What is mistletoe?

November 2002

At the same time I started to write her little stories, just for fun. They were all in a similar vain; me as her servant, lover or hero, in some romantic setting; a walk in the moonlight, a trip to Paris or a deserted tropical island.

In the first of these I described the many ways in which I would serve her; as her chauffeur, her gardener, her chef and her butler. Another time I was a knight in shining armour saving her from her evil admirers with my trusty sword. The stories were shamelessly clichéd.

It was easy to forget that English was not her first language and that she knew little of western culture. Another story described a fairytale castle, surrounded by snow, at Christmas time. That evening she told me she’d asked her boss ‘what is mistletoe?’ She said she would try to buy some in time for the coming Christmas.