This is for the Carpe Diem Extra #43 Carpe Diem Kamishibai Kurisumasu
When I was sixteen years old I moved to Cologne in Germany. I remember my first Christmas market vividly, with the aroma of pancakes and waffles, sauerkraut and wurst. It was in one of the many small marketplaces, I can’t recall which one, and I was looking for something magical for my little sister. When I was quite young, I fell in love with ballet and kept a scrapbook of all the stories. My favourites were Peer Gynt, Swan Lake and the Nutcracker. I remember terrifying my sister with tales of the Button Moulder, the symbol of death in Peer Gynt, and thrilling her with the battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. I went in search of a typical nutcracker and wasn’t disappointed. In amongst the marzipan, Stollen and Lebkuchen, snow globes and baubles, I found a stall with wooden toys; in the centre was a huge array of brightly coloured nutcrackers. I spent ages choosing one. In the end he was big and red, and the best present I had ever bought for anyone.
Bright Christmas market
Drenched with scent of cinnamon
Cracking nuts with love
© Kim M. Russell, 2015
writing in north norfolk 