Level Two. Home or Away.
Level Two. Home or Away.
By Michelle Lloyd.
New One was a home buddy. He loved everything about his home. It was comfortable, familiar and where he felt most at ease. All in all it could be said that New One was especially in love with where he lived.
Of course being SO attached to home did have a few obstacles to overcome and these could include:
The DO Not Touch or Redecorate any part of the Bedroom Rule.
The Staying In and Appreciating home at least two evenings a week, and of course…
The No Move Policy.
New One had declined and adamantly refused a potential move because he firmly felt that this was where he belonged. His family had tried to talk him into alternative looks, styles and decoration techniques but as far as he could he stopped any of them from venturing further than the this is only a thought stage.
New One’s resistance to doing anything other to the house had meant that the family were not allowed to paint or put wallpaper up in his room. When the rest of the house was finally given a new look, New One’s disapproval of everything meant that he had to sit through a lecture about appreciating the needs of others where one lived. He listened, he had to admit that he had learnt but he did not like it and he explained yet again that his room was off limits to a shift in style.
It was seen as slightly strange, New One feared, by many but his decision he thought should be final. New One’s family had adapted to many new on-trend looks for their home but in one bedroom everything stayed the same… if he liked it and used it then New One felt that nothing about it should alter.
Unfortunately for New One a change was on the horizon because a school excursion had been planned and he had been signed up for the privilege. When New One heard about this news he was appalled. He tried to always spend time at home and this impending outing of his school would mean that they would have an overnight stay in another county, in another part of the country. It would mean that New One would have to stay in another bedroom and he was not happy about it.
He tried to get out of it, appealed and pleaded but nothing worked. His parents felt that New One needed to experience a different environment because maybe then he would realise that not everything had to stay the same. New One did not agree.
The time for the trip arrived. New One was taken off and away but his heart was right back at home. He was not at all convinced by the journey and all that kept him interested was the fact that his friends were there to chivvy him along. When they got to the hotel New One was not pleased, they did not have any of the comforts of home that he knew so well…as he looked around EVERYTHING looked different and he did not want to try any of it.
The seats looked too high, the tables too low, the beds in the room did not have his favourite Superhero bed set on them. It was terrible. It was only as his two friends, eagerly found a fun way of swinging on the tall seats and made oohs and ahhs of delights at the squidgy, softness of the mattresses that New One felt a gentle tug towards the newness of his unfamiliar surroundings.
Extremely slowly New One worked his way through the gadgets to do with the TV, the incredibly soft bed and then the absolutely astounding multi-coloured light settings. He started to fall in love with the hotel room controls and all of a sudden trying something else out did not seem so bad…
When New One got home his parents were happy to see that not only had he not had a bad time but a change of heart about occasionally leaving his sense of style behind. They were thrilled to see how enthused he was about the room he had been given at the hotel but not as excited about the extra long list of new bedroom objects that he had decided he HAD to have; because New One had learnt that venturing out did not have to detract from what he loved in life and could actually be totally beneficial.