tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49858590846153443342024-02-19T08:42:37.578-08:00It's What 5am Is ForLynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985859084615344334.post-47539897769151639362013-07-07T02:22:00.000-07:002013-07-07T02:22:23.670-07:00Soy sauce buttie, anyone?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsCzIV0AWLxeAK77HKt8NnWfbBq0yLvDgCvnIfBBdoeLscS3CIa2IEefZqoePbHRyjaGJ7SFcDku35XuDj00OypIx1e7ZQPr3WyPp_6eh25IFVsWyETxpbW2p8kyY-USDKTzewtFPHSs/s1600/BaldieLynne.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsCzIV0AWLxeAK77HKt8NnWfbBq0yLvDgCvnIfBBdoeLscS3CIa2IEefZqoePbHRyjaGJ7SFcDku35XuDj00OypIx1e7ZQPr3WyPp_6eh25IFVsWyETxpbW2p8kyY-USDKTzewtFPHSs/s320/BaldieLynne.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will be losing my hair in 13 days. When it gets snipped
off it will be going to these lovely people who provide real hair wigs for
children who have lost their own hair. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/">http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But it got me thinking – if I wasn’t doing that, what else
could I use it for? So off I went to
Google:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qM4CCEw1A8IyyETbZrZ7yzI0wABNDPh-FatAI-vYmy4UYnTSCkLVwuZzntONzS3u2JlldyWpW-hXh5Bh430i1EoOuZitmkH2RgsPo2SXoVmkuBsGf-RlAoVsq6ytQipcs7GJF8rwFlA/s1600/human+urine.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qM4CCEw1A8IyyETbZrZ7yzI0wABNDPh-FatAI-vYmy4UYnTSCkLVwuZzntONzS3u2JlldyWpW-hXh5Bh430i1EoOuZitmkH2RgsPo2SXoVmkuBsGf-RlAoVsq6ytQipcs7GJF8rwFlA/s320/human+urine.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First question: why are so many people curious about human urine. Nope, actually, don’t want to know. Not entirely sure </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">you’re</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> going to want to know what else I found out but here they are – uses for human hair arranged in increasing order of how much they made me retch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. Let’s
start with the normal. Wigs made of human hair.
Naturally blond hair is the most expensive. Then red, then brown. Gee, I
feel special.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Slightly less
usual – human hair can be used to help people grow food – it’s woven into mats
to prevent weed growth and protect plant roots. That’s kinda cool.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. As pest repellent.
Bags of human hair around a vegetable plot are meant to keep pests like deer and
rabbits away. Either because of the smell or they’re just plain weirded out by
it. I know I would be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. If I’d
lived in Victorian times, I could have embroidered a hankie with my own hair
and given it to my loved one. Try that now and I’m not sure I’d still <i>have</i> a loved one. Mind you, if the shock
of blowing their nose with actual body parts induced a coronary, I could remember them by wearing a lock of their hair in a pendant. Yum. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Voodoo. Hair,
fingernails, anything personal gets attached to the Voodoo doll. If you want to
know more, Google is your friend. I <i>won't</i> be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. In food.
Yeah, gonna say that again. In. Food. Or
at least it used to be, although not necessarily here. Hair contains an amino acid which can be used
as a flour improver. Or in soy sauce. It’s
food number is E920. Apparently it gives things a ‘meaty’ taste. Thankfully a
little further research shows that E920 is now synthetically produced so the
next sliced white you pick up shouldn’t need a shave. Still might give it a
miss for a while…</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.justgiving.com/Baldie-Lynne">www.justgiving.com/Baldie-Lynne</a></div>
Lynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985859084615344334.post-32770839721627485172013-06-27T09:55:00.000-07:002013-06-27T09:55:35.500-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-hIpg-NoquEE7ezlBvRiMwHA8M5s_5kWiaFoQgbb3ep1p_389EjvdRDySKaj7_rfA7VGlpFEj5LhYlH3qR1M-w43NQ0FVHn4rK_paU98IhrOHI4kfBt5RJo-MNz7hxgMGVaj5-_OeyE/s1600/BaldieLynne.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-hIpg-NoquEE7ezlBvRiMwHA8M5s_5kWiaFoQgbb3ep1p_389EjvdRDySKaj7_rfA7VGlpFEj5LhYlH3qR1M-w43NQ0FVHn4rK_paU98IhrOHI4kfBt5RJo-MNz7hxgMGVaj5-_OeyE/s320/BaldieLynne.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 23 days,
I’ll be shaving my head. 21 inches of hair down to none at all. It’s generated
more questions than you’d think. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">These, for example:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">1.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">You’re what? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m shaving my head.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">2.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">You’re <i>what??</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m. Shaving. My. Head. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">3.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">What for?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because Claire House needs £6,500 <i>every
single day</i> to keep doing what they do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">4.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">But why shave your head?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have very little spare time and even less spare cash. I <u>do</u><i> </i>have a <i>lot</i> of hair and I’m hoping people will donate a shed load of cash
to see me cut it off. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">**********
***</span><b><span style="color: red;">BIG HINT**************</span><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">\/ \/ \/ \/
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/Baldie-Lynne">http://www.justgiving.com/Baldie-Lynne</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">/\ /\
/\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="line-height: 115%;">*</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">********* ***<b>BIG HINT**************<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">5.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">Aren’t you brave?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nope. Excited…terrified... exified! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">6.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">What if your head’s a funny shape?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ll buy an odd shaped hat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">7.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">What if you find a ‘666’ tattoo on
your scalp?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s not on my scalp.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">8.<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">Are you sure? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yup. Defo not on my scalp. Oh, the shaving thing? Sure or not – it’s
