A STORY OF A DREAM

By Rachel C.
I hurried down the cobbled streets with my shawl wrapped tightly around me. It was still cold and light was only just starting to filter through the passageways. I clutched the few pennies Mother had given me tightly in my hand and I walked quickly keeping a wary eye out for pickpockets and thieves. As I stepped inside the bakery I felt glad of the warmth and the inviting smell. I had a two minute wait before buying a loaf of bread. I did linger over the gorgeous array of cakes but only for a few seconds.

By the time I got home it was light and my family were already up and dressed. When I gave Mother the bread she cut half of the bread into slices and gave us each a slice along with a cup of water and a thin slice of cheese. Then Father and my brothers went off to work ferrying people across the Thames in our two boats.

Mother and I tidied up the house, swept, cleared the fireplace of ash, folded the blankets, made the beds and fed and dressed Charlotte, my ten month old sister. I hurried off to find my friends and Mother took Charlotte with her to the market. I saw Julia and Margaret, my best friends, by Julia's father's vegetable stall. "Hello, Beth," shouted Margaret.
"Hello Margaret, hello Julia!" I replied and rushed over to them, nearly knocking over a pile of crates as I went. "Sorry!" I shouted and ran on.

"Dad wants us to work for him this morning," said Julia; "He has to go somewhere and he needs someone to mind his stall. I said that we would."

Margaret and I were very glad for some work to do. "That would be great, I would love to," I said so we settle down to a morning with a steady flow of customers.

The sun rose until it was high in the sky and Margaret's father returned. He gave us each an apple from his stall and a couple of pennies and thanked us. Then, after agreeing to meet later by the theatre we all headed home for lunch.
Mother had already got some bread and butter out for lunch; I ate that along with my apple and took Charlotte off to the theatre with me. Margaret was already there, as her Father was an actor in the Rose theatre and we chatted about fashions and things until Julia came.

She soon came and then we went and wandered around, looking for odd jobs and chatting. Soon we were in the market palace looking at lovely silky material and wishing we could buy some. We didn't really head in any direction but whenever we heard a "LOVELY DRESSES, COME AND GET YOU PRETTY DRESSES HERE!!!!" or

"KID GLOVES, SOFT, PRETTY KID GLOVES!!!!"

And even "FRESH CAKES AND PIES, FRESHLY MADE CAKES AND PIES. COME AND GET THEM NOW!!!" we would head in that direction.
I had a few pennies that I had earned in the morning and I treated myself to a little 1/2 d cake and shared it with Charlotte. My friends and I got a job later on, when the stalls where being packed away, loading cakes onto a little hand cart. When I had finished that I took Charlotte and went home. Mother had already got the fire set up, ready for lighting when I got home. She took Charlotte and gave me threepence to buy a hot pie for tea with. I pulled my shawl on as it was getting dark and cold and I hurried out.

By the time I got home Father and the boys were already back and changed, when I gave Mother the pie and she neatly sliced it up and we all sat down to eat. When we were finished, Father and the boys settled down around the fire whilst Mother and I washed up, and we all listened to one of Father's stories. Soon it was very dark and I tucked Charlotte into bed before getting changed into my plain white nightie and got into bed.

I woke later than usual the next morning so I was in a bit of a rush getting up, changed into my long brown skirt, top, brushing my hair and fed. We still had half a loaf of bread from the last day so I had that with some cheese and water for my breakfast.

I left later and the morning passed with Margaret and I (Julia was needed at home as her mother was ill) looking for jobs around the market-place. At noon I headed home for lunch . I ate quickly and took Charlotte out to meet Margaret at the theatre with me. We had been there for about half an hour, talking when one of the women we often saw sewing costumes came over to us. "Hello girls," she said "I've often seen you here, have you got nothing better to do?"

"Not really," we answered.

"Well then, why don't you help the ladies and me sewing the costumes?"

"Thank you very much," we said.

"Be here every day apart from Sundays from 8am until 7pm starting from tomorrow," she said and then left. I couldn't believe what was happening, I had always dreamed of having a real job and earning a regular flow of money to help the family. I couldn't wait until tomorrow!
The next day dawned bright and fair, my first day of work! I couldn't wait. I got changed all in a hurry, so much so that I put my top on back to front! After breakfast I hurried out to meet Margaret. Together we set off to the theatre , neatly avoiding a cry of "Gardez l'eau!" We got to the theatre with plenty of time to spare, so, feeling a little bit nervous, we went in. In the theatre we were taken to a little sewing room. The theatre was a huge, round building with a wooden structure with beams and a large stage in the centre. In the sewing room there were lots of other girls talking and sewing, I was given a dress to hem and settled down on a bench. I threaded my needle and began. For the first half hour I was shy and didn't say much but later on I started chatting to people and by the end of the day it seemed that I had worked there all my life. I went home at the end of the day feeling very tired but also very happy. At home I had some sort of meaty stew and then dozed off listening to Father's stories.

One week later and I was scrubbing a pair of leggings; It was Saturday, the last day of my first week at work. I carefully squeezed them out, dipped them into cold water to rinse them and handed them to Margaret. Then I picked up the next item, a shirt and began to wash that. This carried on for the rest of the afternoon until I ran out of clothes to wash. Then, just as we were about to leave we were called back and handed a little, brown, folded piece of paper. " Now don't be going losing that," the lady who handed it to us said; "It's your first pay package." I clutched mine tight, thanked the lady and hurried off outside. I walked part of the way home with Margaret until we came to her house then I said goodbye and walked the rest of the way home by myself.

When I got home Mother hurried over to me. I handed her my pay package. She opened it with a mystified look on her face. "Oh darling, how wonderful! A whole six pence from your week's work." My Mother sounded so excited as she hugged me. Even my gruff father who never seemed to grin smiled when my mother told him what I had earned.

That night I lay in bed, my stomach full as Mother had forced second helpings of pie on me as well as sending the boys out to buy some cakes for after supper. I felt very content, lying in my warm bed thinking about the week's work. At last my dream had come true, at last I had a proper job and was earning money for my family. I was just thinking that things couldn't get much better when I drifted off to sleep.