First of all, my NaNoWriMo (national novel-writing month)-inspired story is suffering a brief hiatus, for which I apologise. I find it difficult to write a chapter (or any other blog post) without devoting an unbroken chunk of time to it. When there are other demands on my time and what’s left is too fragmented, my… Continue reading Unpost in a gap
Chapter 7|Seven across
| Back to Chapter 6 | Back to the beginning It’s starting to get dark. The sun is just setting behind the straggly line of houses on the edge of town. A wonder of nature unfolds above them as a vast murmuration of starlings begins to swoop and swirl, moving as one in a mesmerising… Continue reading Chapter 7|Seven across
A fantasia on aphantasia
Once again, I interrupt my as-yet-still-untitled long-form story to bring you a personal blog post. This one’s not quite an ‘unpost’ but might nevertheless be a bit on the rambly and ill-formed side, hence ‘fantasia’. That’s because it’s a reaction to something I discovered about myself (and everyone else) only yesterday. And when I say… Continue reading A fantasia on aphantasia
Chapter 6|The top floor
| Back to Chapter 5 | Back to the beginning Walking from the station towards the small business park on the edge of town, Kate and Jude try to reassure each other that everything will be fine, despite both being convinced that something terrible has happened. They comment on the cold, dry spell of weather,… Continue reading Chapter 6|The top floor
Remembering the beautiful people
All of us are broken in some way. Many of the beautiful people were more broken than most of us, even before their lives came to an abrupt end. And though they may not all have been beautiful in the eyes of the world, each had their own unique beauty which leaves the world diminished… Continue reading Remembering the beautiful people
Chapter 5|Freyja’s journal
| Back to Chapter 4 | Back to the beginning Wednesday The ornithologist was outside the flat again this morning, with his binoculars round his neck. He gives me the creeps. Luckily he was gone before I went to work, but I could still taste him in the air outside. I wish I didn’t have… Continue reading Chapter 5|Freyja’s journal
Chapter 4|The bridge
| Back to Chapter 3 | Back to the beginning Kate leans over the parapet, fearful of what grisly sight will confront her. A broken body with limbs contorted at unnatural angles and blood pooling out onto the ballast? Or the smouldering, charred remains of a person swinging silently from the overhead lines? Craning her… Continue reading Chapter 4|The bridge
Chapter 3|Jude
| Back to Chapter 2 | Back to the beginning There is a bus stop a short way down the hill from the bookshop, and Jude joins the gaggle of passengers in the so-called shelter. (When it rains here, it usually rains sideways, and the shelter was clearly designed by someone who was only familiar… Continue reading Chapter 3|Jude
Chapter 2|Kate
| Not read Chapter 1 yet? The beginning is a very good place to start. Kate is a single mum, though she’s not too keen on having that pointed out by others. She’s certainly done the whole parenting thing all by herself, but the label ‘single parent’ has a stigma attached. If this is the… Continue reading Chapter 2|Kate
Chapter 1|Freyja
It’s eight o’ clock on Thursday morning – a cold, nondescript November sort of morning – and Freyja drags herself out of bed. The alarm clock first broke her slumber half an hour earlier, but Freyja has little enthusiasm for the day ahead. She would much rather slip back under the covers and back into… Continue reading Chapter 1|Freyja
