Raising four kids alone, back then, Holbert’s mum had it tough.

But she was inventive.

Coal was expensive during the hard winter months so she’d buy lots of odd shoes, at jumble sales, for pence.

They burnt surprisingly well.

The house always smelt kinda funky.

But Holbert was rarely cold.

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This is the fortieth story in the series of Humpbuckle Tales. Each story is precisely 50 words long. They are meant to be independent stories, but if you read them all you will find each one adds another piece to the puzzle – there is a bigger story that is being told.

This story was first published on my Hive blog (@felt.buzz) and you can find all the stories on the @humbuckletales Hive account – at the time of posting this I have just published Tale number 73. On Hive I publish 12 stories per week (Monday to Saturday one story per day and then six 50-word stories in one post on a Sunday).

You can watch the author read the first 22 Humpbuckle Tales on YouTube or you can listen to it as a podcast.

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