The early morning light was of that opaque, ethereal quality that casts deep shadows on the planes of your face. I was wearing hastily cast on jeans and a t-shirt and comfortable pink footwear.
As September was wearing on, glorious sunny days were now proceeded by misty chilling mornings and the high Georgian ceilings in this house meant that floors were decidely chilly .
I stepped forward and nervously knocked on the heavy wooden study door. A querulous voice invited me to enter. Sitting in a row on a cream sofa were my four youngest grandchildren, who are all under eight.
Clad in their pyjamas and slippers they all smiled. “Good Morning. Who are you and what are you going to sing for us today?” said the youngest Gideon.
“Well as you know I am your Granny and I am going to sing”…..well then my mind went completely blank.
I heard a voice say “Ah! …”Shout to the Top” by the Style Council
I  surprised even myself by this unusual choice and once I had uttered the words . “And every shop window I looked in just looked the same”…. those being the only ones I could remember …blankness decended.

After several attempts at the chorus of “Shout to the Top” all that was left was a lot of humming and twirling.
Eventually Oscar put up his hand and said “You can stop now, thank you.”
“Thank Goodness for that” I thought as I leant back on the piano to control my dizzy spell. Whilst they conferred I glanced through the gap in the door towards the hall clock.

This was a very early edition of the pretend X Factor as it was only 6.25 in the morning.
Eventually somebody piped up “I am afraid the melody was poor and the dancing worse but we have given you a chance and you are through to the next round of the X Factor.”……..

 Extract from the Communication Generation by Carole McCall due out in 2015