Collected Writings: Volume 3

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This third collection of shorts opens with
A Tar Dark Night
, a story written in homage to Dylan Thomas following my visit to the little Township of Laugharne in South Wales, and finishes with
Our Rose
my first foray into monologues. Both are written in a humorous vein.
In between, as previously, there’s a melange of shorts, some happy, some sad, some humorous, others more serious.

A Tar Dark Night
is told over the period of a couple of hours during the night of an anniversary of Dylan’s birth, though which one isn’t specified. The story begins and ends in the graveyard, the one by St Martin’s Church, that is, not the one overlooking the Taf.

Our Rose
is narrated by one of the three main protagonists, Me, the Me being June, wife to long-suffering Reg, and elder sister to the bookish Rose. I so enjoyed writing this story, that I’ve gone on to write another six! There’s now a complete book-full,
Rose, My Reg, & Me
, which will be published late 2021.
Unlike the other two volumes, however, this one sees a definite move into the realm of monologues, which also includes,
That’s Technology
a satirical piece on one man’s reluctance to embrace technology more than needs be and
Coffee Break
. As a story, is just that, the capture of a hitman on the run.

To Elysian Fields
is a more sobering piece. It’s another story about one man’s homeless experience and is the final part in the trilogy begun in Vol II. The trilogy stands as a sad and sobering reflection on the state of homelessness in Britain today.

Two Total Strangers
and
Unforgiven
are stories on human relationships. As author, I pass no judgement. That’s the reader’s prerogative.

Where Dreams Go to Die
is a short piece reflecting on the danger of allowing a dream to become an all-consuming passion. The outcomes may not always live up to the expectations.

The Devil is in the Detail
is the tale of a blighted spirit.

The Traveller
is a rewrite, in prose, of Walter de la Mare’s famous poem, ‘The Listeners’. In this version, The Traveller has traded his horse for a motorbike.
There was a writing competition, in the latter part of 2019 with the specific subject of ‘A Suitcase’. The other stipulation was that the story shouldn’t exceed 1,000 words.
I made three attempts to write a piece within the word count instructed, but each time exceeded it. I never did enter the competition, but I was left with three stories, each about a suitcase. Two of the stories are published here.
Of the three
The Swan, The Suitcase, and The Man
was the result of a combination of inspirations. Firstly, I saw a collection of photographs, revolving around a suitcase. One showed a swan, looking at a suitcase, perched on the edge of a river. The second photograph showed the same suitcase floating down the river. It reminded me of the first line ‘Now the swan, it floated on the English River’ from Leonard Cohen’s song, The Traitor.

A Fracas at The Pig and Whistle
is a light-hearted summer story of strawberries and cricket.