Holy Clothes

This is the ninth and last story about Gwen in Part One of Welsh Cakes: Book of Short Stories. It is about Gwen as a young adult who longs to give herself completely to God and enters a convent. Thes story shows her desire to be a holy person and the struggle she goes through to live the life she thinks God wants from her. Wearing the nun's black habit makes her look holy and assists her in her aspirations. We see Gwen through her postulancy and novitiate years; into her temporary and then her final vows. Her struggles continue and she must decide whether it is God's will for her to live in these cloistered walls, or whether she should leave and find a means to holiness elsewhere. Why not buy the book to find out what she decides.

U.K. available at www.bookstore.co.uk

U.S.A. available at www.amazon.com and www.lulu.com

Canada available by contacting author at info@judithlawrence.ca

The Boat Ride

The background to this story in part one of Welsh Cakes: Book of Short Stories is a ride in one of the vessels that launched the British soldiers onto the shores of Normandy, France in an offensive against the Germans in the Second World War. The ocean going vessels were nosed onto the beach and the end of each vessel then dropped to form a ramp from which the soldiers disembarked and rushed on shore where they engaged in battle with the enemy. Years later, ordinary people were given a chance to see and experience some of what the soldiers went through by taking a ride on one of these vessels. My father took my brother and me on this vessel. I couldn't swim and was afraid of the water so I was very nervous about the boat ride. This story gives honour to our solders who went through this dreadful war experience in which their courage, bravery and desire to save their country overcame the fear that they must have had during these dreadful times.

Umbrellas

Wales is a country where it rains a lot. The sheep graze on the lush green hills, the grass growing thick from all the moisture in the air.

It is also said that the moist air contributes to the good singing voices of the Welsh people and thus gives rise to the many choirs throughout the country.

This story, Umbrellas, begins and ends in the rain--rain and umbrellas form the bookends of this sad story.

Children understand more about illness than adults give them credit for; they also support their parents and try to spare them from signs of their own suffering by hiding their feelings.

" 'Don't worry, Gwen.'
Gwen smiled at her mother. She did worry, but she didn't want her mother to know.' "

Gwen shows a happy exterior while hiding her sadness deep within.

Broken Bottles

Memories of a silly quarrel between myself and my best friend sparked this story of Broken Bottles in Welsh Cakes: Book of Short Stories. Gwen goes off in a huff after her friend Betty won't let her play with her new doll. She joins up with a group of local boys and plays house with them. The boys soon get bored with this game and decide that they will teach Betty a lesson for quarreling with Gwen. They decide to throw bottles at her. Gwen knows that her loyalties lie with Betty and rushes off to save her from the boys' attack.