Arthur Nelson’s Old Curiosity Shop

By Romi Deonanan

Arthur’s great grandfather opened an old antique shop and passed it down from generation to generation. For Arthur’s seventieth birthday, his children surprise him by transforming his ancestors’ shop into a museum. They also get in touch with long lost relatives Arthur hasn’t seen in years.
They gather together and share the stories of what their grandparents lived through. They recount events like the fire in Newcastle, the creation of the Jesmond Dene public park, and the unhealthy sewage waste near Sunderland. Author Romi Deonanan pulls some of her characters’ tales from reality, especially the stories of ghosts and angels.
Arthur Nelson’s Little Old Curiosity Shop is a heartwarming example of family values working in unity regardless of the poverty, heartache, and pain that lingers in the past. With love and care, these relations congregate to prepare a better future for the generations to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Aug 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728356426

Romi Deonanan

At age eleven, I left school, to care for my sibling, that didn’t stop me from learning and practicing writing stories and poems, I also enjoy history, soft furnishing and flower arranging. I am carer and work in a hospital. I’m a volunteer street pastor. My vision for the future is to further in reaching other never give up. Whatever hardship you face, just keep learning. Here is a poem for the end of the story facing hard ship. Life is like a dream Running like a stream Having all it’s up and down Rushing through villages and towns Struggling through heartache and pain, Like a powerful hurricane, It’s lovely when peace is in the air, Life is a wonderful thing to share, Taking each day as it’s comes, Thanking our dads and mums, Through spring, summer, winter and snow, Yet life is a splendid thing to know Step by step we take each day With a breath of life we say Thank God for His creation A dream of life for every nation,

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2020 Romi Deonanan. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/31/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5641-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5642-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020915371

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is dedicated to my family members and friends and to Arthur, a brilliant caretaker of the church who worked hard to keep the building perfect. No job was too difficult for him.

Special thanks to Adam Hamilton and Norman Kirtlan, who are dears to me and close best friends. They both encouraged me to write this story. Adam and Norman worked extremely hard to make this project to happen. They have given me so much inspiration and have supported me throughout the project.

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever felt that you are wasting precious time when you have work to do and time goes quickly? Well, it took me almost a lifetime to actually write this book. I had written many short stories and poems in my past. When I was a kid growing up, this desire to write was planted in my heart; I always wanted to be a writer, even before I started infant school. Amazingly, this desire never did go away; it has always been there stuck deep inside me, growing stronger with time.

Having other people controlling me didn’t help either in my life. People told me what I should and shouldn’t do as if they knew what was best for me. I tried to follow their wishes, but then I realised that what I was trying to do was wrong. I was pleasing other people around me—not at home, but people whom I worked with and had stayed with. I trusted these people when I was homeless. That is another story in its own way.

We were poor farmers when I was growing up in my childhood days, but being the eldest child in a large family was a blessing. I had all the chores to do. My school days were the best days of my life, but I had had very little time in school. Five days a week I cared for my younger siblings and obeyed instructions from my parents who taught us well. During those days, all that was required was a little patience, which I didn’t have much of. All I wanted was to go to school. That is why, before midmorning when my mother would return home from her hard morning of work under the blazing sun, I would take my younger brother and sister to our neighbour next door and run away to school, all because I loved school and was eager to learn.

At age eleven, I left school; however, that didn’t stop me from learning. I kept practicing writing English and doing creative art, soft furnishings, and flower arranging. In my teen years, I wrote many poems and a few short stories. I gained tremendous pleasure in writing, and that encouraged me to never give up and never quit! Life is like a dream—a dream to make into reality.

After many years of heartache, broken dreams, and growing failure, I felt trampled, but the desire was still here in my heart. When God puts a pure righteous desire in your heart, no one cannot pluck it out of you. So here, now, after all those years of grieving and patiently waiting, I decided to stop waiting and to begin to fulfil my dream by never giving up. It did not happen overnight either. I started by doing a little at a time.

In 2008, I took English lessons whenever I had the chance. I also took a creative writing class. I learned skills and all the tips for becoming a creative writer and storyteller. Although I was the one in the class without a full education, that didn’t discourage me to give up. I said, to myself, Lord, I am going to learn from these people. But they weren’t much help. However, I began to learn more from the teacher instead, who was keen on supporting me.

I was busy with my job as a carer, and I also worked as a cleaner in church. My teenage children keep me busy, too, and I didn’t have the time to write. Four years went by, and I still had the strong desire even though I wrote very little during those years. I read every leaflet I could about writing events that were taking place in libraries and day centres. I met best-selling writers. I became good friends with one of them. He told me to stop talking about writing and do it! Only then I could I achieve the desires and dreams of my heart. So I took his advice, and he kept correcting my English.

While I was the cleaner in our church, Mr Nelson retried from his well-paid job as a graphic designer and became the caretaker at church. While we worked together, he taught me many good skills and gave me ideas about the old-fashioned ways; he also taught me how to wallpaper my house. He was a collector of useful items and valuable furniture. He kept them all in a storage room in the church for people who were setting up a home for the first time and couldn’t afford to buy the things they needed. With the minister, he supplied these items to help the poor and needy.

After I became a member of the church and then became a cleaner, over the years, I collected a wealth of knowledge from members of the congregation. Many have passed on to be with the Lord. I have used some of their