Nell: You’re not going to believe this.
Me: I just might.
Nell: Look at what’s hiding in our loft.
Me: It’s a lion cub, Nell. How adorable.
Nell: Adorable? It roared at Henry and Horst.
Me: I expect it was frightened. Look at that little face.
Nell: David nearly fell off the ladder.
Me:Henry and Horst take awfully good photos.
Nell: That’s not the point.
Me: What are we going to do?
Nell: I’m about to call a family meeting. As if there isn’t enough to deal with.
Me: Has something else happened?
Nell: It’s New Year’s Eve. We’re saying goodbye to the old year today.
Me: I always find New Year’s Eve rather difficult, if I’m honest.
Nell: What do you mean?
Me: There’s a forced gaiety about it as if you’ve got to have fun even if you don’t want to.
Nell: All I know is there will be doughnuts this afternoon from Babycakes Gillespie’s cart.
Me: That’s a German tradition.
Nell: Yes. I know it is.
Me: And loud partying all evening?
Nell: Actually not. We discussed it at Morning Thoughts and Pyjamas, Ping Pong and Pizza won the vote.
Me: Ping Pong? We haven’t got a table tennis table, or any bats.
Nell: The kitchen table will work perfectly well and we can use frying pans as bats.
Me: Does Poppy know?
Nell: Yes. It was her idea. She said a quiet New Year’s Eve is all well and good but there has to be some kind of action.
Me: Fair enough. We can’t leave that little lion cub in the loft though, Nell.
Nell: It doesn’t want to come down.
Me: Maybe I could have a word with it.
Nell: Let the family decide, please, and do not go climbing up there.
Me: Ok. Sorry.