happening!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Claire House Children's Hospice</u></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Claire House is all about laughter, positivity and care.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Located on the Wirral, the hospice provides respite, end-of-life and bereavement care for children and young adults with complex medical needs. They're also there to support the whole family, providing support and counselling for as long as is needed.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their specialist nursing team also works in the community through their Hospice to Home scheme, which offers care and support in the family home.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They look after families from across Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, West Lancashire and the Isle of Man and provide a home-from-home environment for their children and young people, helping enrich their lives so they can live them to the full. During their stay at Claire House, each child has at a minimum of one-to-one care. They can spend time <span style="color: #434343;">in a hydrotherapy pool, enjoy a music therapy session, sing karaoke, or take part in arts and crafts therapy. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;">The whole family can be there with them, with private bedrooms and a lounge for Mum and Dad to unwind and take a break from their role of carers. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;">I can't think if a better reason to lose a couple of feet of keratin. If you agree, then the Just-Giving link is below. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;">Cheers</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #434343;"><a href="http://www.justgiving.com/Baldie-Lynne">http://www.justgiving.com/Baldie-Lynne</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #4d4840; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
Lynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985859084615344334.post-41357493500428695842012-09-27T23:44:00.001-07:002012-09-28T13:51:04.531-07:00<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Things
not to start a sentence with AKA thoughts from a previous call centre
existence.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I'm
not being mean/rude/insert pejorative here but...”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You
are, you know. You're just being a coward about it. Either don't say
it (really – just don't) or at least have the guts to stand by
your words.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<ol start="2">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>To
be honest with you...”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So
you're about to lie to my face. Telling me you're not just means I'm
expecting it. What are you, five?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
</li>
</ol>
<ol start="3">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You
know me, I'm not one to make a fuss...”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes,
I do. Yes, you are.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<ol start="4">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I
know you're on lunch, but...”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unless
the next part of that sentence is either “Yip-de-feckin'-do, we
won the lottery!” or “the office is on fire!” I won't be
listening so you might as well save your breath. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<ol start="5">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I'm
not having a go at you, love...”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You're
going to scream at me for 20 minutes – what else would you call
it? And kudos for the casual chauvinism, by the way. The 70's called
– they want their macho back.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<ol start="6">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I
want to speak to your boss – he'll understand...”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holy
sexism, Batman! Apart from the obvious, there were two problems with
this:</span></div>
<ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I. My
boss was similarly deficient in the testicle department.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ii. Neither
of us found this affected our ability to fix phones. I
mean, do penises come with a camp-on attachment?? </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
</li>
</ol>
<ol start="7">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>An
interruption. ANY interruption.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well,
apart from 'Duck!' maybe. I'm actually trying to help you. Could you
please let me finish before you scream/cry/start a dirty protest.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<ol start="8">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Am
I talking to a human...?”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I get
it- - honestly I do. I hate going through those automated systems
too. But one of these days, the temptation is going to be just too
much and I'm going to reply, “No, my name is Wrtzfukle from the
planet Ayseedee and I'm here to impregnate you digitally with my
young. What? You thought only humans did outsourcing?” Fun while
it lasts but the last call I'd ever take. Please don't be that person. </span></div>
</li>
</ol>
Lynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985859084615344334.post-14508169135220650952012-09-06T00:14:00.002-07:002012-09-06T00:28:27.542-07:00<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">With
everything that's been going on recently about the erosion of women's
rights, I thought it might be a good time to share this story. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A few
months ago, I went to a storytelling night at
</span><a href="http://www.mouthofthemersey.org.uk/">http://www.mouthofthemersey.org.uk</a> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Good place - if you haven't been yet, you need to!)Their
theme for the night was 'Awkward Sods and Local Heroes' and, as my
Grandma seemed to fit quite comfortably into both of those categories
and was far and away the strongest woman I'd ever known, I asked if I
could come and tell them about her. But then, while I was getting my
idea together, something unexpected happened, and I found out I had
not one, but two heroines in the family to share with them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">My
Grandma's given name was Catherine, but no one ever called her that –
she was always Kit. The first woman to chair the local Urban District
Council, the first female mayor when the town expanded and a holy
terror to anyone she thought was messing her around. She lived in the
same town for over 70 years and was a Labour Councillor for over 40
of those. She knew the people she represented and they knew her too.
