Mum's Monday: Talking to the Dead

When reading this book this diagram came into my head. The diagram came to me as interwoven shapes as parts of the story are connected and the twist seemed to spiral off, hence these shapes and an arrow. You have the murder of the mother and daughter, Janet and April that starts the whole thing off and then it circles round through another investigation into Brendon’s business interests (A lead because his credit card was found at the scene) the investigation is conducted by DC Fiona Griffiths who is coping with her own issue. This is a condition of the mind, that is a kind of depression and as she put it in the book ‘She felt dead for 2 years.’ Extreme forms cause the person with this to see their flesh decompose during a hallucination. The story circles back to solving the murder case of Janet and April.

The bigger of the 2 shapes is the plot of the book where a mother and daughter were murdered and then you have the business interests of Brendan Rattigan. The smaller shape is the condition Fiona is dealing with, but still getting on with her job. Showing that even if you have something wrong with you, as long as the nature of it doesn’t impede too much on your day to day life or your job, you can still function at both reasonably well. The twist at the end snaking off shows what you can learn about your own life whilst doing your job.

We don’t often focus on the police officer that take the case, so when this book does and with the added condition that DC Fiona is dealing with, this makes for a picturesque vision, as in this diagram.

An excellent, well-written book is meant to give you a sense you are there. When Fiona spent the night in the morgue with the bodies of the murder victims, Janet and April, and how it made her feel alive. I could picture Fiona’s sense of being alive and got behind her reason for being there.

it is good to see a book with the main character with her own issues to deal with. It would be great to see more relatively unknown conditions being portrayed in books and across other media, and to show them in a light; as the people with conditions as being normal, which they are quite rightly are.

Jerry's Journal: Releasing Some Energy

On the same day Jerry helped dad tidy the shed, beforehand he let out a lot of energy by running around the garden. These are the only two usable pictures because the others showed Jerry as a white and brown blur - he was having that much fun he ran as fast as he could.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 196:

(Amy’s perspective)

One second the field was there and then it was gone. I was standing in a glass box. At first I thought there were no sides and that I was standing on a platform, but I just caught my very faint reflection in the glass. On the other side, I was able to identify that it was a laboratory as it had the typical scientific equipment needed for accurately testing any experiments or theories the person in charge has, if there is a person in charge.

Tom was next door to me, but in his own glass box. We looked at each other both with the same expression: shock and scared. Because I wasn’t fully recovered yet, I was still sitting on the floor. My legs were just not strong enough to support my weight. I still had feeling in them, but if I tried to stand, I would fall flat on my back and because I couldn’t move, I was scared, terrified even, at what might happen next.

‘What happened?’ I asked Tom.

‘I don’t know,’ he said.

The question to whether there was a person in charge was answered when the door at the far end slid open to reveal a woman wearing the usual getup when working in a laboratory: A white long coat that was done up all the way and blue rubber gloves. The only thing that was missing to make her look complete was a blue mask to go over her face. Se was smiling as she walked into the room. She was light on her feet as she walking, practically skipping with delight for some reason.

‘Hello,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Oh, please don’t look so nervous, I’m not going to hurt you.’ She took off his rubber gloves and placed them on the long table that ran down the left hand side of the room. ‘Your expressions are telling me that you think I’m lying,’ she continued. ‘Well I can assure you that I have no intention of hurting you in anyway.’

‘Then why are we here?’ I demanded.

‘An excellent question,’ she said, skipping over to where I was sitting and explained. ‘I want answers. I know that I’m only creating more questions that anything else, but I’m sure that everything will be crystal clear by the end. Now, like I said, I want answers. I know who you are.’ She looked at Tom, ‘Tom,’ and then she looked back at me, ‘and Amy. The two sidekicks of the one and only, Sebastian Spencer, the owner of a device known by few as the Watch but known by many more as a story told by those who want attention – nothing more, nothing less. Now,’ she quickly moved on before we could react properly. She couldn’t be more delighted for what she has done.

