What was going on !!!!
Kram Toille was born in 1959 and lived in a 1930's semi detached house, on a suburban road in “Betjeman’s” celebrated metro land.
The nearest countryside was a couple of miles away, but there in front of him was a truly rural landscape.
In the near distance was an old thatched cottage with a cottage garden surrounding the building. Next to this property were a farm house and an old barn, with its doors open revealing bundles of hay strewn about the building.
Other rural buildings were dotted about the scenery, although the majority of Krams view was that of idyllic countryside.
Kram rubbed his eyes and turned round to view the room with the benefit of the sunlight starting to enter the premises through the small windows. He was staggered to view the contents of the room which reminded him of a vintage Victorian photograph published in a historical magazine.
The floors of the room were wooden with a small rug in front of the open fireplace. A small wooden chair was at angle beside the hearth, and the chair that Kram had earlier risen from was on the opposite side of the fire.
The walls were covered in simple hessian wallpaper, and a sepia photograph of Queen Victoria, and her extended family hung above the fire place.
Pushed up against the wall were a small wooden table and two simple stools. The table was uncovered, apart from a small Bible which had a leather book mark wedged in to its pages.
On the floor next to the table was small copper coin and Kram stretched down to pick it up. Having recovered the coin he quickly noticed that it was a gleaming new Victorian penny, with a portrait of Queen Victoria on the reverse and the date 1870 stamped on the base.
Kram stared at the coin and was amazed at its quality. He had collected coins as a child and had indeed owned many old Victorian pennies. However, he had never seen one in such fine condition. He quickly placed the coin in his pocket and continued to scan the room.
Kram’s head was spinning as he quickly motioned towards the door so as to escape from this nightmare. As he passed through the opening he slipped and fell hard, smashing his head against the cold wooden flooring in the hallway.
All was quite as Kram lay there, his breath easing to a gentle intake of musty damp air, and his eyes tightly shut.
Kram awoke some three hours later with thumping headache, and the thought of his Victorian odyssey flooding through his terrified brain.
He slowly opened his eyes expecting to see the floor and walls of the dingy building that he had slipped and fell in some hours earlier, but was amazed to see familiar furnishings in his own hallway. He quickly rose from the ground and opened the front door.
His head thrust through the open portal and he was greeted with the familiar view of his normal suburban surroundings, the cars parked in the street, the post box at the end of the road, and his neighbour’s cat strolling across his front garden.
Completely bamboozled, Kram moved to his kitchen, switched the electric kettle on and sat on a wooden stool. He strained his memory trying to remember the events that had earlier befallen him, and he soon dismissed the complete episode as a strange, but very vivid dream.
As he sat on the stool his nose began to run and he placed his hand in to his trouser pocket to retrieve a tissue. His hand entered his pocket and immediately touched a cold small object.
His hands quickly retrieved the object and Kram shivered in disbelief as he held the brand new 1870 Victorian penny in his hand.
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