</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
thought everyone had a Grandma like mine. That it was normal to walk
round with her after school posting out election leaflets, or to sit
in a draughty school hall and have everyone come and tell you their
problems so you could make them go away. I mean, isn't solving
problems what Grandmas are meant to do? </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But that
didn't mean she didn't have time for her family – both my parents
had to work so I spent an awful lot of time before and after school
at Grandma's. I learned to bake watching her make pastry and getting
to play with the off cuts. I also learned from my Granddad that it's
possible to put out a fire with your bare hands, but that's a story
for another day.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Grandma's
house, for me, was always this warm hive of activity. Never tidy as
such, but always full of love and comfortable, wide waisted hugs.
Especially when you compared it to my other Grandma – my Nanna.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">My Nanna
was a different kind of person completely. My Granddad had been
killed in the war and she'd had to raise my dad on her own. She was
precise and guarded and liked everything 'just-so'. A spilled drink
wasn't actually a hanging offence but it could feel like it
sometimes, especially if you'd been misbehaving. Don't get me wrong,
we still knew she loved us, but it was a more formal kind of love, a
tell rather than a show. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Guest's
at Nanna's tended to be invited, but at Grandma's, it wasn't out of
the ordinary for there to be a knock at the door and for this timid
voice to ask 'is Kit there...?' and Grandma's front room would be
turned into an impromptu surgery dispensing tea and advice. Once
they'd gone, she'd set herself down at the telephone table in the
corner (for anyone who remembers the days before cordless phones and
mobiles) and set about righting wrongs. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
secretly loved these visit because it meant I got to see Grandma's
secret weapon in action. Grandma had a <i>magic finger</i>. Didn't
look anything special but we kids knew it was a weathervane for her
emotions. If she was on the phone making a request it would be
vertical and fairly relaxed, just being used for emphasis, as anyone
would. But if the person on the phone wasn't listening to her request
properly, or showing any inclination to help, there'd be a change.
The finger would stiffen and travel through 90 degrees and the
request would become a direction. If stage two didn't work then the
finger would move again until it was pointing straight down and used
to punctuate every syllable until she got what she wanted. And that
finger cound drill through concrete. By the age of 3 I'd learned
enough to avoid this and was fascinated that many supposedly
responsible adults couldn't. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Although
she was a lifelong Labour Party member, she never let her political
views get in the way of helping people - She even managed to get
herself suspended from the National Labour party for a few months
because she refused to support a national policy on social housing
which she knew would harm the local community. It wasn't a grand
gesture of national or earth-shaking importance but it certainly let
people know whose side she was on. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">She
finally had to step down because of prolonged ill health but made
sure she went out on the roads with the new candidate, showing him
around and making sure he introduced himself to each and every voter.
She wouldn't go to to doors with him because she didn't want to
undermine him so she'd wait across the road, or at the end of the
drive. And he did his best. He knock and wait. Then someone would
come to the door and he'd explain he was the local Labour candidate
and he was replacing Kit Ward. And they'd listen politely, but all
the time he'd be aware of them inching slowly to one side so they
could see around him to where Grandma was standing in what Peter Kay
would call her 'big coat'. And she'd wave and nod, and they'd nod
back and that would be it. If Kit was happy with her replacement,
then so were they because they trusted her to do what was right. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I didn't
realise how much of a difference my Grandma had made, or how much she
meant to the whole town until she died. I'd been working away in
Brussels and missed most of the preparations for the funeral. I
walked into the church with my family and it was full. Every
available space was packed with a town of people who'd taken time out
of their day to come and say goodbye to their Kit. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I'd got
so many stories about her I wanted to share and was sitting at my
desk, trying to remember back the best part of 30 years and squeeze
out the stories in some kind of coherent order. It wasn't going well.