‘My plan is, or rather my prediction is,’ and then she abruptly cut herself off mid-sentence and changed the subject in a single syllable, ‘but first I think I owe you an explanation as to how I know who you are. The simple answer is I didn’t. I truly didn’t know that you were you. All my sensors told me is that three unknown people had turned up out of nowhere. That seems to happen a lot around these parts,’ she then slid over to where Tom was and continued without missing a beat, ‘and so I set up this place with the sole principle of finding out how they are able to jump from one place to another.’ She then slid back over to where I was and continued. ‘Then, there were two people. I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t manage to capture all of you before one of you disappeared, but that doesn’t matter.’ She slid over to Tom. ‘Two were enough. So I captured you and I just couldn’t believe my eyes. I really couldn’t. Of all the people I had to capture, I captured you two.’ She slid back over to me. ‘Well that changes how the game works, doesn’t it? Oh, how excited to final meet you. There are so many stories. I really want to ask a tonne load of questions, but I’m afraid they’ll just have to wait for I have to get everything ready for when Sebastian comes back. I can’t let him take you away before I get the answers I’ve so patiently waited for, now can I.

‘What are you going to do to him?’ Tom shouted.

She slid over to where he was. ‘Yep, you’re defiantly you. Haven’t you been listening? I want answers. Just, innocent answers. Nothing more, nothing less.

‘Who are you?’ I asked

‘Another excellent question. You see, she’s her alright,’ she said to Tom before sliding back over to where I was. ‘The stories… no, the truths that you must have inside your head of yours.’ She looked at Tom, ‘and yours.’

She turned her back and skipped away. She was about to exit the room when she stopped, spun around on her heels and said. ‘My name. I’m so excited that I nearly forgot. Sorry. You can call me, Zyalor Vile,’ and she bowed. Then she straightened up, spun around again and walked out. The door slid shut… before immediately opening again.

‘Oh, and the oxygen is on a circulatory system that recycles all expelled carbon dioxide, so please don’t worry about suffocation,’ and then she was gone again…

‘Oh, and you can communicate between yourselves,’ and then she was gone once more. This time, not coming back.

Tom and I looked at each other with wide eyes. We both didn’t quite know what to say. Our wide eyes quickly changed to that of worry as it slowly sank in that we were standing in a glass box in a laboratory.

‘Are you alright?’ Tom asked me.

‘Are you?’ I asked back, equally as worried.

‘I am if you are,’ he said, truthfully.

‘I am,’ I said, but I knew that I wasn’t being honest. Who could blame me?

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Random Topic Generator: What’s it Like Having Writer’s Block

One of the scariest situations a writer can find themselves in is Writer’s Block – a condition where a writer doesn’t know how to progress the story. It’s where a mental brick wall has been built between the story and your creative part of the brain. Sometimes, Writer’s Block can feel as if you’ve lost all your creative energy, never to write again.

OK, that escalated quickly, but Writer’s Block isn’t nice, and it strikes suddenly without warning, and sometimes it you don’t necessarily know you’ve got it until the deadline date starts looming. You can be merrily going about your days, writing away when you feel as if you need to take a small break before ending the story. Except these few days start building up, and only when you realise the deadline is next week and you have not a clue what to, do you discover that you have Writer’s Block. This the mildest form, though. You can be pumping out thousands of words per day when suddenly you stop, because you don’t know what happens next. The story has been flowing nicely, you’ve known everything about the story, inside and out, except how it ends. Every ending you can think of doesn’t fit, or simply you cannot think of an ending; your creative energy just doesn’t want to flow anymore.

This can leave you feeling a bit confused because you’re wondering how could this have happened, and if the days continue to fly by without a single word written, you can start feeling down, lethargic, unenthusiastic; you just want to write, but nothing’s working.

I have experienced Writer’s Block before and I can tell you it isn’t nice. They were the most stressful couple of weeks of my writing life. I had just published my first book and the excitement started to build, I felt highly motivated, and with a strong sense of accomplishment, because it was a huge achievement. I put a staggering amount of effort into making sure the book was as perfect as it can possibly be and once I had published it, I felt a lot of pressure tumbling from my shoulders like boulders down a cliff.

