The tiniest village

Out my window, the sky is graying and a cloud cover blankets our world. It looks like snow in the not too distant future.

That brings memories of last year, when my daughter and I populated our miniature village.

If you look past the snowflakes, you can see inside our window and there will be the tiniest village in the world, sitting atop our living room bay window. 

You can hear the gentle tinkle of a harp playing in the corner.

Once upon a snowflake, the tiniest village in the world was born, a symbol of the goodness we love to believe in this time of year.

Five years ago, we bought our first tiny house, a miniature Victorian mansion. We added a Mum, Dad and baby in a carriage. We also had town Carolers.

Each year, we buy more buildings and people.

Last year, we bought the Music Store, Post Office, Lighthouse (I don’t know what a Lighthouse is doing in the town center of a Victorian miniature village, but it was on sale, for cheap), British phone booth, and a park bench.

Now, the village is pretty much complete.

Mum, Dad and baby go to the school, church, post office, music store, bakery, dairy barn, grocery, bank, and, of course, their own tiny house.

Each year, we make up stories about this family and their tiny village, atop the bay window in the living room.

Last year, Mrs. Mum called her husband from the phone booth in the middle of the night to call her husband, who was delayed.

Apparently, he was stuck in the snow on his sled, and said he couldn’t return in time for Christmas dinner.

There is a teen daughter, too.

She bought music at the music store and played it on the old piano in their tiny little house.

Last year, Mrs. Mum baked (in our imaginations, of course), hoping to bring Mr. Dad to safety in his sleigh through the storm raging in the miniature village.

Mr. Dad did make it back in time for a late Christmas dinner. His horses sped through the blinding storm, and he opened the door of their tiny Victorian home just before midnight.

*     *     *   

This year, the make-believe story is not yet quite finished.

So far, we have Mrs. Mum baking, the teen daughter still at her school, and Mr. Dad wondering how he will ever finish everything in time for the holidays.

One of the 3 horses the family owns has died; this leaves them with 2 horses, just enough for their sleigh.

The winter is expected to be bad in this part of the tiny Victorian world and the family is running short on firewood.

But they have hope and each other.

The daughter walks home 2 miles every day from school to help her Mum bake.

Mr. Dad chops the firewood, runs the Music Shop and Post Office (this is a very small miniature village), helps an old homeless man find shelter, and milks the cows in the Dairy Barn.

What else can you think of in this miniature village do they need to continue their Holiday story?

These are the buildings: Victorian Mansion, Church, School, Music Shop, Post Office, Bank, Dairy Barn, Grocer, Bakery, Hotel, Train Station, Lighthouse, British phone booth, park bench, old bicycle. 

So far.

These are the people, Mr. Dad, Mrs. Mum, teen daughter, baby in carriage, townspeople/Carolers.

So far.

You can add people, buildings/props, action, plot.  Setting is Victorian times, but is also a metaphor for contemporary life. Be creative.

What can you provide to continue the story?

Happy Holidays!

What we actually bought are Merry Brite houses from CVS, over the years.