So I took a break and did something I've done a hundred times before:
reach out and grab a random book off the shelves to dip into for a
diversion. This time I picked up this book. Doesn't look anything
special. It's called 'Selections from Modern Poets' but given it was
printed in 1934, they're not all that modern any more. It belonged to
my Nanna and when she died, I was given it to remember her by. </span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEs-fgpJLl8dQGS1AmixyeC2E5ukZ6Zbf6Q-pHpbTpn124NzyXGED9N_v4ScDUghoDcdjq2W3VFWMfT-piZADeWWYFS4BtUYrm7ctpb6JBJpKest7shy-Nz7hMja1hTD5ddxA7ko4nig/s1600/Book+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEs-fgpJLl8dQGS1AmixyeC2E5ukZ6Zbf6Q-pHpbTpn124NzyXGED9N_v4ScDUghoDcdjq2W3VFWMfT-piZADeWWYFS4BtUYrm7ctpb6JBJpKest7shy-Nz7hMja1hTD5ddxA7ko4nig/s320/Book+blog.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So I
started idly flicking through it and it opened where a page had been
ripped out. I know that doesn't sound like a big thing but this is my
Nanna we're talking about – everything dusted and everything
pristine. She got the book as a form prize at school and she looked
after her things. The idea that she would have ripped a page out of a
book was so alien that it got me curious. The book had an index of
first lines so I popped on Google and let my fingers do a little
detective work and this is what I found. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://allpoetry.com/poem/8618495-Voices_Of_Women-by-Frank_Prewett">http://allpoetry.com/poem/8618495-Voices_Of_Women-by-Frank_Prewett</a>
</span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And it
was like I was seeing my Nanna for the first time. I could picture
the nineteen year old she was sitting there with this book in her
hands, reading this poem and seeing herself in it. And then just
reaching out for the page and tearing it out and throwing it away
along with the future she'd had planned – a career, a husband –
who knows what else – all gone.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And then
she picked herself up, said goodbye to the life she thought she was
going to have and set herself to raising my Dad on her own. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And
that's the point I realised I didn't just have one strong woman in
the family, I had two. One was a very public figure, the other more
private but strong as steel all the same.</span></div>
Lynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985859084615344334.post-1914586806991469852012-04-15T04:47:00.000-07:002012-09-05T23:55:17.448-07:00<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've run the occasional live-action murder mystery for friends and taken part in a few others. I didn't realise how much of a mark it had made on my subconscious until I was asked for advice on how to do it and this just spewed out of my head. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">NOTES
FOR THE UNINITIATED</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>1.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the party.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><b>2.
Never underestimate the...</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
</span></span>
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">OK,
you get the idea but it is, unfortunately, true that people's
inability to grasp what to you should be a simple point increases
exponentially with the number of people in said group.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">To
use the old chestnut of t</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">hree
pensioners sitting on a bench:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Granny
#1: "Isn't it windy?"</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Granny
#2: "No, I think its Thursday."
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Granny
#3: "Ooh, so am I, lets have a cup of tea.''</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Now
add in Granddads #4, #5 & #6 who, respectively, know that tea
comes from Ceylon, that Ceylon is now Tibet (No, I know it's not but
that's the point!) and that the Dalai Lama comes from Tibet. Rather
than someone in the party going outside to see if the wind has
dislodged a clue from the trees as you planned, you have six very
earnest characters thinking their main goal is to free the Dalai Lama
from Chinese oppression. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><u>And</u></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
they'll get the rest of the party thinking the same way. The weird
thing is, sometimes it's better that way – who wouldn't want to
free the Dalai Lama? In once early instance this led to Dracula's
castle being attacked by trampoline-launched methane-powered
exploding cows. Actually it wasn't Dracula's castle, it was Frank n'
Furter's Transvestite rocket ship because </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>someone</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
deliberately misled the party (you know who you are...)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><b>3.
N</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><b>ever
expect things to go exactly as planned. </b></span></span>
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
people cancel at the last minute</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">-
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>You</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
run into problems. I did almost an entire night with no voice and had
to substitute dodgy Clannad tracks for various chants that should
have been included.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>4.
Mine! Mine! Mine!</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">People
don't always share the information they should. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Imagine
Gollum sitting in a corner in fancy dress with a hoard of clues
whispering "My precioussssses "and you won't go far wrong.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This
problem can increase with the shyness/inebriation of the character in
question.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Best not to put all your eggs in one basket. Either give the same
clue to different people or have an alternative distribution method
held in reserve.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If
you give everyone their own sub-plot in addition to the murder (who
stole Auntie Ethel's gold-plated dentures?) they have to ask each
other questions and then have to actively choose not to get involved
/ignore information.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>5.
The "luvvie" syndrome.</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Do
I </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>have
</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">to
be ugly/poor/mean?</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">My
character wouldn't pawn an old lady's false teeth."</span></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">People
can get very into it and think they know more than you do, Depending
on how</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">much
background filling you've done, this could well be true.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Give
them as much character history as you can. I try to do at least a
couple of sides of A4 on the characters themselves and then another
side of background info. </span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It
also helps if you can compare them to someone they'll know, e.g.
