by Stella Kaye

Created on: November 02, 2008   Last Updated: February 22, 2011

Clearance Day

The funeral was a quiet affair; apart from immediate family there were few others. Clare's Uncle Bernard had lived a virtually reclusive life in his final years. His home had perhaps been his only true friend.

Soon after the service, Clare and Jenny were bestowed with the unenviable task of clearing the house. The landlord wanted it done as soon as possible so the house could be redecorated throughout and a new tenant found.

‘Good God!’ Jenny declared in disbelief, as she visited the property with Clare. ‘He must have been well and truly off his rocker! We'd better order some skips and just chuck everything in - there surely can't be anything remotely salvageable here.’

Clare knew her sister was probably right, but nevertheless she felt she owed it to her uncle to sort through his things as sympathetically as possible, even though it would take more time and effort than both nieces could spare. The thought of throwing it all in the skip without a moment's hesitation was unthinkable to Clare. However meaningless and haphazard it might be to others, this accumulation of jumble had been her Uncle Bernard's home. It had been his life and it had been his world.

‘Yes, but I'd still like to go through it all first, if the time allows. I'm sure there are a few bits and bobs which the charity shop around the corner would be glad of and I know that Uncle had some old family photos and slides somewhere and some other interesting memorabilia.’

‘Okay, if you insist,’ Jenny frowned in disbelief at the mishmash of useless items her uncle had wrapped around him like some sort of security blanket. She would much rather have paid the going rate and left things to the house clearance professionals, not troubling herself to even step inside the house at all. ‘Be warned,’ she continued ‘it'll play havoc with your dust allergy.’ And as if to prove her point, she scrawled CLEAN ME in the thick accumulation of dust on the hall stand as they left.

Within a few days the daunting job was done. Huge piles of magazines and newspapers had been taken to the paper bank and boxes of dusty glass bottles and jars had been disposed of at the local recycling depot. With more room to move about the property freely, it was far easier for Clare and her sister to complete their burdensome task.

As Jenny had expected, nothing of value was found, although Clare came across her uncle's slide collection as she'd hoped.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>