A few weeks after the release date the mechanisms that I had set in motion were operating on their own, I was able to focus on my other story. As I started planning and writing, I fell back down to Earth quicker than I thought I had. I believed I was gradually descending calmly, but instead I crashed to the ground like a tonne of bricks. I only realised that had happened when I stopped writing altogether, and I was experiencing the exact opposite of what I had a couple of weeks beforehand. I didn’t feel excited anymore, I didn’t feel motivated anymore, and as continued to struggle getting the words out on paper, that huge accomplishment didn’t feel so huge anymore, especially as if it was going to be my only book; I believed it to have kick-started something massive.

I had hit a mental brick wall. I spent days upon days trying to write something, but only to stare at a blank piece of paper or screen. I tried multiple techniques in an attempt to revitalise my motivation and knock down that wall, but all failed. I was stressing myself out, growing more and more grumpy with each day that I did nothing. I actually thought about giving up on writing altogether and never look back because I genuinely believed I had hit the end of the road. My creative part was only able to put together one book and that’s it, no more stories for me.

I was able to overcome my Writer’s Block, and it was in an instant. My mum took me to see someone who would be able to help. I explained my situation and they turned round and frankly said, ‘what can I do about it?’ It was in that moment the wall had been knocked down. He said it in such a tone, it was obvious that no one could do anything to help me, other than myself, and I cracked a smile for what felt like ages because I felt a little silly for disturbing him for such a mundane problem. He continued to justify what he said, ‘If you want to be a writer, then write.’ And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

Everything we do comes with their own set of problems. I’ve never experienced Writer’s Block since and I hope not to do so again. I have had a few moments where I don’t know what to write and have been stuck on a certain scene or not known what to write for this blog, but that’s not Writer’s Block, that’s simply being stuck. They’ve all been a minor problem that I’ve always managed to overcome one way or another.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

1,000 Words: Mysterious Hand

I like this picture because it's simplicity asks a lot of questions. Whose hand is it? Was it put there by accident or deliberately? And last but not least, who was the person who put the handprint their? 

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: Cars 3

Whether you believe this is just another way for Pixar to rake in the money from merchandise, you cannot deny, they always put a staggering amount of effort into this film. The animation is incredible as always, the story does pass on a good message to the kids – never give up.

From a child’s perspective, this would have been filled with action, comedy, and unknowingly taught them a bunch of life lessons in the process. It certainly would have kept me quiet for an hour and a half.

From an adult’s perspective, well, the film is a soft retelling of the first movie, but instead of Doc Hudson being the mentor, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) teaches Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) how to be a racer and compete in the biggest race of the year. Also, from an adult’s perspective who is a fan of Pixar, this third instalment is much better than that of the second, and is on par with that of the first, with an emotional story, a few comedy moments scattered throughout and a message that doesn’t just applies to children, but also reminds us adults not to give up either. They make no reference that I could see towards the second movie, effectively wiping it from cannon entirely and focused entirely on racing again.

Cars 3 also explores Lightning McQueen’s relationship with Doc Hudson. Between films, the voice actor who played Doc in the first film, Paul Newman, passed away, so this film was also in tribute to him as well by using archived material for the flashbacks.

The Cars franchise has undoubtedly made Pixar a lot of money primarily from the sales of their merchandise. The staggering amount of toys sold has prompted critics to speculate the real reason for extending this franchise further is to increase those sales only. I enjoyed the moment when Cars 3 parodied their merchandise in one scene where Lightning is being persuaded to quit racing altogether and sell stuff with his face and name on to make more money than he ever will when racing. Pixar’s worst film in their catalogue is Cars 2, and so it is understandable that people would hesitate when this film was announced. With this franchise, Pixar has slightly distorted their trust, but upon seeing it, I was right to have trusted them. The teaser trailer was certainly a dark, gritty, and completely unexpected set of events, prompting me to immediately become excited for the film, and I was not disappointed.