'Hugh Grant, but with actual acting ability', or 'a bargain basement
Derek Acora, doing readings in pubs'.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Characters
will still try to argue the toss but if you've told them they hate
old ladies because they were brought up by their Gran who always
dressed them in hand-me- downs and used their pocket money to buy
FixaDent (yes – </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>they
</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">stole
Auntie Ethel's teeth!) it's a</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
lot easier to argue your corner. And far less likely that you'll
need to.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>6.
Stage fright.</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">what
seemed like a good idea in the pub after a night of shots and
improbably named cocktails (Combine Harvester, anyone?) suddenly
seems far less do-able in the cold
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">light
of day and the even colder courtyard of a castle dressed up in your
Dad's old tweed coat pretending to be an archaeologist.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All
you can do is give people plenty of warning and lots of background
info. If you love them, set them free!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>7.
Zebras!</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">'If
you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras'. In real life, the
mundane explanation is usually the right one. In this kind of game,
however, you need people to look for Zebras. You actively </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>encourage</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
them to look for Zebras because mundane is boring. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, once this zeal for the weird is released, it gets out of hand. They hear hoofbeats and think ..</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8OklJW44E7tsZZ1Olkg1s8dvB2KGarKgVwK1qS3bEFJ-VQ5clXYCHU6mpG-Jp1ZO7bkLRY8k-fN47v8wZCMU0xjR1J1nEfK89Bu3wRI2iQoP0a_-r1zX3LBhRHjCe28LSvcmfCDmUAU/s1600/mmyst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8OklJW44E7tsZZ1Olkg1s8dvB2KGarKgVwK1qS3bEFJ-VQ5clXYCHU6mpG-Jp1ZO7bkLRY8k-fN47v8wZCMU0xjR1J1nEfK89Bu3wRI2iQoP0a_-r1zX3LBhRHjCe28LSvcmfCDmUAU/s320/mmyst.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Sometimes
it's a little less exciting but will still send people off track. I
left an iron in the bath once because I was behind with my prep.
People started arriving and the iron was still hot. I started
imagining all sorts of horrific keloid-scarring accidents happening
if I left the iron where it was to cool down (Zebras!) and came to
the conclusion that the only non-flammable safe place to leave it was
in the bath. So in I popped it and closed the shower curtain so no
one could see. Only later did I find out that this was discovered and
declared to be the murder weapon. Though how you use an iron to
shrink a man, strip the flesh from his bones and leave a desiccated
skeleton </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>and
no mess at all</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">,
I have no idea.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You
can't stop this happening – I'm not sure you'd want to.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>8.
The Font of All Knowledge.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Some
people just know more than others. Annoying but true. Especially if
they know more than you about the subject in question (murder,
dismemberment, the occult... I didn't say they had to be </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>nice</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
people.)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've
had plots derailed because someone who knew Latin translated a clue
about two hours too early. Once a character (a priest) came under
undue suspicion because he lost his place in the prompts he'd been
given and instead of giving the last rites started quoting lines from
The Exorcist leading another character to think 'they're not the
right words … HE'S NOT A PRIEST!'
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While
it's not necessarily a bad thing – a little extra suspicion goes a
long way to getting people into the swing of things – it will keep
you on your toes. All you can do is make sure you do your research
well and give the characters the info they're going to need and
enough time to absorb it. Other than that, there's not a damn thing
you can do about it.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>9.
Keep your friends close...'</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
people helping you need to know what's going on. Unfortunately this
means that if they see a way they think they can improve things they
might act without consulting you. Suddenly you've got a whole new
subplot to consider and work around. If you're </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>really
</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">lucky,
you'll have more than one!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other than asking/telling
them to speak to you first, there's nothing you can do. In the heat
of battle, people do really strange things.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>10 Alcohol is a
deceiver...</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A little drink beforehand
can make people relax. Too much and you can have World War Three on
your hands. People either can't think through plot devices and alibis
or they think they know everything.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>11.
Beware of invisible plot holes.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">No
matter how many times you read/work through your script/plan, you
will miss something, You might as well just take that as a given. The
only thing you can do is hope it will be some small thing the whole
plot doesn't depend on but at some point you </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>will</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
get</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
that horrendous roll and flip of your stomach as someone says "No...
hold on a minute..."</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>12.
The Case of The Missing Character.</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
the dog stole my character sheet.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
The kids are sick.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
The roads are flooded.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">-
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><u>I'm</u></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
sick.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Great Uncle Octavius died and wants his ashes FedExing to the Congo
so he can be at one with the Gorillas.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">People
will be missing on the night. Sometimes for good reasons, sometimes
because they just couldn't be bothered. Sometimes the excuse is so
good you really wish they could have turned up – they'd have
fitted right in!
