town lights were throwing a misty glow along the busy town centre. People were filled with the Christmas atmosphere. All the shops were staying open until late. John stood a while longer to take in the scene. There was a stall selling roasted chestnuts and the Salvation Army were playing Christmas carols. As John walked through the narrow streets to the bus station, he worked out his savings and knew with today\u2019s money he had enough to buy his beloved Lamborghini. The rest of the money was at home and he would return the following day, Christmas Eve, to buy the car.<\/p>\n
The snow had fallen silently all night and by morning there was quite a covering. Buses crunched the fallen snow into clearways for other vehicles to follow; cars inched their way carefully.<\/p>\n
John helped his Mum with the rest of the decorations and despite money being short, the house was filled with Christmas cheer. The mince pies and sausage rolls were in the oven and the cake was ready for icing. This was always Dad\u2019s job. He enjoyed putting a Christmas scene made from icing in the middle of the cake. It was a work of art – little snowmen and children making their way down a snow-covered hill in their toboggans. And finally \u2013 a beautiful gold band around the side.<\/p>\n
The tree was always dressed on Christmas Eve. Tinsel ornaments and twinkling lights carefully draped the tree from top to bottom. Yet another masterpiece! With everything finished, John left for the short journey back into town. He had already<\/p>\n
bought Mum and Dad\u2019s presents. So now was the time he had longed for, over weeks of careful saving.<\/p>\n
The bus was full of families with young children longing for this day to be over. At the station it was Christmas chaos. Hundreds of people thronged the pavements. John turned the corner into Liberty Square. The model shop was just down the end on the left. He could see the sign just above the door; he would soon be carrying his dream home. As he passed an alleyway John heard someone crying. A small figure of a girl was sobbing; her hands covered her face. John approached slowly, not wanting to frighten her. \u2018What\u2019s the matter?\u2019 he asked, kneeling down in front of her. The little girl looked up at him, eyes wet with tears. \u2018I can\u2019t get home\u2019 she said \u2018I\u2019ve lost my bus fare\u2019.<\/p>\n
John was always a kind lad and the scene of a lonely and frightened little girl stole his heart. \u2018Come on\u2019 he said \u2018 Let\u2019s get you to the station and find the bus you need to get home.\u2019 He stood up and the little girl put her hand in his. Warmly dressed and well spoken, Jasmine said she had lost her purse and become separated from her friends. John found the next bus to the girl\u2019s village, paid for the fare and saw that she was safely inside.<\/p>\n
Making his way back to the Model Shop, John realised that he did not have enough money to buy the car now and when he arrived, the shop had closed. His heart sank. He pressed his face against the window. The Lamborghini had gone! What a Christmas this was turning out to be. He decided not to tell his Mum and Dad about it. He did not want to spoil their Christmas too. So, he put on a smile and when he arrived at the door he sang carols and laughed when Mum arrived at the door carrying a tray of goodies.<\/p>\n
Christmas was wonderful as usual. John could not remember having a bad one. Good company, good food and presents. What more could he ask for \u2026\u2026<\/p>\n
Before long it was Twelfth Night and time for the decorations to be packed away. John always felt sad on this day. The tinsel and ornaments were packed in their boxes and stored in the attic. As John manoeuvred the container holding the tree towards the front door, something fell from behind the tree. He looked across to Mum and Dad but they looked puzzled too. John unwrapped the brown paper parcel tied with string. He opened the box and looked \u2013 mouth open, eyes wide. Words failed him.<\/p>\n
\u2018What is it?\u2019 asked Dad. John lifted the item out of the box. \u2018How did it get there?\u2019 \u2018When did it arrive?\u2019 His parents did not seem to have the answers, but that did not matter. The moment was very special. There in all its glory was his beautiful Lamborghini. He would cherish it always.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lambo.jpg?resize=250%2C149\")
<\/p>\n
To this day, John would wonder about that Christmas years ago, still puzzled over that one question \u2013 WHO PUT IT THERE?<\/p>\n
By Maureen Richards<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHO PUT IT THERE? John loved this time of year. The summer was long gone and now Christmas was just two days away. The cold crisp mornings looked beautiful. The sun low in the sky shone through winter snow clouds, lighting up the frost along each branch of bare trees and twinkled like Christmas lights. The cold air made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334,125],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2ga","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5245,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5245","url_meta":{"origin":8690,"position":0},"title":"HAVE YOURSELF A STRESS-FREE CHRISTMAS","author":"Alan Williams","date":"22nd December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 HAVE YOURSELF A STRESS-FREE CHRISTMAS The Christmas season is almost upon us and the shops are filling with colourful decorations and enticing gifts, (as well as some rather annoyingly repetitive music!!) As wonderful as this time of year can be, the extra work for family, preparing meals, and present-buying,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Coming Up"","block_context":{"text":"Coming Up","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4090,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4090","url_meta":{"origin":8690,"position":1},"title":"Pop-up-Sale","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 On Saturday 2nd December we held our first \"Pop-up\" sale of used books outside the Springfield Stores which was good for reducing our stock of surplus books as well as meeting plenty of people. Keep an eye out for future Pop-ups on a Saturday morning and thanks to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Community Hub"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Community Hub","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5632,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5632","url_meta":{"origin":8690,"position":2},"title":"Llanharan Winter Walk","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Llanharan What a contrast to the Craig yr Allt walk, it had snowed and the sun was shining so visibility was great but it was very cold. We voted to go to Llanharan and walk in the snow to the wind turbines. Parking in the station car park, we climbed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3961,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3961","url_meta":{"origin":8690,"position":3},"title":"Raffles and Lego","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 We are holding a Christmas Raffle with a bumper hamper of seasonal goodies up for grabs. Tickets are \u00a31.00 each and available in the library; thanks to Claire Ellis for organising and donating items. We are selling Christmas Cards with a choice of local scenes and these are \u00a34.00\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Community Hub"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Community Hub","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6761,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6761","url_meta":{"origin":8690,"position":4},"title":"Christmas Reindeer Cafe","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"CHRISTMAS REINDEER CAFE The local community was treated to a really lovely afternoon on Saturday 23 November when Glenys and Mike invited everyone to spend time with friends and neighbours at the Christmas Reindeer Caf\u00e9. Randolph\u2019s extended family were eagerly awaiting the arrival of people from the village who had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Picture4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13800,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13800","url_meta":{"origin":8690,"position":5},"title":"Tips To Make More Of Your Garden","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th November 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER Tips to make more of your garden By folk visiting the Wenvoe village show. Reuse your grow bags by taking the top off and growing late salad crops. After harvesting cabbage cut a cross in the remaining stump and, as if by magic, you will get another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8690"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8690"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8696,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8690\/revisions\/8696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}