Magical Yule Porridge

 Here is a tale by Miss Almi, my former nanny. Nowadays, she helps at my pie shop. She told this story at the Green Dragon around Yule.

~

It was Yule eve, and I was putting up the last decorations in Miss Pycella’s burrow. Pycella sat on the armchair, going through some recipe books and preparing the Yule day menu. Suddenly, she stopped reading. ”Hey, I think we have never tried this one before!”
”Which recipe do you mean?” I asked and attached a ribbon onto the stuffed bear’s head.
”The Yule porridge! Quite perfect for Yule breakfast, I think!” Pycella said, smiling.
”Ah, that one”, I grunted. ”No, we are NOT making that one, never.”
”Why not?” Pycella asked. ”It’s sounds good, and it’s even healthy! How can you say no to hearty porridge?”
”I have had my share of that porridge in my youth”, I said. ”’s nothing but some common porridge, nothing fancy and festive about it.”
”But…” Pycella started, but I interrupted her.
”We had that porridge for breakfast every two days in me childhood” I sighed. ”Grew quite sick of it.”
”But this porridge is special” Pycella insisted. ”You put a lucky almond into it, and whoever gets it will get something really sweet as a price!”
”You think that the almond makes the damn porridge any different?” I said, starting to lose my nerve.
”’s the same wrecked porridge still, and I won’t eat it never EVER again.”
Pycella sighed. ”Well, I’d like to give it a go. You can have somet else for breakfast instead.”
I shrugged. ”Well, whatever you say. But still, you’ll be disappointed, lass.”

The porridge was slow to cook, so I decided to prepare it in advance on the evening before Yule day. I sat down by the stove and guarded the porridge pot. The scent filled up the whole kitchen… a scent full of memories! I smiled. How long had it been since I had smelled this scent the last time?

I closed my eyes, and suddenly I was many, many years younger, a young lass, back at my childhood home. It was Yule morning and my ma had summoned all to the breakfast table. I saw myself sitting at the table, looking at my porridge bowl.
”Time to eat now, Almi”, my mother said. ”Ye might be the lucky one to catch the almond this time!”
I sighed. ”Why do we need to eat this porridge at Yule table, ma?”
”We eat it every day! Couldn’t we have something more special on Yule at least?”
”The Whitfoots have pork patties, and the Brandybucks eat catfish cakes! Why can’t we have a breakfast like that?”
My mother looked at me patiently. ”I am sorry, but we can’t afford those things for breakfast, dear.”
”But the porridge has been cooked with love and hope for better days. Think of that while you eat it.”
My eyes filled with tears of hate. It wasn’t fair that I had to eat this, while the others had something special for breakfast!
I stared at my bowl. ”Ma? Can I maybe… go out and eat this there, in the fresh air?”
My ma sighed, probably knowing what her daughter was about to do, but she nodded. “If you feel like it, dear… Just remember to bring the bowl back.”

I went outside and wondered where I could scoop the porridge from my bowl. The nearby forest could be a good place to hide it. Maybe I could find some late berries for breakfast there. As I reached the forest border, I heard sniffing sounds from behind the bushes. I crept closer to see what it was and saw two rabbits facing each other next to a tree. It looked like they were talking to each other… and they were!
“Don’t worry, Daisy”, the other rabbit said. “I am sure the kids will find many other fun things to do.”
“But that won’t be quite the same, Lilly!” Daisy sniffed. “They only want to see the wonder of snow! Nothing else can replace that joy for them.”
Lilly sighed. “I know. But there hasn’t been snow in the Shire for years!”
“Aye. And they demand that we should go and visit their cousins in the north!” Daisy sniffed.
“I would love to, but the journey is very dangerous. But the little ones don’t understand that.”
“Well, I am sure you can come up with somet that will distract their thoughts from this topic, Daisy,” Lilly said and patted Daisy’s front paw.
“Yule is the time for magic and miracles. Remember that.”

Then, the rabbits hopped into their holes, and I was left alone. I remembered my porridge bowl and looked at it. It was milky white and soft. I ran back inside.
“Ma? Could I have some more porridge, please?”
I could tell that I had just triggered my mother’s shenanigans alert, but she scooped more porridge into my bowl. “I thought you didn’t like this porridge, dear”, she said, raising her eyebrow.
“Well, it is porridge is more magical at Yule, ma!” I said and ran out before she could ask more questions. I left the overfilled porridge bowl near Daisy’s rabbit hole, and went back inside.

Next day, I came back to the forest edge to see if the porridge had disappeared (and get the bowl back). I saw the two rabbits, Daisy and Lilly, again, talking.
“You should have seen those smiles!” Daisy chuckled.
“I think it’s a bit strange though!” Lilly said. “I have never received a snow delivery!”
“Well, you said that Yule is the time for magic and miracles, didn’t you?” Daisy smiled.
“Someone sent us snow! The little ones dived into it immediately.”
“And later, they had a small snowball fight too! I think they threw one or two balls at the shirriff who was passing by.”
“And I never thought that snow would taste that good”, Daisy said. “We got fun and a feast in the same package!”

Then, I woke up again beside my oven, and hurried to stir the Yule porridge. It wasn’t burnt, and it still had the scent of my childhood. I had quite forgotten about the rabbit thing. Did it really happen? ‘s hard to tell. Talking rabbits…

One thing was clear though: this porridge was magical. It had taken me back to my childhood, making me remember forgotten memories.
When I sat at the table next morning and ate the porridge, my eyes watered again. But this time, not for hate. Oh, and I brought a bowl of it to the forest edge again. I bet the forest creatures need a Yule feast too.

So remember this, young ones: There might be places, things and people that you try to avoid due to some unfortunate and bad incidents in the past. But behind those bad memories, there might be some golden ones hidden. Our memory is selective and betrays us. So give the past a chance.
Merry Yule to you all! And remember to eat yer porridge!