Elizabeth has escaped. She had been stuck indoors far too long. She wasn’t “allowed” out on her own, “in case something happened”. She understood why everyone wanted to take extra care of her, and she was grateful for their concern, but even at the age of 89, she was still a healthy woman with a strong spirit. She thought that she should be able to manage a little shopping trip in the city without causing a stir, and as no one knew that she was out, no one would worry, would they?
It was chilly outside, but the cold was frosty and crisp. She started walking towards the bus stop. It felt good to be out in the fresh air.
Elizabeth walked into the department store. It was busy and noisy inside, full of Christmas shoppers. She covered her face with her scarf and hurried to the floor plan. Where did one start? Yes, the menswear and ladies’ wear departments on the first floor. There she would find gifts for the adult members of the family: practical things, not too expensive — a good woolly scarf, perhaps, or some thick socks to wear on their trips to Scotland. Some of the family lived in large, draughty homes that can be expensive to heat. She, personally, found thermal underwear a godsend for chilly days.
Luckily, the store had lots of suitable clothes and accessories for all ages, and she was soon able to take a large pile of items to the cash desk. The busy assistant didn’t even look at her as she paid for her purchases. Who found Christmas shopping more stressful, Elizabeth wondered, — the shoppers or the staff in the stores? At least she was having a successful trip.
Next, Elizabeth took the escalator up to the toy department on the second floor. It was a wonderland of flashing lights, bright colours and loud displays. She wanted something more traditional for her great-grandchildren. Then she saw it: a beautiful, handmade, wooden sledge. Her great-grandson was only two, but he would surely love to race down a snowy hillside on it with his father. Standing gazing at the sledge, she remembered her own childhood winter holidays in Scotland: making a giant snowman with her sister and having snowball fights with her father. Her mother never joined in, but once she did lie down and make a snow angel. One winter, they had tried to ice-skate on a lake, and afterwards, they made a fire and roasted chestnuts.
Elizabeth’s last destination was the store’s Christmas department on the top floor, with its showers of tinsel Christmas-tree decorations, wooden crib scenes, glass angels and pine-scented candles. But Elizabeth wasn’t looking for anything like that. She had plenty of exquisite decorations at home. She wanted to find some of the “novelty” gifts — the musical Christmas stockings, the Christmas toilet paper, the sexy Santa Claus costumes. The younger members of the family loved jokey gifts, and every year they competed to find the funniest one for her. Last year, her grandson had given her a shower cap with the words “Ain’t life a bitch?” on it, for her to wear in the bath. Elizabeth picked up a “visorganizer” — a small organizer bag that could be attached to the visor of a baseball cap to store money, tickets and a passport. Practical, yet completely impractical. Genius, yet totally stupid. She wondered what her grandson would give her this year. It’s hard to know what to buy for a woman who has everything.
As she left the warm store, struggling with several large bags and pulling the wooden sledge behind her, Elizabeth decided that she shouldn’t be lifting such heavy things at her age. Perhaps she had overdone it. The path was also slippery: there was a lack of grit, and she didn’t want to fall and hurt herself. But she was glad she had come out into the real world again, even if for only a couple of hours. It would be wonderful to have the same freedom as everyone else. But when she looked more closely at the people on the pavement, their shoulders heavy with stress and worry, she knew that they had their own problems, too, especially in this winter weather.
Elizabeth raised her arm and flagged down a black London cab. The driver jumped out and put her piles of shopping into the back. This was more like the sort of service she was used to. She got into the taxi, glad to be sitting down again. She was exhausted. But her shopping trip had been a success. Yes, it was much nicer to go to the shops and choose presents personally, rather than ordering them and having them delivered.
“Where to, love?” asked the driver from the front seat. Elizabeth loosened the scarf from around her face and said: “To Buckingham Palace, please.” Startled, the driver looked in his mirror and recognized one of the most famous faces in the world.