Category Archives: Short Stories

What gives you direction in life?

A la derecha,a la izquierda.

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

Max Ehrman’s Desdereta has always inspired me. The above quote in the title has always resonated with me.

Have you ever been camping?

I was a late starter when it came to camping and the love of the great outdoors.

I suspect that because there was a hint of gypsy on my mother’s side of the family that she rebelled against carts and tents.She was a four wall and posh dining aficionado and I never really thought much about it until I realised her horror when  her progeny  delighted in  the outdoor gypsy life  that she would have rather was dead and buried in her progeny’s genes and that she would never see resurface.

Reality, though, was economics.It was a cheap holiday ,my first with my then boyfriend and now a partner in crime of many years.

Wales was our destination,a camp site beloved by  my partner’s family.We were late booking,but we got this lovely flat pitch,away from everyone and with a nice view.

We had bought the tent the previous weekend,it was quite spacious ,although, both of us being quite tall,neither of us were able to stand up in it.Big mistake.

Our first disaster came with putting the poles into the holes to make the structure.There was just far too much tension for the flimsy material.I wasn’t much help because I’d never put up a tent in my whole life.So I watched,concerned that the poles seemed to be stretching the tent material to it’s maximum tension.

It was when I heard the ping and the rip that I realised something was terribly wrong.

“We’ll have to go to a B&B” my partner said  .

I was disappointed and volunteered

“Let me see what I can do.”

I had a sewing kit with me and went down to the camp shop where they had some nylon fishing reel  thread, which I brought back up.I sewed the piece of material and the repair was good enough to hold.

Over the next few days, a few more pings were heard, and a number of repairs were made,but the tent protected us from the elements and we explored the region and the beautiful mountains and scenery.

It was a fun holiday ,and I’m so had we didn’t have to stay in a B&B.

When we got back home,we went to the camp shop and got a full refund on the old tent and bought a new one that we could stand up in and that the poles were not at such a high tension.

“

When do you feel most productive?

I definitely feel more at peace and at ease and, therefore, more productive at Dawn.

It is quiet,there are few distractions and there is plenty of time at the start of the day.

What are your favorite emojis?

A friendly emoji wink,just to say hello and hope all is well with you.

What topics do you like to discuss?

It really didn’t matter what topic she wanted to discuss.No one ever listened to Gabby.

That was reality,every hour of every day was filled with people talking at her.Wanting her to understand what they were saying and how they felt about things.

To some, it was just a game,a game of dominance,a chance to prove how clever they were.To others(more bearable Gabby thought) were those who saw her as the opportunity to talk to someone about whatever was bugging them as normally no one would listen to them. Gabby was their window on their world.

Gabby knew it was a skill to listen but  felt she had perhaps  missed the boat and had forgotten how to talk.