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Whatever
the reason, you'll suddenly find yourself frantically writing your
way around a clue-shaped hole in your plans for the night and again,
there's no way round it. You're never going to second guess who'll go
AWOL. Well, not unless you're a billionaire who's managed to predict
the right lottery numbers every Saturday for the last ten years. All</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
you can do is make sure any major clue or plot device isn't given to
just one person and be prepared to play a couple of parts yourself if
you really have to.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>13.
If you're going to be a murderer, why stop at one body?</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lay
down ground rules - what is allowed (Enthusiasm, getting into the
part) and what isn't (physical violence, property damage, whatever
else you choose). I'd imagine there will be far more rules if you're
doing it somewhere public for profit than for friends.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You
can always kill off a character as a last resort if someone
persistently refuses to play by the rules. One person out of control
could spoil everyone else's night so don't be afraid to wield your
tools of office (candlestick, untraceable poison, laxatives... well,
two out of those three maybe). More bodies keep things exciting,
anyway.
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>14.
You can't fit a square peg into multidimensional hole offset in time
and space.</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's
no point giving the part of a Mata Hari wannabe to a 60 year old Nun
from Kidderminster if she's going to be too uncomfortable to do it
justice. If you don't know the people coming, ask them what kind of
things they would like to do.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>15.
The engines cannae take it captain...</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">People
can find it hard to stay in character all the time, especially if
they're novices. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
Every one wants a bit of validation their first time (am I doing it
right? should I twist and jiggle or jiggle then twist? Should I
really have put that banana in the statue's ear...?)</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rather
than have people popping in and out of character as they choose (and
when) and ruining the flow, you might want to designate One room a
"chill out" room where People</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">can
go to (briefly) to let off steam and chat as themselves (… I </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>see...</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
the banana was for the </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>icecream...</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">)
Talk about the actual game plot is forbidden, though. And don't let
anyone stay in there too long. It's like falling off a horse - the
longer you leave it, the harder is to get back on. I know - I was
that newbie!</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>16.
Oh look! There's a line from the original plot...</b></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes,
no matter what you do, people get far more interested in the little
sub plots you gave them than they are with the overriding story arc.
If they're having more fun that way and you really can't coax them
back on track – give in. You're putting it on for them after all –
the fact that they're massacring your carefully woven masterpiece is
neither here nor there. And you can always make them suffer later.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><b>17.
to summarise (which was probably </b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><b>all
you wanted in the first place).</b></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Never underestimate the stupidity of the party, But you will. Oh,
yes.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
If it can happen, it probably will. Unless you want it to, in which
case - no chance!</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Don't give just one person an important clue (or be prepared for
someone else to find it if person #1 does nothing.)</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Give your characters time to prepare.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Give yourself enough time to prepare!</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Try and have fun.</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-
Try not to do yourself any permanent damage!</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These
are not all my ideas – I'm still a relative newbie too. I have
friends who do this far more than I do and have shamelessly plundered
their experiences to round this out!</span></div>
Lynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985859084615344334.post-59873286446517260682012-03-05T07:47:00.000-08:002012-03-05T07:47:06.918-08:00<br />
<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">OK.
Thought I might post something that's currently undergoing a major
rewrite. I started this a good five years ago and got bogged down
halfway through. Managed to finish the first draft last NaNoWriMo
but, having done some scriptwriting in the intervening time,
the style is so dissimilar, it's like two different books and I'm
going to have to redo the whole thing. But in the meantime, here are
the first couple of chapters of <b>'The Lost Ones'</b>.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<h3 align="CENTER" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Prologue</span></b></span></span></span></h3>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Flames
raged redly in the distance, out of control and consuming everything
in their path. On the horizon, once proud towers shimmered in the
incredible heat, beginning to twist and fall and the rising wind
carried with it the faint sound of the screaming of horses. Long
lines of broken and beaten humanity snaked slowly away from the
remains of the city. The final battle had left almost all of the men
dead or dying and the old, the injured and the infirm were burning
along with their homes.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">A
young man with a shock of red hair sat on a rock staring moodily at
the scene unfolding in front of him. His armour lay discarded by his
side, the inscribed bronze designs now dented and obscured by dust
and blood. His tall, slender frame had fooled many into thinking him
a priest or a poet but there was a certain readiness of posture and
regard which, to the perceptive, counselled a more cautious approach.
Wiry muscles slid under olive skin as he picked up a stone and hefted
it at one of the many helmets lying discarded on the battlefield.