It certainly isn’t their best film. It doesn’t come anywhere near my top 5, but it isn’t their worst film either. They’ve learnt from their previous mistakes and made something we can enjoy, instead of question. Considering Pixar’s incredible record with making amazing, hard hitting films over the years, with 18 feature films under their belt, one or two missteps is impressive. I am looking forward to what they have in store for us in the future. Their next film is Coco. I’ve deliberately kept myself in the dark to avoid spoiling it beforehand, not as if there has been much information released anyway. As the company grows, and technology develops, they will be able to create films faster, with the animation better than ever before, I just hope the story isn’t affected by their speed.

The background imagery was mind blowing. Some places only showed for a couple of seconds, but the amount of detail seriously made me have to question if that really was computer animated – it was that realistic.

I do recommend this film. It’s a good family-friendly movie, one that entertains the adults not just the kids.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 195:

(In Tom’s perspective)

After Zaylor’s third visit, telling us that his plan is going exactly how he wanted it to, and that we shouldn’t try and fool ourselves into thinking otherwise, Amy and I resorted to pacing about once more.

Do I believe him? No, of course I don’t. And neither does Amy. If I ask her that she would tell me straight that she doesn’t believe that Sebastian isn’t under his thumb and that he will come and get us any minute now. But even after convincing ourselves, what have we actually achieved? We’ve only succeeded in making one particular thought more dominant than all the others, and that doesn’t get rid of all the other thoughts. There is still the tinniest of possibilities that Zaylor is telling the truth. But if we convince ourselves of that, then we might as well give up and give in.

Is Amy thinking the same as me, I don’t know. She’s turned her back on me as she loses herself in her own thoughts. I want to ask what she’s thinking, but that would be the wrong move. It would be best for both of us if we think this through ourselves. Maybe after we’ve settled ourselves down, we can talk about it.

There is one thing, though. That one question that I can’t answer other than by saying that Zaylor is telling the truth: I just can’t stop thinking that if he hasn’t got Sebastian, he would have come and got us by now. He can do absolutely anything he wants, without limits; he told me that and going with that statement, there shouldn’t be any reason why he hasn’t arrived yet, so why isn’t he here yet?

I can’t answer at all except by saying that Zaylor is telling the truth, and I can’t bring myself to say that aloud. But I can’t keep it bottled up inside, otherwise that will become the dominant thought and that will lead me to giving up and giving in. I can’t let that happen. I know Sebastian, he’ll find a way out of this. He might have been an incredibly nervous person who barely left the house except when going to school or with me, and he was only ever able to leave the house if it wasn’t for one thing: Never giving up. He knew that he could be confident enough to leave the house more often, to talk to Amy without fearing that everything is going to crumble around him. He never gave up trying to be more confident, and it is that passion that is what I believe will bring him here. I can’t give up on him. So what if Zaylor has him cornered, that only means one thing: Zaylor is going to get what he deserves. He doesn’t know who he’s messing with.

‘Tom,’ Amy called.

‘Yeah,’ I said, noticing that Amy had turned to face me

‘Thank you for not giving up,’ she said.

‘And the same to you,’ I said.

‘So what do we do now?’ Amy asked honestly.

‘There’s only one thing we can do,’ I said.

‘What?’

‘Wait.’

And that’s exactly what we did. There was nothing else for us to do. We’ve worn ourselves out by pacing and we’ve exhausted all the topics of conversation we had. All that we can do is sit and wait as patiently as we can for Sebastian to come and get us. For all we know, he’s out there, searching every nook and cranny he can find any clue, no matter how small, that would hopefully lead him to us. Once I get out of here, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Well, I would celebrate, of course, but after that, what would be the best thing to do? Contact Alex and tell her everything that has happened? Or should I wait for her to contact me? What if she doesn’t contact me because she is waiting for me to contact her, and if we’re both waiting to contact each other, then I won’t be able to tell her what happened, giving her a chance to give me a chance, which may lead to something more? Or, I could contact her and let her talk about everything she has on her mind first so that I can hear what she wants to do next and if she wants to hear what happened here, then that’s OK, but if she doesn’t, then that’s OK, too. No matter what happens, I’m determined that we can get past this.

‘Can you hear something?’ Amy asked suddenly.

‘What’s that?’ I said, snapping out of my thoughts.

