Termites Can’t Stop Three Years Work

The Sense Of Wonder Stories

Robyn Dower and Kay Gorring’s “A Sense Of Wonder” exhibition is based on the twin stories of Grandma Kate and her grand-daughter Annabel. The exhibition recreates Grandma Kate’s cottage, and the conclusions of both stories will be found in the exhibition itself. If you intend to visit “A Sense Of Wonder” in the next two months, reading the two short stories below will help prepare you for what you’ll find:

The Beginning Of ‘Wonder’ – Grandma Kate’s Story

Out to the letterbox by the front gate,
troubled and anxious, hurried Grandma Kate.
She was waiting for news about Annabel.
Was her granddaughter really doing that well?

After reading the letter she held in her hand
Kate decided she would have to devise a plan
to somehow convince an estranged Annabel
that she needed to return and stay a spell.

It was through her friends and their letters to Kate
that kept her informed of her granddaughter’s fate.
She was successful now, had made quite a name
but she still wasn’t happy just the same.

The letter showed that all was not well
and Kate grew worried for Annabel.
Kate knew she wasn’t in her rightful place
and time she came home to wonder’s embrace.

Kate’s eyes drifted to the frame on her wall.
Would it have been different after all?
If George hadn’t been killed during the war
and was here for the granddaughter he never saw?

Kate allowed her mind to stroll down memory lane
reflecting on happy times and times of great pain.
When she first met George and his whimsical heart
and the hours they spent sharing a passion for art.

Their love of all creatures, elephant to mouse
and how they were going to fill up their house
with quirky, fun pieces to make people think
like the two fat chooks still perched on her sink.

They’d kept people wondering, often perplexed
as to what on earth they’d be up to next.
Maybe a scruffy dog, maybe a cat,
maybe a goldfish wearing a hat.

Once George had placed a lump in their bed
but when Kate asked, he only winked instead.
“That’s Fred,” he said in his mischievous way
“and you’ll have to guess before I’ll say.”

Some thought them eccentric, just crazy fools,
others, a rare gift like two precious jewels.
Whatever their reasons they all came to see
the happy little house where wonder was free.

When Edith was born they were over the moon
although there were rumours of war coming soon.
It was a time of uncertainty, fear and fright
especially when George was called up to fight.

Promising not to end what they’d just begun
they vowed to keep always their keen sense of fun.
To follow a simple life immersed in the arts
and enjoy all the wonder such a life imparts.

When Kate learned George wasn’t coming back
her colours seemed to drain to endless black
and that promise they had vowed to keep
spoke to her through her sadness deep.

To pursue a dream they’d had in their heart,
a sense of wonder through the love of art
and Edith, their daughter, gave Kate the drive
to keep George’s passion for art alive.

Whether it’s whimsy or whether it’s real,
it was art that helped their hearts to heal.
Creating together at every chance
made their hearts sing, their spirits dance.

They opened their home for all to share
inviting people from everywhere.
Its magic helped lots of sad hearts to mend
and many remained a lifelong friend.

Edith grew up happy, talented and smart
and she moved to the city to study art.
She hoped to open her own gallery one day
and continue that sense of wonder and play.

She came back often to her mother Kate
bringing James when they started to date.
James loved Edith and her fun way of life
and before very long he made her his wife.

James’ upbringing was strict with no room for art
and he was never allowed to follow his heart.
For he was creative, so gentle and shy
but somehow a failure in his father’s eye.

So it was in with Kate they chose to move
although James’ family did not approve
and despite his family not once coming round
James was happy in the new life he’d found.

Edith put her studies on hold for awhile
when Annabel’s birth gave them reasons to smile.
Annabel was surrounded by their love and fun
but the wonder faded having just begun.

One night, driving home, Edith was killed
and James’s love of life forever stilled.
Nothing Kate did and nothing she said
could convince poor James that Edith was dead.

She was heartsick herself and very afraid
when James’s family had decisions made.
They took them back to the city to live.
James needed more help than Kate could give.

James tried very hard but he never did well
and his family were the ones raising Annabel.
Kate missed Annabel but James needed her too
and James only did what he was told to do.

Annabel visited with her Grandma Kate
up until around the age of eight.
Then James’s family moved much further away
and she never came back anymore to stay.

