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Sweet,
short and fat was Mrs. White. She owned the one and only village shop which sold
daily provisions. She had named her shop
'The Jolly Store'. This name was very
apt because anyone coming to the shop felt happy and cheerful and went back in a
jolly mood. Samantha White was Jimmy White's wife. He worked at the village Post
Office and helped his wife Sammy whenever he could. Both the White's were cute
darlings who had a ready smile for their customers and gave them groceries as
well as much needed help and advice. Sammy wore a colorful apron on top of her
dress and a cap to cover her hair because she had a thing for cleanliness.
Her shop was quite big and she had made sections to store different things
on shelves with glass doors. The main door of the
shop, when opened, would make a sweet jingly sound and Sammy
would come running to greet her customer with a big smile on her face. All
the walls of the store had pictures of kids playing.
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This
was because poor Sammy did not have any children though married for quite
sometime. She never let her sadness show on her face. Jimmy used to tell her to
keep the faith because he believed God would answer their prayers one day and
they would be blessed with kids soon. Sammy loved tiny tots and always had a lolly pop ready to hand over to the kids who visited her shop.
 Marge Brown, the local hairdresser used to come daily to Jolly Store to buy
fresh eggs, milk, cheese and butter. She
would always have tit bits of gossip about the young girls who came to her
beauty parlour to get ready for their dates. "You know Sammy, Susie Hudson came
to me last evening for a special hair-do and makeup. She was going to a party
out of town with Ricky Williams, the local hero whom all the girls craved for."
 "Oh!
really, Marge. That's nice. Susie is a sweet girl and Ricky is quite dashing."
"Yes, you are quite right Sammy, I find Susie and Ricky quite charming. I hope
they both find happiness with each other", smiled Marge as she went home with
her various purchases. The door opened as Sammy was busy arranging her shelves and little Joey walked
in. "Hi! Sammy Aunty, could I have Ice Cream?"
"Why not Joey sweetie. Here you are and here's your lolly pop". "thanks Aunty!"
said Joey as he walked away licking his strawberry ice cream cone.
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson came in next for their daily supply of green vegetables.
 They bought cauliflower, carrots, peas, corn,
beans, beetroot, celery and tomatoes. Tuesday saw Jennie Cristy rushing into the shop. She had run out of potatoes and
her son Robbie wanted to eat potato and cheese
cutlets. As Sammy weighed the potatoes, Jennie said - "You are such a pet
Sammy dear. What would I have done if you had not helped me out. It is your
recipe of cutlets with cheese that Robbie has asked me to make for dinner. Could
I have a few tins of tomato soup as
well, do you think?" "Oh! sure dearie, soup would be ideal with the cutlets.
Here you are sweetie. Run along," beamed Sammy from behind the counter.
 One evening Mrs. Hubbard walked into Sammy's store for some sweet potatoes. Her
husband Fred was feeling low and wanted to taste
smoked sweet potatoes. Clutching her walking stick and shopping bag, May
Hubbard looked hassled. "Should I come over after shop closes May and help you
with the bar-be-cue? I'll get fresh chicken to roast for dear Fred," asked
Sammy. "Oh! could you Sam, it would be so nice. Why don't you and Jimmy have
dinner with us tonight. It will be lovely to have some company". "Of course I
will May.
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You just go home and look after Fred. I'll be right over as soon as I can. Jimmy
will take care of the beer." "Sammy, here, take the dough for the chicken and
beer too," smiled May shyly handing out notes from her purse. "Well, May darling
I'll just charge you for the sweet potatoes. I'll make use of your
bar-be-cue
for the chicken. You two eat tiny mouthfuls, so lots will be left for me to take
and eat tomorrow. Jimmy would hit me on the head if I took money for a few
bottles of beer. Come on. go and rest. See you in the evening", said Sammy
pushing May gently towards the exit. |
 On
Fridays, Sammy got fresh supply of fruits from the town nearby. They had a
big fruit market. Nearly every woman of the house of
Primrose village came to Sammy's
Jolly Store to get their weekly supply
of fresh juicy fruits.
The afternoon saw Beth and her sister Julia strolling
into the shop to buy pineapples and bananas.
Beth wanted to make cheese and pineapple cubes for a get together and Julia had
planned custard and bananas as dessert
for her family. Evelyn Bennet wanted some grapes, cherries and
strawberries. Her kids Mintie and Bessie loved eating fruits. Watermelon
was favoured by Frankie Butler while his wife Gina liked apples. Oranges
finished first because everyone bought some.
 Sammy was very particular about keeping her supply of
mutton, chicken and fish refrigerated
and well-stocked. The village had a get together once a week where every
household member made one dish either vegetarian or non vegetarian and they all
ate together almost like a picnic in one or other's garden or patio. This way
everyone knew what was happening with the other and the merry-making at these
get-togethers was infectious. Any guest visiting any house was invited too to
these picnics and they enjoyed themselves thoroughly.
Roland and Alexander were two brothers who lived together in a charming bungalow
named 'Star Lit Cottage' with their
wives Veronica and Vanessa. They had 2 children each. Rosemary and Henry were
Veronica's kids. They studied in class 9 and 7 respectively. Marian and Collin
were tiny tots with Alex and Vanessa as their parents. Whenever the picnic was
organised in their house, they all got together and made mouth-watering
Chicken-a-la-kiev, mutton cutlets and fish cakes.
 Old Mrs. Johnson loved to buy Margarine and
rice & oat cereal from Sammy. She liked her breakfast to be really
healthy and Sammy helped her sometimes with her gardening. She had a small
cottage near the White's place and Clara Johnson was her next door neighbour.
Her husband Jonathan had died
recently having been sick for sometime and her one and only daughter Violet
lived in the other town with her husband Nicholas and her daughter Claudia.
One morning as Sammy opened her store, a small girl came inside and said -
"Madam, will you please help me? I have no where to go as my parents are dead. I
have walked from village to village and town to town but no one helped me. I
will work in your shop just for food and a place to sleep in." Sammy said -
"What's your name?" "It is Polly maam". "Well you are as sweet as a flower. How
old are you?" "I am seven yaers old maam." "Well Polly go and wash your face and
I'll give you something to eat."
After feeding Polly, Sammy asked her to lie
down for a while. When Jimmy entered his store in the evening Sammy introduced
Polly to him. "Well, We can do with some help around here Sammy but since Polly
has no one we will adopt her and make her our first child." "Oh! Jimmy, this is
what I wanted. How did you guess?" "Why, my dear, I can read your mind as well
as your heart."
Thus, the Jolly Store became jollier with Polly's presence and the owners felt
blessed to have her as their own child who was so beautiful, gentle and kind.
Contributed By:
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