Just another WINTER'S TALE

The countryside in January. Wouldn't city girl Katherine be cold and lonely?

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Sighing heavily, Katherine closed the suitcase. Why on earth was she going to the depths of the countryside for a fortnight in the middle of winter? Normally, she didn't budge far from home at this time of year. She hated the cold weather and the dark nights. She'd often thought about following the birds and heading somewhere warm and sunny in the winter, but somehow she never had. And now, here she was, off to house-sit at her sister's cottage while Vicky, a psychologist, went on a study course in California.

'I've definitely drawn the short straw here,' she thought grumpily as she loaded up the boot.

'But you've been saying you need a change of scenery,' Vicky had said persuasively, 'that you've been in a rut lately. You work from home so that's no problem, and there's no man in your life right now.'

'Thanks for reminding me,' Katherine rolled her eyes. Her sister could be rather tactless at times.

'Sorry, but wouldn't it be lovely to wake up to fields outside rather than a bustling street? Please say yes, Kathy.'

Katherine had never been able to deny her little sister anything, so here she was, leaving her cosy apartment where she was well-insulated against the worst winter could throw at her, heading to the wilds of the country where, she was sure, she was in for a boring, lonely time. She didn't believe Vicky's reassurances that lots happened in the winter.

'You mean, like the leaves falling off the trees and the pipes freezing up?' was her scathing response.

'How about you try to avoid negativity bias for once?' Vicky said.

'What are you talking about? Is that one of your psychological mantras?'

'It simply means focusing on the positive side of things rather than the negative,' Vicky smiled sweetly. 'Try it. Good things might be just around the corner.'