Kate wiped her tears. There was no time to dwell.
Would her plan work? Only time would tell.
She enlisted her friends from far and near.
She would need their help to get Annabel here.

It was time she came home, her past to face
and allow herself back to her childhood place.
To let go of hurt, frustration and pain
and learn to trust in wonder again.

Kate’s heart ached for her granddaughter dear
but she knew that she just couldn’t be here.
It was Annabel’s choice alone to make
and a risk that Kate just had to take…

The Return To ‘Wonder’ – Annabel’s Story

I agreed to housesit for my Grandma Kate
although I haven’t seen her since I was eight
and if I’m truly honest I must confess
I didn’t really want to but still said yes.

I’d overheard the stories Dad’s family had told
about Grandma Kate and her eccentric household.
I’ve a few faded memories of my childhood past
but it’s been fifteen years since I saw her last.

If half those stories turned out to be true
it would be very different to the life I knew.
I felt curiously drawn but couldn’t see how
just that Grandma Kate needed me now.

I knew Grandma Kate was right into art
and like my late mother had a creative heart.
My father was artistic and he used to draw
but he doesn’t allow art in our lives anymore.

I packed up my things and left the city behind
with a million thoughts crowding my mind.
My life felt flat, so ordered and straight.
Would I find answers with Grandma Kate?

My motives, it seemed, suddenly felt wrong
and I decided to tell her I wouldn’t stay long
but when I arrived there was only a note
on which Grandma Kate had simply wrote.

“My home is yours, my Annabel dear.
Things have changed since you were here.
Here is the key but I cannot wait.
Love you always – Grandma Kate.”

So I heaved a sigh and swung open the door
and could hardly believe the things that I saw.
My presence had no impact it seemed.
Was this real or something I dreamed?

This wasn’t why I’d decided to come
and I started to wonder what I had done.
I put down my suitcase and slumped in a chair
as memories flooded in from everywhere.

Back to a time before I was eight
and lucky to live with Grandma Kate.
When things were simple and trouble free
When life was fun with Grandma and me.

I remembered the chooks on Grandma’s sink
but now there’s a pig all pretty in pink.
The cute little birdhouse on the kitchen shelf
that Mrs bird wants all to herself.

I got up from the table with eyes opened wide
and took another look at the wonder inside.
A goat standing there in a pair of bright shoes
and a duck at the fruit bowl trying to choose.

A goose wearing a collar and holding a lead
annoying a rabbit that was trying to read.
“Come on,” I said, “let’s go for a walk.
The rabbit wants quiet and we must not talk.”

“You can show me all the things I have to do
and introduce the others in this crazy zoo.”
But the goose didn’t budge, just stood his ground
and left it to me to look around.

I smiled at the mouse asleep in a sock
when something moved in the old wall clock.
Laughing out loud and shaking my head
I remembered the words that Grandma said.

“Now Annabel I’ve told you a thousand times,
we can’t let those mice play in the chimes.
If we don’t chase them out we’ll never be rid.”
We would laugh and pretend but we never did.

I had a vague recollection of the mysterious ‘Fred’
That appeared to be just a lump in her bed
but I don’t recall Grandma ever telling me
just who or what that lump could be.

That thing was moving I’m willing to swear
and I’ve no idea what it was under there.
There seemed to be letters on Grandma’s bed
but I didn’t go near them. Not near ‘Fred’.

The guineapigs, at least, didn’t seem to care
as I backed up slowly and got out of there.
They brushed their teeth and combed their hair
and took no notice of that lump in there.

I found myself staring at the art on the wall
some of it big and some quite small.
There were drawings of my father’s, exceedingly rare,
and paintings by my mother still hanging there.

Artwork by Grandma and her many friends
from collage and sculptures to quirky bookends.
The more I looked it seemed the more I saw
and it opened my heart to wonder once more.

Now it’s been three weeks since I came to stay
and my enchantment grows with each passing day.
I want to paint and sculpt and charcoal draw.
Use acrylics and pastels and so much more.

They’ve returned to me my lost sense of play
that’s just as important as the everyday.
To go and have fun, enjoy life and smile
even if it’s only for a little while.

Staying has set my imagination free
and somehow I feel this is meant to be.
I can’t wait to tell her as my wonder grows
but I suspect my grandma already knows…