Dear Grandad,
I had to stop writing my last letter because I was going to the shops with Dad so I thought that in this letter I would tell you about the shops. Well, more about The Plain where the shops are really.
At the front of our house is the street and if you are looking out of the front window the back lane curves around the side to the right of the house. If you go out of our front gate and turn right then just a little way up you get to the end of The Plain. It’s busy up there. The road through the Plain runs straight down into the city centre. There are four lanes, two that go into the city and two that come out and in between them is a metal fence so that you cannot get across. Sometimes we see people jumping over the fence and dodging the cars. Dad says they are stupid idiots and are asking to get themselves killed or at least knocked over and taken to hospital. At the top end of The Plain, the end closest to our house, there is a crossing with traffic lights and the red and green man symbols. It takes AGES to get across even if you push the button lots of times. There is another crossing area about halfway down. That one is bigger because there are two other roads that join the Plain there a bit like a cross-roads and there are crossing points on both sides of these roads. There are always queues of cars waiting at the traffic lights and making horrible smells. There is another smaller crossing further down. It’s a real pity that there are so many cars and it is difficult to get across The Plain. It’s not really designed for people. It’s also noisy.
Along the back of both sides of The Plain there is a small lane called an alley. The alleys run behind the buildings and shops and there are parking spaces for the people who work there. I don’t really like going down the alleys because they are very messy with litter and rubbish (I saw a TV there one time!) and sometimes there is dog poo and you don’t want to step in that (phewee!). Mum is an expert at stepping in dog poo and when we walk along and she sees some she will suddenly grab my arm and yank me out of the way. But I’m not stupid, why would I want to walk in that?
Anyway, along both sides of The Plain there are shops. My favourite is the newsagent because we go there to get magazines and sometimes sweets. There is an old man who runs it who is a bit grumpy sometimes but the two ladies who work there are really nice and very kind. There is an older lady who is a bit like Granny and always says things like “aren’t they lovely children” when me and Annie go in with Mum or Dad and then there is younger lady who is THE BEST because sometimes she gives us little presents. When she found out it was Annie’s birthday she gave her TEN packs of football cards which was amazing AND Annie got a shiny one (I think it was Stephen Gerrard). A couple of shops down from the newsagent there is a pasty shop and sometimes we get nice warm pasties for lunch on a Saturday. Yum. On the other side of the road, on the corner by the big junction, there is a supermarket. It’s called the Co-op but people call it the cwop which is funny. The other shop that we go in quite a lot is the Oxfam shop – Dad goes in there ALL the time to look at the books (he takes ages which is BORING…). I don’t mind going in there and sometimes I find a book I want but it smells a bit funny in there. Mum says it is all the old clothes that people give away when they don’t need them any more or if someone dies and their family is clearing out the house. I don’t really like these clothes but you can get some “amazing bargains” (trademark Dad). We got an old football kit there in a kid’s size which was good. Mum washed it loads of times before she let Annie wear it though. It’s funny to think there is so much stuff like clothes and mugs and vases that people have in their houses that are not needed.
One thing I don’t really like about The Plain is that there are some odd people around. I don’t think I would like to go there on my own. The people are not horrible or anything, just a bit odd and I don’t like that. Some of them are old and don’t look very clean or tidy and their clothes are old and don’t seem to fit very well. Sometimes there are people with bottles who look like they are going to fall over and sometimes they are shouting at each other. Actually, one time I saw someone shouting about something but there was no-one else there. Why would you shout at no-one – you might as well just save your breath. There are some people who are wearing clothes that are all black – everything – shoes, trousers, top, coat, even a hat. I don’t like that. I like to wear nice colours. Colours are happy. I suppose that black is a colour too (I have black paint with my other colours) but if you are going to wear or paint something black you want a BIT of colour somewhere to show that you are happy don’t you?
The last time I went onto The Plain I saw a woman and she was throwing seeds from a carrier bag that she was carrying all over the pavement and the pigeons were all flying down to peck at it. There were LOADS of them, like one hundred at least. Actually, she wasn’t on The Plain but on the little bit of road between our house and The Plain, so that is probably why we get so many pigeons flapping about and sitting on the roofs opposite. Mum and Dad say that it is an offence to feed the pigeons like this and that they carry diseases and can make you ill. They said that if we saw her do it again we should probably ring the council.
I just remembered, I told you I had been to the shops with Dad but I didn’t tell you what I got so I can do that now. I got a colouring book in the newsagents and we got Annie a packet of football cards. We both got some chocolate buttons too. Dad got a book about thinking in the Oxfam shop. It took him ages to choose it but he was really excited and said it was one he wanted to read and how there must be someone else around here who has the same interests as him as he is always getting books he wants in there. How can anyone want to read a book about thinking. I’d much rather do something than think about it!
That will have to do for now because my hand is aching from all this writing. This was a loooong letter!
Love yah.
Kate
Next: Letter 5 – Blackbird
Previous: Letter 3 – Snails
Return to Dear Grandad (Home)
and a writer 
Leave a comment