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“We’re our own worst enemy,” said Wolfgang. “We’re, also, our own best friend.”
Chapter 54: Best Friend
Tonight was the last Dementia Unit dance class. Wolfgang was in fine form and had been talking nonstop. “I like making a noise,” he joked. “I should have been a politician. Do you know that I come here every morning to have breakfast with my Madeline?”
“No,” said Gabriel. “That’s devoted.” Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Handspun”
Love is its own reward.
Chapter 45: Suspicious Arrangements
Mullum-Mullum was not in the rose garden. Amira decided to walk up the back steps of the old house and look around the verandah. Some dusty boxes and a few bits of dirty furniture were haphazardly pushed into a corner where they had remained for years. She spotted a small bookshelf and pulled out several, yellowed books. Her eyes landed on a familiar green cover. It was The Little Book of Healing. On the inside of the cover was a sticker saying, This book belongs to Rose Este. The book had long since ceased publication. Amira had given her precious copy to Thomas, a few years ago. There was something quite peculiar about the little book. Amira didn’t know if other people had the same experience but whenever she opened it, she seemed to read pages that she had never seen before. As she had read the book many times and it wasn’t long, she eventually decided that the book changed its contents depending on what was needed. She put it in her pocket and went back to her and Gabriel’s apartment. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Winter Lights”
There was something unusual about Rose. She didn’t do or say anything unusual but whenever she was around, everything worked well.
Chapter 42: Om Mani Padme Hum
Farkas pulled his hood on and made a run for Ide’s front porch in the storm. He was picking up baby Lan-Lan. Ide had been able to keep the house that she and Farkas had jointly owned, at least, for now. The main elder of the Clinkers had decided to rent Ide’s large, front room. He was using it for meetings and private sessions and, occasionally, sleeping there. His tribe name was Salt, although, Ide’s teenage son, Christopher, had always referred to him as Magic Man. That is the name that stuck in Farkas’s mind. Although Salt was an elder, he was far from elderly. At seventy, he could run through the forest almost as fast as the young Clinker men and he could, certainly, outwit them. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Magic Men and Women”
Beautiful things come together one stitch at a time.
Chapter 37: Decorating Skeletons
Amira was walking along the main street of Waldmeer, greeting the locals, and looking into the shop windows to see if any of the familiar places had changed. It was her first visit back since moving to Darnall. “Hello,” said a lady outside the Op Shop. Amira didn’t recognise the woman but, on closer inspection, realised it was Amelia.
“You look so different,” said Amira. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Make-Overs and Move-Ons”
The Dream Maker is here by consent of every person who ever came here.
Chapter 15: Scammers and Scanners
“When you enter the Outer Circle,” said Lan-Lan to Vera, “the most pressing problem is recall. On moving into its atmosphere, you will forget who you are and why you are there.”
“If I cannot remember who I am, I will be very vulnerable,” said Vera as she backed away from the entrance at the top of Long Hill. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Outer Circle”
There is so much more.
Chapter 10: Emperors and Kingdoms
Since Gabriel had been living in Waldmeer, he had not seen Thomas. They no longer had their styling/shopping sessions as Gabriel was no longer in the city. In Waldmeer, their circles didn’t intersect. Thomas’s world consisted, almost entirely, of school-related people and events. Kathleen, Thomas’s ex-girlfriend, was the only person he saw who did not belong to school. This morning, Gabriel saw Thomas walking out of the supermarket. At least, he thought it was Thomas but he had to do a double-take to be sure. Thomas looked like he had aged five years in six months and had, unfortunately, reverted to his old man’s dress code which aged him a further ten years. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Someone Loves You”
Healing has a chance in our lives when we have exhausted all our other options.
Chapter 3: Getting On With Life
Ide was walking along the main street of Waldmeer with her nine-month-old baby in the pram. His name was Landon. He wasn’t named after anyone. Nor did his name have a special meaning. It was, simply, the only name which neither Ide nor Farkas had said no to. Farkas wanted an “unusual, cool name” because he said he didn’t want his son to be like everybody else; something like Blaze, Hawk or Slate. Ide said, “A baby is not a fashion. A little boy grows into a man. He needs a name worthy of his future.” Ide liked names from the Bible – Peter, David or Timothy – or from other religious books. “If not from an important tradition then, a least, a name which means something of value.” Landon means long hill. Nothing particularly inspirational about that but, by default, Landon it became or Lan-Lan as he was affectionately called. Continue reading “Circles of Separation: Break-Up”