He'd ordered the bodies burned long since - more to avoid pestilence
than from any deep-seated religious beliefs.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">A
stone whipped past his ear to strike the target he’d missed and in
one smooth motion he was off the rock and spinning round, sword held
ready to meet this new threat. Recognition came and he relaxed enough
to lower his weapon. “My sins are heavy enough without adding
fratricide to them,” he gave a wry smile then continued “and you
of all people should know that a friend can kill you as easily as an
enemy.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The
newcomer grimaced his agreement at this truism and moved towards his
brother. Taller by a head and broader again by half no one could
mistake him for anything other than he was, a warrior-king, proven in
battle and confident in the depth of his power. He sat down on the
makeshift seat, indicating that the other should do the same and
untied a wineskin from his belt. Taking a long pull at the neck he
tossed it over to his companion. “You’ve spoken to the witch,
then?”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The
younger man nodded. “Do you trust her?”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">I
think we have to. If it hadn’t been for her we could have been here
another nine years, no matter how much the Old Fox insists that he
saved our necks.”</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The
red-haired man’s expression darkened. “I still haven’t
forgotten that you two got me into this in the first place.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">His
sibling frowned. “And what would you have had me do, little
brother? Allow her to be bound to another and have him go
all-unknowing to her marriage bed? Or do as Alexandros and spirit her
away?” He extended an arm towards the fires burning in front of
them, his voice tight with anger and rising with every word. “Can
you love your homeland so little that you would have it razed to the
ground?”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">His
companion’s shoulders slumped. “I know... I know. I went into
this with my eyes open.” He too looked at the approaching column,
close enough now that the hopeless expressions of the captives could
be seen. “But it gets harder each time we do something like this.
They don’t know they’re making a sacrifice, or why we burned
their homes to the ground. In another fifty years they”ll be trying
to do the same to us in revenge.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">He
picked up his wineskin and rose. “I don’t think I can stomach any
more today.” With a final glance at the burning horizon he turned
and strode back to the camp. The older man made to follow his
brother, then let him go with a shake of his head. In time he would
accept the necessity of their actions. They had to sear out the evil,
root and branch or the revenge inflicted would be terrible indeed and
probably more than they could withstand. And then she would be free
to do as she pleased. He set his jaw and turned to watch the slaves
being herded towards him, as if by doing so he could share in their
pain.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The
head of the column drew level with his vantage point and began to
pass by. One of the women stumbled and the nearest guard, impatient
to join the victory celebrations, shoved her forwards with the butt
of his spear. Weak and emaciated from years of siege where most of
the food had been shared amongst those still able to fight, she
stumbled again, fell to the floor and did not move.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Mama!’
came a piercing scream from further down the line and a young girl of
about eight or nine years old broke ranks and dashed forward, her
long black hair streaming behind her. She ducked under the guard’s
spear and knelt by the inert frame in the dust, crying quietly “Oh
mama, please get up.” She managed to raise her mother’s shoulders
off the ground with one malnourished arm while the other caressed the
pallid face, a futile attempt to coax back a semblance of vitality.
The lifeless head lolled backwards, lank curls scraping the dirt,
sightless eyes accusing the man on the rock. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The
contact was broken when the guard, tired of waiting, flipped the
woman over with a sandalled foot and prodded the child with his spear
to indicate that she should rejoin the column. When she continued to
kneel by the corpse he seized a handful of her long hair, wound it
around his fist and began to drag her back himself, pulling
insistently. A jolting blow to the small of his back halted his
progress and for an instant he thought the girl was fighting back.
