The Camberdoodles are back!

The Camberdoodles return to Rye News after some time away. Sadly they return as four rather than five, like many families there will be one chair vacant at their table this year. However they’re determined to make the most of it and celebrate Christmas to show life must go on.

It’s Christmas – so it must be time for a pantomime
Written by James Glover and illustrated by Vicki Batt.

Before Dede settled down for yet another snooze, she looked out the window and watched the red sun sink out of sight. As the sun fell out of sight the twinkling lights woke up showing the way along the coast from Camber to the lighthouse at Dungeness.

Her heart misses a beat every time this happens, and she remembers how lucky she is to live in such a special place. It’s all a long way from the sadness of her childhood, when she didn’t have a window and never saw the sky.

Dede was shaken from her dreams when Dante turned on the big screen to watch the news. She never understands why he prefers to fill his head with doom and gloom when they could both look out the window, and watch this magical planet’s daily rhythm.

Immediately after the handsome news man had said his goodbyes the adverts started reminding everyone that Christmas was just around the corner. Dede sighed remembering she hadn’t done a thing about Christmas. Normally, by now she’d have everything planned, but this year was different, everything had been different since Lily-Poo had left them.

Tragically Lily-Poo had crossed the rainbow bridge soon after last Christmas. The five Camberdoodles had become four and it just didn’t feel right. When Lily-Poo left, she’d taken a piece of all of their hearts with her. Perhaps this was why Dede weren’t enthusiastic about Christmas this year.

Even Phoebe, who especially enjoyed Christmas hadn’t mentioned anything. Normally she’d be eying up the trees near her house, deciding which one would be ‘the tree’ to chop down and decorate.

Dede stretched her legs to the edge of her bed and continued to gaze out the window. She’d learnt to block out the noise from the big screen. If it wasn’t the news it was the football Dante was glued to. She could never understand why it was so important for Dante’s team always to win. Why couldn’t they be kind and let the others do the winning once in a while?

The sight of the setting sun and the twinkling lights normally made her sleepy but this evening her mind just wouldn’t slow down. A thousand thoughts were swirling around her, the worry of so much to do before Christmas, and what was the point anyway, when her bestie wasn’t going to be there?

Just as she felt a tear rolling down her cheek Dante screamed GOAL. She covered her ears with her paws to block out the noise.

Thankfully by morning Dede was feeling less melancholy, the rising sun gave her the will to start a fresh. Dante had arranged to meet the others at the beach earlier than usual because he wanted to have a swim before breakfast.

Dante, Harley and Phoebe had started cold water swimming in the autumn, and found it really did set them up for the day. It also gave them the perfect excuse to have the full English at the beach cafe afterwards. An early morning dip was all too chilly for Dede and she was happy to go straight to the cafe and grab their favourite table.

The three doodles were full of themselves after their swim and talked sixteen to the dozen while tucking into their hearty breakfast. Dede felt excluded as she ate her muesli, fresh berries and yoghurt. Lily-Poo would never have understood cold water swimming, if she were here she’d have kept her company with a healthy breakfast. Oh how I miss her!

As the others chomped on their crispy bacon she remembered some of the special times they’d spent together. The time they went to yoga classes and couldn’t stop laughing when the teacher told them how good their downward dog poses were. Their shopping trips to London and the day they climbed the lighthouse at Dungeness. What happy days!

After breakfast Harley and Dante went to play in the dunes. Although Phoebe wanted to join them, she sensed Dede needed company, so decided to stay put and order more tea.

For a while they sat in silence staring into nowhere, until Phoebe broke the ice, “I miss her too you know, we all miss her and we always will. But the thing is Lily-Poo wouldn’t want us to be sad just because she wasn’t here. She’d want us to continue to live our best lives here on the beach.”

Dede felt tears rolling down her face and turned away so Phoebe wouldn’t see. As she struggled to compose herself, she realised Phoebe was right, Lily-Poo wouldn’t want any of them to be sad.

“Perhaps we should be a bit more like Dante and Harley and live every moment to the full.” said Phoebe.

“Can we exclude the obsession with bestest ballies and the urge to chase everything that moves?” Dede replied with a smile.

They both burst out laughing, and feeling the tension disappear, hugged each other tightly. By the time they’d finished their tea Dede felt brighter, and realised she hadn’t laughed like that for a long time.

They carried on chatting until Dante and Harley returned exhausted from their run. As the boys slumped down in a heap, Dede ordered four large slices of Winton’s liver cake as a snack.

While they ate, Phoebe cleared her throat until she was sure everyone was paying attention, and announced: “What are we going to do about Christmas?”

“We have to make it special,” said Harley.

“But how do we make it special?” answered Dante.

“I think we should put on a pantomime,” Harley said.

“But none of us can act!” said Phoebe.

“But why should that stop us?” asked Dante.

“What a wonderful idea Harley, please can it be Cinderella, and please can I play Cinderella?” said Dede.

“I want to play the handsome prince,” said Phoebe, “and Dante and Harley should play the ugly sisters!”

Harley and Dante stared at each other and burst out laughing.

“But you need more than us four to make a pantomime,” said Phoebe.

“I’m sure Jangles and the Doodlettes will want to join in, I’ll send them a positive thought and invite them,” said Dante. “‘We will dedicate our pantomime to Lily-Poo and give all the ticket money to DID – the Doodles in Distress charity.”

As is often the case in our stories, we won’t bore you, dear reader, with the trials and tribulations of rehearsals, or the difficulty of learning lines. Save to say the preparations did take time, and it was touch and go they’d be ready for the big performance.

When the curtain went up, the theatre was packed which made them determined to give their best performance. We won’t dwell on the scene where Dante mixed up his “He’s behind you” line with a “Oh, no he’s not”, which caused Harley to freeze and forget what to say next.

Jangles and the Dooddlettes, Bella, Nellie and Lily found time to break away from their European tour and perform two numbers from their latest album. Both songs had been number one hits earlier in the year, so the audience knew the words and joined in. For the last chorus Jangles improvised with some very high notes that put the Doodlettes off their dance routine, and Nellie nearly fell off the stage.

As with all pantomimes there were many smiling faces when Prince Charming found his bride Cinderella, and everyone lived happily ever after.

After the show, Dede refused to take off the ball gown she’d worn for the finale, she continued to swirl and swish the skirts and petticoats from side to side. She really was a princess now.

When they left the dressing room one particularly enthusiastic fan called Lola, gave Dante and Harley two big kisses and six sausages on a string in appreciation of their spectacular performances. This adoration certainly made up for the humiliation they’d suffered being dressed up as girls in front of their friends.

They were sure Lily-Poo had been with them throughout the pantomime and they sensed she approved of their performance and the money they’d raised for doodles less fortunate than themselves.

Christmas was always going to be different for them this year, and they realised they weren’t alone. There were other families who had lost someone dear this year, and they hoped they too would begin to smile again soon.

What the doodles had learnt through the sadness was that life goes on. Although Lily-Poo wasn’t with them, they were together and would make sure they had more happy times making special memories. Happy Christmas everyone!

Thanks to James and Vicki for the story. You can read more about their work at  www.camberdoodles.com

© camberdoodles

Image Credits: Vicki Batt. .