‘Can you hear something?’ she repeated. I listened and heard nothing but quiet.

‘I don’t hear anything,’ I said honestly.

‘Are you sure you can’t hear that faint humming sound as if something’s starting up?’ she asked. I listened again and this time, I was able to hear something. It was exactly how Amy described it. It did sound as if something was starting up. Some sort of machine. The moment that I discovered the sound, it started to grow louder and louder.

‘What’s happening?’ Amy said, but I couldn’t hear her.

‘I don’t know,’ I shouted back but Amy couldn’t hear me either. I was looking at Amy when she just disappeared into thin air. I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was gone. The backs of my eyes started to tingle as if I had pins and needles. I tried closing my eyes, but nothing helped. Then, my entire body was hit by something invisible. It was if I had just been pushed to the ground, except I was standing upright the entire time.

I opened my eyes…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Grease

Iconic; this film is still popular today, people are still singing along to the songs and the characters are as well-known as they were when this film came out.

You hear of people who have got married, that were high school sweethearts. This film is the journey of two very different characters, Danny (John Travolta) a leather clad bad boy and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) a pure good girl. The film proves opposites attract and true love will break all barriers in the end.

Rizzo (Stockard Channing) was mean resulting in Danny hurting Sandy when they meet up again unexpectedly at school (Rydell High). This is not nice to watch but Danny has a bit off growing up still to do. None of the others can see the journey the two characters are taking throughout the film, the look on Danny’s face after he hurt Sandy and although Sandy is out of her comfort zone at Frenchie’s (Didi Conn) sleep over, everyone is friendly towards her despite the song. The scenes are well done showing a typical teens sleepover. Sandy secretly sings the song ‘Hopelessly Devoted to you’.

During this journey, Sandy, thinking Danny is not interested or not worth it, meets someone else and makes Danny jealous to try and impress her, he meets up with Coach Calhourn (Sid Caesar) and this makes for some funny scenes with him trying to masters some sports.  

When Danny and Sandy finally get together, the others don’t give them the privacy. I could see watching it the relationship is real, but the others are still catching up. This isn’t a bad thing as it does capture the essence of teenage life which is well done.

One of the highlights of the film and the school year is when ‘National Bandstand’ arrives to do a live broadcast of a dance competition. It is fun to watch, where you have students putting alcohol in the punch, Marty (Dinah Manoff) flirting with the host and 3 of the students mooning the camera live on TV.

After all this fun and hi-jinks reality hits Rizzo, Sandy is there and offers support and it is nice to see Rizzo thank her.

At the end I questioned whether Danny and Sandy should’ve changed for each other but after analysing their relationship, the answer was simple: they hadn’t. They were who they are all along, it was just all hidden. Danny and Rizzo experienced the most character development throughout the film, whereas Sandy found more confidence in herself, resulting in a heart-warming ending.

Long may we sing along to the songs and enjoy the journey to the destination.

Jerry's Journal: Helping Dad Tidy the Shed

When Jerry was round Grandma's, dad was sorting out the shed, and Jerry wanted to help. What he did to help was take a piece of fence post (4-inches by 4-inches) from the shed. What he didn't realise was there were plenty more items in the shed that needs removing. He had a lot of fun running with the fence post, though. 

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 194:

(Tom’s perspective)

We talked until we ran out of things to talk about. We talked about anything and everything we could just to keep our minds focused on anything but the fact that we’re stuck in two glass boxes.

‘Is Alex alright?’ Amy asked.

‘She’s fine,’ I said.

‘Because she looked surprised when she found out about Sebastian’s secret,’ she pushed, half to keep the conversation going, half because she’s actually concerned.

‘Well, we both were surprised when we found out about everything. You can’t say that you weren’t surprised.’

‘You know what I mean,’ Amy said sternly. ‘Is she alright with you being connected with Sebastian, or did she go away for a couple of days purely because her parents were going away?’

Why was she asking me all these personal questions? What right does she have to dive into my personal life? Am I getting angry because I don’t know how to answer, or because I do know the answer and don’t like it?

