Finding Christmas on Folgate Street #12: Finding Christmas Again in London

Christmas Through Every Sense: A Journey Through Time

Before the Visit - 6:30 PM

Emma's voice crackles through Olivia's phone like brittle winter leaves: "Dad's taking you to Dennis Severs' House? Oh, Liv... that's where he proposed to Mum. Under the Georgian chandelier, where the crystals tinkled like ice in summer wine. She used to say it was where past and present kiss."

Olivia's fingers trace the vintage brooch at her throat – Andy's Mums. The metal is cool against her fingertips, its aged silver warm with stories, each tiny pearl smooth as a whispered secret. "Should I not wear this there? Is it too much?"

"It's perfect," Emma says softly, her voice honeyed with memory. "Some places are meant for memories to layer like silk."

The Approach - 6:45 PM

Folgate Street emerges from the London twilight like a watercolor painting coming to life, the winter air sharp as mint against their faces. Gas lamps cast honey-gold pools on frost-kissed cobblestones that crunch satisfyingly beneath their feet, each stone worn smooth as river glass by centuries of footsteps. The Georgian houses stand shoulder to shoulder, their windows glowing amber against the indigo evening, brick facades mellowed to the color of aged wine, rough texture catching at the dying light like velvet nap.

The clip of Olivia's heels on ancient stone echoes like heartbeats in the hushed street, each step releasing a tiny puff of frozen breath that hangs in the air like fairy lights. Axel guides her toward number...