A Little Patch of Ground

Commissioned for Questors. Excerpt from Act 2 - Flashback - Jim and Evie discuss the criticism of the shed on their allotment.

EVIE

She says it’s tatty. He says we should buy a new one. They say it brings down the tone.

JIM

Brings down the tone? What is this? Hampton Court?

EVIE

I know Jim, but I can see their point. Looking at it now, it does look… scrappy. Even for a shed.

JIM 

Shed? This is not just a shed! It’s a palace of dreams this is. It’s H flipping Q of our seasonal plan of attack. It’s a shelter, it’s a storehouse, a tearoom, a workshop, a study, an office, a memorial even.

EVIE

Eh?

JIM

I want my ashes scattered over that shed when I go.

EVIE

You’re joking.

JIM

Either the shed, or Julia Roberts. Take your pick.

EVIE 

(Laughs) Oh Jim!  It’s a mess is what they say.

JIM

Mess? No. Mess? I’ts part of our life is what it is.

EVIE

Exactly.

JIM

Hey! We’ll be fine My Lovely. Listen. Your Dad started that shed. It’s like a stockpot. You keep building on it, developing it, adding flavour. I want one of the kids to take it on one day. It’s the hub of the plot that shed.  It’s like a plant itself, you have to feed it, nurture it, encourage it. You don’t knock it down and plonk a ready-made MDF box on the spot.

EVIE

Well...

JIM walks over to the shed and points.

JIM 

Look love. Look, there’s the bottom of that cot we got given for David, the one painted with a rabbit you thought looked like my Mum. There’s a bit of the fence we had in Northwood Lane; there’s the workman’s lights and that road sign me and Wal brought back the night we won the premium bonds.

EVIE 

Five pounds. You spent more than that on beer.

JIM

This shed’s a fort, a museum, it’s safety and security and history and I for one am dead proud of it.

EVIE

You’re right. Of course, you’re right.

JIM

And it’s still as sound as a bell.

He thumps the shed fondly. A large piece falls off. 

EVIE

What sort of bell?

FLASHBACK ENDS