Adeline always looked forward to Christmas: she loved the jolly bright lights, the elves, parties, food and drink, and the chance that she might pull a cracker. The arrival of the German market signified the start of the festive season to her, so it was with great anticipation that she attended. Over the years she had become familiar with the layout, – a lot of the stalls came back every year – so she had a plan, which involved finishing up at the far end with some hot german sausage.
She had dressed for cold weather but in the bustle of the market it was warmer than she expected, and Adeline was soon starting to unbutton. Her first port of call was to a stall selling wreaths. They had a massive selection: the place was wreathed in them. She stepped closer to have good look. The stall holder waved to her.
“Can I help you? What are you looking for? We have a fine selection”
“Yes I can see that!” Adeline replied
He came out from behind the counter to show her round his wares, and pointed to a big grand wreath of holly, studded with twinkly little stars.
“You like them big?”
Adeline smiled a little and ran her fingers over the wreath. “I do, but this one is just too prickly. I wouldn’t know how to hang it”
The stallholder put his head on one side (he could manage without it for a short while)
“It really needs to be well-hung” he replied. “To avoid causing hurt with all these pricks here” He indicated the large, shiny holly leaves. Adeline stroked the leaves cautiously, then delicately fingered a bright red berry nestling deep within the wreath.
“I like the berries” she said.
The stallholder licked his lips, glimpsing Adeline’s scrumdumptious chestage heaving with festive agitation
“Not everyone can find the berry, but I always know where it is” he replied.
“It’s lovely!” Exclaimed Adeline, “but I’m really after some baubles”
The stallholder was delighted. He enjoyed showing off his baubles and to have someone as lovely as Adeline actually ask, was a great thrill. He reached for some and rested them on the counter, and awaited her response. It was instant
“Wow!” She exclaimed, pressing a hand to her breast to suppress its excited swell. “They are fabulous!”
“Pick them up” he offered, “but gently, of course”
Adeline did. She held them gently in her cupped hand and gazed in wonder. They were indeed truly glorious, gleaming in the warm how of the stalls.
She was bewitched by them.
“I want them….” She murmured, “they are fabulous. But I don’t want to carry them all round the market with me. Can you put them in a little bag for me and I will pick them up later?”
The stallholder agreed, though he was sorry she was leaving his stall for the moment. He flamboyantly dropped his baubles into a little bag for her, and tucked them away safely, before introducing himself as Hans, and assuring her he would keep them safe for her return.
With her baubles secure (in the bag, as it were) Adeline could continue her exploration of the market. She was happy, but when she walked away she left behind her a Hans holding his bag of baubles, and nursing an acute sense of disappointment.
Her sense of festivity was soon enhanced with some mulled wine, albeit in a plastic cup. After a few sips she felt the sensation of the warming spices fill her from her lips right down to the berry.
The next stall sold spicy biscuits – lebkuchen. She was fond of those, and had a particular yearning for the chocolate coated ones with jam inside. She was just leaning over the produce, her volumptular amplage almost touching the first row of biscuits, when a familiar voice asked “Can I help you?” She looked up in surprise, and found herself face to face with Hans.
In the moment of confusion he was able to enjoy the sultry view of full lips – like wet glace cherries, her fine slender neck, and the way the countryside below spread out like a frosted Christmas card landscape of two large hills, – though lacking the usual seasonal sheep. Hans wondered how easy it would be to thaw that festive view.
“I just saw you on the wreath stall!” she exclaimed. Before he could reply an older man behind him said “My Hans gets everywhere you know”
So it seemed.
“Would you like a taste?” the omnipresent Hans asked. She would
She picked up a tiny chocolate coated biscuit and delicately nibbled it, whilst Hans watched, agitatedly gripping his bag of baubles under the counter. When she sampled the jammy interior by flicking the tip of her tongue in and out, the baubles were almost sacrificed to the moment.
“Try this one” he offered, and with his free hand reached down to some different Lebkuchen right at the very front. Because Adeline was leaning so far forward, Hans found himself (COMPLETELY by accident of course) lifting the little nibble right up into her bosomage. He paused with it there, lips dry, baubles tense, for a reaction. Adeline’s hand gently took the biscuit without moving his. And as she tasted it he felt the trembles of her mastication transmitted through her mammarariums to his hand.
“Try some more” he said, not moving his hand. Adeline smiled ”
I’d love to, but right now I need my sausage”
Hans glanced to the far end of the market. There was a stall there well-hung with sausage. It had varieties to suit everyone: from the little thin chilli wurst, which packed a punch out of proportion to their size, right up to the massive thick ones which were so wonderfully filling. He saw Adeline’s gaze follow his. She had seen the stall…
“Which do you like best?” he asked, desperate to keep her close
“I’ve tried loads over the years” she said “Those little ones, you know, the spicy ones? They are great. Small, but you can do so much with them. A little goes a long way”
Hans nodded, his mouth dry…
“But really, at heart I am a traditionalist and I go for the great big ones. They really last too”
Finally Hans could stand it no longer. He reached out and gently took hold Adeline’s hand in his, and, drawing her even closer, whispered “I have sausage too”
Adeline giggled “You really have everything, don’t you? Hans everywhere!”
He nodded urgently “Would you like to see?”
Adeline would like to see. She walked round into the back of the stall. Hans wound a handle which lowered the wooden front of the stall and closed it. There was no more wreath shopping; Adeline was able to get her hands on the baubles she had chosen, and discovered a new variety of German sausage which was the most filling she had ever known and really lasted well too…