You only live once, make the most of it!
It takes me a while to compose the text, but in the end I think I get it right: ‘Lost for words for once – desperately wanted to say something to make you smile. No good at jokes, bit better at hugs, guaranteed to clumsily shatter a silence. But I want you to know that…
This craziness has got to stop. In all probability it only exists in my own head, and it’s making me miserable rather than happy. So it has to stop. Surely, surely, it’s a simple case of mind over matter. Surely, surely, my heart (if it is indeed my heart and not the female equivalent of…
The air outside is heavy with moisture. It hasn’t rained for hours, but the pitch is waterlogged and play has been called off for the day. There are still a few diehards in the bar: drinking, chatting, reading their broadsheet newspapers. They are all men. Except me.  I am between meetings. To be honest,…
The banter last night on the Mercy post got me thinking… would you really want to be Owen? If I was a guy, I probably wouldn’t.  Owen is in his early – or maybe mid – thirties. He has a dead end, poorly paid job in middle management that increasingly frustrates him because he’s…
Tats leaps into the car beside me. “God, sorry I’m late! It’s been manic here this morning, honestly.†We hug with some difficulty across the handbrake; she is one of my closest friends – I seem to have known her forever – and instantly we are talking, and laughing; stories of family, work – all…
I dream that I am putting flowers on my father’s grave. They are deep purple, his favourite colour, and I somehow know that it is nearly Christmas. I walk along tight rows of burials, lying head to toe and only inches apart. Some of the earth covering the bodies has fallen away so I can…
Friday always seems a relaxed kind of day. I don’t know why, because very often I work at the weekend, so there’s no special significance. I guess it must be a deep-seated response to the end of the western week; chill out, and let the world float by.  So I start my day with…
“Come here.†His voice is soft and low, but there is an element of command to it. I turn and take a step back and he and hugs me, kissing me gently on the cheek. “Don’t disappear on me,†I say as we move apart. “I’ll try not to.†His voice is more normal now,…