‘We talked,’ I began. ‘She said that everything just didn’t make sense. She even asked why I didn’t tell her before. I told her that I didn’t know myself until then.’

‘But she didn’t believe you.’

I sighed, ‘I don’t know. She told me that she needed time to think and that she’ll get back to me when everything’s straight, whenever that is, if not at all. Alex also told me that you should have told her as well. I really didn’t like Sebastian when my relationship was in jeopardy.

‘But you didn’t hate him. That’s why you came back.’

I forgot how complicated that period of time was. ‘You’re right in thinking that I didn’t hate him. He’s my life-long friend, it’s impossible to hate him, but that wasn’t the reason why I came back. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I figured that if I understood more, then I would be able to relay that information to Alex with confidence. And I wanted to understand more so that Sebastian and I could amend our friendship and move on. There’s a chance that it won’t work, and I’m prepared for that.’ I sighed once more. ‘But at least it wasn’t serious.’

‘You can’t say that.’

‘That was our only time we met properly. How do you think she’s going to react when the person that she has liked for many years suddenly turned into a person completely different to what she knows me as? And that her best friend turned out to be the same person? You’ve known her longer than I have, what do you think?’

‘It’s difficult to say,’ Amy admitted. ‘But you’re learning more about everything is the best thing to do to help her understand more. I admire that.’

‘What was your first reaction when you found out about the watch and that he kept the secret from you?’ I asked wanting to know if her answer would help me in anyway. It might be a roundabout way of doing things, but anything to help me win over Alex would be grateful.

‘Well, I wasn’t really in the best of places to have reacted properly,’ Amy said, ‘what with my leg being trapped in the floor of an abandoned railway station that is about to fall down on top of me. I was waiting for the roof to land on me. When it didn’t, and I saw Sebastian holding the roof up with his hands – many times his own weight above his head – I was defiantly relieved, but at the same time I had thought I had died, you know. But, when the shock of nearly being crushed and saved by some superhuman gradually wore off, I started came to the only conclusion that I could find at the time.’ She paused. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was just a pause to gain more breath.

‘He saved my life. It was simple as that. He gave me a second chance, and if it weren’t for him having the watch, I wouldn’t have. The least I could do was give him a second chance. I swore to him that I wouldn’t let his secret leave my lips until he was ready.’

‘Can I say something?’ I asked wondering if the thing I wanted to say was the best thing to say.

‘Sure.’

‘Have you ever thought that if it wasn’t for the watch, you wouldn’t have been in there in the first place?’

‘I have,’ Amy said simply. ‘But then I thought that if it wasn’t for the watch, he wouldn’t have been confident enough speak to me.’

‘Ah, but if you remember, I sort of forced that introduction because I was a little tired of Sebastian not doing anything,’ I explained.

‘True,’ Amy admitted again. ‘True,’ she didn’t know what else to say. For the first time since arriving here, she looked tired. She doesn’t want anything more than to go home. ‘And if it wasn’t for the watch, we wouldn’t be here,’ she concluded.

‘But if it wasn’t for the watch, Sebastian wouldn’t have saved all those lives on that runaway train,’ I analysed.

‘Both trains, in fact. Don’t forget the one that was hijacked.’

‘And all those people as well.’

‘And he stopped that person from blowing up the shopping centre,’ Amy said.

‘And that, too.’

‘Is it selfish of us to complain about our problems when there are so many people out there with much worse problems than us?’

‘No,’ I said.

‘Why’s that?’ Amy asked.

I didn’t have a suitable answer to that question, ‘I don’t know,’ I sighed once more. Amy knew that I had planned to say something. On one hand, Sebastian has saved all those people, but on the other, we’re here, and it we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that stupid watch. Maybe it isn’t stupid… Oh, I don’t know. We sat in silence, contemplating what we had just discussed, trying to see if we can find that one rational thought, but nothing came.

‘Are you going to tell Alex about this?’ Amy asked suddenly, backtracking to the beginning of the conversation.

‘I said that I would,’ I said.

‘But you don’t know whether explaining something like this would drive her away even further,’ Amy spoke my mind.

