A Childhood Tale.

'Twas in times shortly after the war when the country was still reeling and suffering shortages. Clothing was rationed and if you had new clothes they were a valuable commodity to be looked after with great care.

Once upon a time there was a little boy with his even littler sister. They were dressed in their finest new apparel ready for a Sunday drive with their parents. Now this small chap, tired of waiting, decided that an adventure was needed to stifle the tedium and where else could be better than his Daddy's sheds. Dragging along his younger sibling they began to explore the caverns of naughtiness normally out of reach to their inquistive minds. First to catch the little chap's eye were some sealed metal barrels....to sate his curiousity as to their contents he hit one of them with a sharp stone that dented the metal....through this hole gushed a cascade of black, shiny loveliness. Marvellous stuff to dunk your hands into except when you want to wipe it off when you are ready to move on to another exploit. For it is tar and it is sticky and it doesn't just come off when you wipe your hands on your new outfit. So what's to be done......a quick look around reveals a rather marvellous pile of chicken feathers left over from the birds' recent dispatch. Perhaps this would provide a solution- the only way to find out is for you and with your encouragement, your little sister to roll in them...or perhaps not for this is the time your Mother is calling for you.....

 Let's just say upon viewing the state of her children Mother was incandescent with rage. How can I be so sure of my facts....why this naughty little boy is now a naughty 69 year old chap and he is my Daddy!

Arilx