❄️ The Stranger at the front door ❄️ / ENG/AFR/

Well hello, stranger

Recently an old family friend asked me if I was willing to edit and share some of her work. I informed her about Hive, and she agreed to her work being posted on here. This way Aunty Lolla can stay anonymous and still share her pieces with others. In collaboration with Aunty Lolla, we'll be sharing "Stories with Lolla". All her works are written in our home language, Afrikaans, and will be translated into English as best as possible to keep the essence of the stories and poems.

We hope that you will tag along for these short pieces and find meaning in them through your interpretations and experiences. With all this said, please enjoy the first piece of this new collection.

I'll start the post with a story of my own. All the pictures included in this post, date back to the long-forgotten 2007. I was 8 when these were taken 😅. My brother, cousin and myself were spending our winter school holiday with my grandparents. The little town can get insane cold in winter, I remember the pipes would freeze for days on end, yet the place barely got any snow. Maybe once every two years.

Snow puffs on the tree outside my grandparents' house, many many moons ago.

I remember this morning like it was yesterday. My gran woke us all up (way too early) and told us to look outside.

❄️❄️ WOW, SNOW!! ❄️❄️

At this point in our little lives, non of us three have ever seen snow, so it was a big damn deal.

My cousin and I wrapped up nicely, amazed at all the white fluff.

We grabbed blankets and socks and made our way outside to experience this white fluff for the first time. It was awesome. Since then I've only ever seen snow twice in my life.

We spent hours running around in the cold, everything that was covered had to be uncovered. The table seen here made a second snowfall when tapped. I still remember the fascination!

We had plenty of snowball fights, snow angels, and cold hands! It was magical in the mind of a kid ⛄️

❄️ The Stranger at the Front Door ❄️

English ⛄️

Early in the morning, there was a knock at my front door
Dead silence in the house
It was still dark out
Who could it be?
With shaky legs, I approached the door
and asked, "Who's there?"

No answer

I opened the front door on a whim
When I saw who it was I knew
It was too late to close the door
Who I feared most
was here at my house

There he stood
He grinned at me
and I realized

The winter is here! ❄️

~ Translated by Miss Hugo from Aunty Lolla

❄️ Die Vreemde by die Voordeur ❄️

Afrikaans ⛄️

Vroegoggend was daar 'n klop aan my voordeur
Doodse stilte in die huis
Dit was nog donkerig buite
Wie kon dit wees?
Met bewerige bene loop ek nader...
en vra "Wie's daar?"

Geen antwoord

Ek maak die voordeur op n skreefie oop
Toe ek sien wie dit was het ek geweet
Dit was nou te laat on die deur toe te maak
Die waarvoor ek gevrees het...
was hier by my huis

Daar staan hy
Hy grynslag vir my
en ek besef

Die winter is hier! ❄️

~ Aunty Lolla

Thank you for tagging along on this short story adventure and winter poem. Stay safe, and stay warm if you find yourself in a winter wonderland!