The Village Green

The Village Green. A Christmas tree on a village green – how lovely, Amber thought. And how different from the noise and bustle of the city. Here, all she heard was the squeak of the new snow beneath her feet. She followed a steady trickle of other people heading towards the little white church for the Christmas Eve service. Lucie was chatting softly to the old man who had introduced himself as their landlord – and invited them both round for a meal on Boxing Day.
Nearing the church, Amber could hear music now. The words to it wrote themselves in her mind.
“Once, in royal David’s city…”
Christmas was here.

Well, the Hunter boys’ house was called The House on the Green …so here’s the green! It’s a 50x50 lot, and it’s pictured here in Moonlight Falls, on The Old Trail. There’s a playpark for small children, with swings, rides – and a toilet block! There’s the fishing hole – with walls round it, to keep anyone from falling into it if they’re crossing the green after dark. There’s the inevitable statue of the town’s main founder, one Josiah Fairweather, who combined kindliness with business acumen when he started the first village store some two hundred years ago. Summer time, it’s nice to have a picnic in the shade of the pine trees. And there’s a church and graveyard of course, old stones and newer ones, remembering the people of the town.
And at Christmas, everyone comes to the church for the carol services. It’s empty but waiting for the evening at the moment. Waiting to be filled with people celebrating Christmas together, family and friends united in song.