‘How would you react if someone that you liked told you that they were trapped in a parallel world for an unknown period of time with the threat that the only person to rescue you is also trapped and in the hands of some crazed man?’

‘Try answering the question yourself,’ Amy said politely. There goes my plan of asking a rhetorical question and hoping to move on. I was forced to think about it some more; nothing came to mind. I wanted to say that I didn’t know what Alex would think and say, but even I wouldn’t be happy with that answer.

‘I think that she would sit down and listen to what I have to say,’ I said slowly, ‘then…’ That was all that I had. I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Is that bad of me to not know what Alex would think. Well, it’s not necessarily the most common of situations to react to. But still, I should know, shouldn’t I? I slumped down, disappointed in myself that I couldn’t think of anything to say.

‘I would be happy that they opened up,’ Amy said. ‘Then I would ask them if that sort of thing is going to happen on a regular bases and depending on their answer, I would develop a suitable answer that I think would be best for both of us. I think she would react in that way,’ Amy explained.

‘How can you be sure?’ I asked.

‘I don’t,’ she admitted simply, ‘but I believe it is the most rational thing to do giving how complicated everything is.’

‘You think so?’ I wanted Amy to be absolutely sure, even though that would be asking too much.

‘That’s what I believe,’ she said sternly to drive home the message that she simply doesn’t know. I was beginning to wonder whether it was a good idea to start this conversation. But I can’t keep pushing for Amy to answer the question for me. Like she said, I have to answer it myself. I guess I’m not going to find the answer to that until the time is right for me to learn that. We dropped into silence. We had come to a natural end. There was nothing else to add. Where do we go from here? We can’t sit in silence until the end because we don’t know when that will be. We’ve exhausted the questions we had and…

‘What’s the one thing you would bring with you to a desert island?’ Amy said suddenly, putting a new spark on the situation. I started to think about the answer and was relieved that we could move on and relieve some tension that we had built up from sharing some personal information with each other.

‘Um… that would probably be an instruction guide on how to survive living on a desert island,’ I said thinking that was a smart answer. ‘You?’ she won’t be able to top that.

‘A boat,’ she said casually. She then smiled at my ‘of course,’ expression.

‘Ah, but hang on,’ I said trying to regain some ground, ‘how can you be sure that you will be able to make it across the ocean in a boat. What about food, water, and other stuff to keep you alive?’ I’d like to see you answer that one.

‘Who says that the desert island is in the middle of the ocean?’ Amy said.

‘Whoever heard of a desert island not being in the middle the ocean. Where do you think this island is, in the middle of a lake?’ I asked.

‘You never know,’ Amy said trying to get her ground back after her slip up.

‘Oh sure, yeah…’

‘You don’t have anything good to say to that, do you?’ Amy said matter-of-factly.

‘No,’ I admitted

‘Call it a draw,’ I said.

‘OK. A draw it is.’

‘Good.’

‘Good.’

And then the door on the other side of the room opened once more and Zaylor stepped through.

‘Just to let you know that everything’s going according to plan,’ he said skipping up to front of the box. ‘And I admire your attempt at breaking out earlier,’ he said to Amy. ‘But as you quickly realised this glass is very strong. Triple layered, in fact. There’s no way of getting through here, I’m afraid. And I’ve noticed that you have resorted to having a casual chat between yourselves. I’m glad that you’ve come to an agreement on how things work around here and…’

‘What makes you think we’ve agreed to anything?’ I said.

‘Are you ready to answer any questions that I have,’ he finished, ignoring what I had just said.

‘We ready to do nothing,’ Amy said, standing up and walking towards the front.

‘Careful,’ he said, ‘you don’t want that anger of yours to force its way out again. You could do yourself a serious injury and I simply don’t have the time to have to attend to your broken bones at the moment,’ he said.

‘You’re one sick and twisted man,’ Amy spat.

‘Your point being,’ he said.

‘You’re lying about Sebastian,’ I said, ‘you’re just telling us lies to get us to do what you want.’

‘Am I?’ he slid over to where I was. ‘You keep telling yourself that,’ and he turned his back and left the room one more. This was starting to become a tedious cycle.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)