Promptvent - Day 7
25 days of winter prompts to thaw your writers (ice)block - and this year it's all about being Cozy.
Hello and welcome to day 7 of Promptvent!
If you’d like some wintry musical inspiration whilst you write, why not try listening to ‘Cozy Cottage’ by Dream Shard on Spotify.
Listen to me read the guided invitation via audio below or if you prefer to read the transcript, that is also available for you underneath the audio.
Welcome back to our Promptvent village advent calendar where you find yourself standing once again before the cozy Christmas window.
Bundled up in your warm woolen mittens and thick scarf, you are eager to to know what wintry word of the day awaits you. What world will you step into and discover today? You lean closer, and can feel the eagerness in your fingers as you pull off your mittens and reach for the iron latch on the window, lifting it with care.
You are looking at the most quintessentially wintry English countryside you have ever seen. There is a lane leading up to a cozy cottage with a snow covered thatched roof. Warm orange fairy lights are strung up along the facade and a few statues of deer grazing in the front lawn are twinkling with dew and amber lights. There is an old red postbox next to the gate wearing a hat of snow. The small window frames are painted blue and a cute wooden door covered with a large Christmas wreath shines from the glow of the lights. A lopsided snowman smiles and waves from the front garden.
The red wreathed door to your left slowly opens, inviting you further. You step through the door and begin to walk up the lane, as you do, you feel a sense of familiarity with this cottage, it means something dear to you. Lamps lit from the inside of the cottage provide a welcoming and cozy glow as you near the door. There is a note pinned to the wreath which reads, ‘Stay as long as you like’, with an ornate key taped to the paper. You take the key and turn it in the lock. The comforting scent of the cottage opens up to you as you step inside onto the welcome mat, stamp off the snow from your boots and hang your winter coat up on a golden brass hook.
Suddenly you hear an excited patter of feet come rushing towards you - a true four-legged loyal friend to welcome you here. You ruffle their fur, cooing their name in an affectionate tone, you are glad of their presence. They run off again, leaving you to explore your surroundings.
A small cozy fire has been lit and a mug of steaming coffee laid for you on the coffee table. You scan the thick wooden beams overhead and walk towards the kitchen. There are treats on the huge wooden dining table, next to a big bowl of fruit, all lit up from the last light of the day that shines through a large window. The view across the garden is beautiful, an apple orchard stretches out towards the horizon, a swing softly moves in the breeze.
As you totter upstairs, a post it note on one door says, ‘Take your pick!’, you enter the first room, it is a children’s bedroom with twin beds and a wooden rocking chair in the corner. The sheets and bedspread are a familiar pattern to you, as are the toys laid about the room and on the shelves, you smile and remember. The next door opens to the master bedroom, with a double bed neatly made and another gorgeous view of the grounds below. You can smell notes of lavender and rose petal and open a small door to an ensuite bathroom a few steps down. There is a hot bath waiting for you to rest your weary bones.
The dog comes padding back and barks softly to get your attention, they’re carrying a pair of slippers in their mouth and drop them at your feet. You thank them with another pat and slip your feet into them, lush and soft - like walking on clouds. The dog puts its paws on a chair next to a beautiful antique writing desk and barks softly again. You go over and notice there is a citrus and vanilla candle lit, next to a notebook and pen. The notebook reminds you of a diary you used to own when you were young.
You open the notebook and see one word in large cursive script written at the top of the page.
It reads: COTTAGE
You take a look out at the stunning view and pat the dog one last time before they curl up by your feet. then you pick up the pen and write.
Promptvent 7
Cottage
Years ago I had to wait months before moving into a cottage . It really was too big to be described as such . Standing upright and set into grass surrounding, two monkey trees guarding . These danced majestically like twirling ballerinas blocking out light, dominating mood and energy . They were chopped down leaving the village aghast . Talks of preservation and conservation abounded . My mother didn’t care, they did not live stifled in bleak repose .
The real endearing quality; inside walls made of wood and cobb over a span in width . When a wiggly damp wall was plastered above the fireplace in the lounge , it opened up into a wooden weaved maze needed loving care and dedication to restore . My dad achieved this but said he never wanted to do so again . An old roaring boiler set high up in the main reception room provided heat . It looked like a black wrought iron contraption made centuries before . A monster churning out heat and hot water. No cooking was done there but we had to stay away as Dad told us it was dangerous . The staircase was fitted with a door around the staircase entrance, underneath shielded with glass doors with window panels adorned with white cotton lace . It added a quaint touch. The kitchen and bathroom were small. A door led the way to a glass covered extension with a huge coal bunker . An old fashioned kitchen cupboard placed on the wall edge stood ready to be used for storage . The floor was cement and there was no heat. The windows were riddled with condensation so we set about with artistry to transform with characters from fairy stories . Up the staircase inside again we landed in a wide passage with three doors . Three bedrooms with space to play all around. There were no windows at the rear of the house except the conservatory. Every bedroom fitted with sash windows with sills that could seat a child comfortably . The first bedroom with two windows was for our parents . The other two were for us . We chopped and changed over the years and I was never upset about sharing a room with a sister seven years younger .
It was a lovely homely abode , but I never truly felt it was a cottage . Not joined to other houses , huge rooms and space it was like a country mansion to me . How it made me feel was warm and cosy , set in a village miles away from a town. It was a cottage with three sets of windows at the top with the same amount on the ground floor . It was certainly very different from any other house I had lived in . Looking outside a house sealed in by a wall with a five bar gate to allow the car into the drive and a small gate leading to the front door set into a solid porch used to wipe our feet or the cat to deliver gifts to us . We rarely locked the door for the first years we lived there . When we started to, the key was huge . It was an abode dating back to more than a hundred years but inside it had a young feel , maybe because three playful girls lived there and we played hide and seek and could be as noisy as we liked .
Promptvent day 7
I gaze dreamily into the flames of the fire, that dances and burns with smoky memories of those who once lived here within these rooms. The people and animals who loved and laughed and cried and birthed and died here. Their stories live on in the ancient cob of the walls. I look up to the old beam that rises above the fireplace, through the ceiling into the bedroom. It is made from an oak tree that grew hundreds of years ago and has seen generations of lives and many changes. I climb the stairs to the bedroom where many have rested their weary bodies after a hard day’s work, maybe snuggled up together all in one bed for warmth and lack of space. And as I lay down and place my head on the pillow, I think of all the old souls merging together with mine as I close my eyes to go to sleep in my cosy old cottage.