THE two lil' boys and their mawther from nex' door come in to see me an' Alfred the other day.
Two fine lil' chaps they are – twins. Alfred asked them if they 'ad built their bunfire over on to the beach yet, ready for Guy Fox. You know what? They two lil' boys looked at Alfred as if ee 'ad gone maazed.
"No," said their mother, "don't do that no more – 'ealth and safety do say it is safer to go to organised events, so we are takin' them to a git firework display in the football field."
After they 'ad gone in for their tay, Alfred and me started thinkin' an' chattin'.
"Do ee mind the time when we were cheldern, 'ow we'd be draggin' everything we could lay 'ands on that would burn, over to the beach for our bunfires," said ee.
"We would be drivin' the shopkeepers mad askin' for their empty boxes and crates weeks before Guy Fox," I said. "When you think of it, there used to be a braa 'ol clearin' out of cellars and lofts then – all the ol' broked chairs and things. We was all too busy to git into any mischief."
"Mind you," said Alfred, "we 'ad to keep a watch on our bunfires so that nobody set fire to them before the night. Some lembs would do that out of roguery."
"Do ee remember 'ow excited we would get on bunfire night?" I said. "We could 'ardly wait for dark to come. An' can ee remember the moment when the match was put to the paraffin rag in the bottom and the git 'whoosh' that went up as the bunfire caught light, the flames reachin' up through the bunfire, catchin' the wood an' paper. Sparks flyin' everywhere!"
"We dedn' think then," said Alfred, "of any 'ealth an' safety, we just used commonsense. You knawed that if you put your 'and in the flames you wud git burnt, an' if you burnt your clo'es you would git a lammin' from your da."
"I used to be elevated," I said, "to 'ave a pennorth of sparklers. I would feel it was magic to see them cracklin' away in my 'and."
"I liked the pennorth of chips we would 'ave on the way 'ome," Alfred said.
"Iss," I said, "in a bag, wrapped in newspaper, piles of salt an' so much vinegar that you 'ad a pool in the corner. Rich! You knaw Alfred, I shall always think of Bunfire Night and the sound of the sea, the waves comin' over the pebbles, the smell of smoke. Do ee think the twins'll remember the git firework display in years to come?"
"Dunno," says ee, "but it do make ee think, dunna. What we 'ad might not of cost nothin'. But we'll always remember. We got lovely memories that caint be took away from us. I think we were the richer, Sarah Anne."
Now 'Ark Some More, Liz Harman's second volume of short stories, is published by Scryfa this week, priced £6. It is available from shops in Newlyn, Mousehole and Penzance or by writing to Liz Harman, 25 New Road, Newlyn, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 5PZ. Cheques (£7, to include p&p) should be made payable to Liz Harman.
article copyright WESTERN MORNING NEWS