Then he looked down and saw the point of a sword poking out from
underneath the bottom of his breastplate, shining wetly with his own
blood. As his fingers plucked feebly at the blade its support was
withdrawn and he crumpled, first to his knees and then over and onto
his back to stare up at a sun turned blood-red by the dust and the
heat from the fires. A shadow moved across his fading vision and he
faced his king, lips struggling to form a question his voice no
longer had the strength to ask.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The
older man plunged his sword into the sand to clean the blade before
sheathing it. Bending down, he gently scooped the almost catatonic
child into his arms and as he straightened he cast a final, bleak
look at the dying soldier. “We are put on this earth to make
choices, my boy. We make the best ones we can and then live with the
consequences. You made the wrong choice for the wrong reasons and
this is the consequence. Live with it…if you can.” Then he turned
to walk back towards his own lines and the sound of drunken
celebration, to face the consequences of the choice he himself had
made.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Chapter
One</span></b></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">It
was all too bright. Even through closed lids Kiernan could feel the
glare of the electric lights, re-igniting the fire inside his skull
and touching off pinpoint explosions of pain. He raised his arm to
protect his eyes only to find them already swathed in bandages. A
grunt escaped his lips as unease turned to panic and he scrabbled
with both hands at the ties that held the material fast. He could
hear running footsteps and voices coming closer but couldn’t
understand what they were saying, then a pair of delicate hands
closed over his and a softly accented voice murmured “don’t
struggle, you’re safe.” Blind and adrift, Kiernan didn’t know
why these words should calm him but they did. He felt the sharp prick
of a needle in the back of his hand and drifted back down into
darkness…</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">…<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>and
into the strangest dream. He was back on the hillside, baking in the
Greek sunshine and enjoying what he’d been assured was the best
view on the island. Even in his somnolent state he could feel the
heat prickling on his skin and knew that he was going to burn. He
cast about for shelter and time slowed as he caught sight of a tiny,
one-room building with a scarred and pitted dome for a roof. An
entire wall of the ancient structure had been reduced to rubble and
the whole thing looked as if it was just waiting for a good enough
reason to fall down. At some point a great tree had rooted high up in
the structure, burrowing deep into the walls in search of life-giving
moisture. Moving closer, he could see that the choking roots this
gnarled and desiccated leviathan had sent forth had slowly wrung
almost all the life from the walls only to hold them together just on
the point of death. Curiosity building, the dream-Kiernan strolled on
for a closer look. He walked once around the remaining walls trying
to gauge their strength until he came full circle and hesitated
before the obsolete doorway. Weighing up the possibility of being
buried alive against the certainty of being burnt he gave a shrug and
ducked forwards under the chest high lintel. It wasn’t as if anyone
would miss him if he didn’t come back. Emma had made that perfectly
clear.</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">It
turned out to be pleasingly cool underneath the dome. The stone floor
shimmered with rays of sunlight drifting lazily down through the
holes in the roof and thanks to the missing wall, the building
trapped none of the oppressive heat. Kiernan stripped off his shirt
and let the cooling breeze play over his lean frame. Blond hair and
blue eyes had their advantages but resistance to sunlight was
definitely not one of them. He’d already burnt and peeled twice in
the last four weeks and wasn’t about to try for a third.
Reluctantly he replaced his shirt, leaving it open down the front and
began to examine the flaking remains of the once brightly-coloured
frescos on the walls. He paused in front of an almost intact
rendition of a garden scene, a theme entirely unlike the stylised
epic themes and sword-and-battle motifs that typified most of the
ancient Greek art he’d seen so far. But this, this was entirely
new. Painted by what could only charitably be called an indifferent
artist it drew the eye nonetheless with its longing for a simpler
life than could be allowed. Kiernan didn’t know why but he was
convinced that this was once a real place, somewhere the unknown
artist could be at peace with himself and with each deliberate brush
stroke he could feel the painter’s lost soul committing to memory a
place that might never be seen again. He reached across the centuries
with the fingertips of one hand and slowly traced the outline of an
empty swing “I hope you found your peace, my friend,” he said
softly, “I wish that I could find mine.”</span></i></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Kiernan
remained lost in contemplation of the fresco for some time. Abruptly
he became aware of a presence at his shoulder and realised that
someone else had braved the hike to the summit. He inclined his head
to point at the designs on the plastered walls and ventured polite
conversation.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Amazing
how they last so long isn’t it?” Getting no reply he looked to
see who the newcomer was and found himself still completely alone.
Shrugging, he turned his attention back to the wall and felt the same
presence flow back, stronger than ever and bringing with it a chill
that minutes ago he would have welcomed. As the hairs at the back of
his neck began to rise, Kiernan took a couple of shallow breaths, the
most his bubbling, building panic would allow and turned resolutely
on leaden feet to meet whatever waited head on…</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">In
the middle of writing her report the duty nurse paused and put down
her pen as bed seven started to moan in his sleep. She waited to see
if he would quieten but when he began to twist uneasily she pushed
back her chair. He’d already had his drip out once tonight and
looked as if he was working up to another attempt. Before she could
do anything more, though, an agency nurse she didn’t recognise came
into the ward and waved her back down.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">I’ll
deal with him, Sister. You look as if you’re swamped over there.”
Returning to her notes, Sister Eidica let the patient’s mutterings
fade from her hearing and submerged herself once more in her report.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">…<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>again
there was nothing there. For a second Kiernan thought he’d caught a
glimpse of a shadow, a faint outline of a shape in the dust and
then…nothing. He exhaled heavily and forced himself to laugh,
muttering, “You’re going nuts, man! First you start hearing
things, then seeing things – next thing you’ll be talking to
yourself and then there’s no hope left.” Still uneasy, he headed
outside, noting with satisfaction that the sun was finally going
down. As he crossed the floor he heard a scraping sound, then felt a
jolt under his feet as a dull thud rumbled around the chamber -
someone was moving about underneath the stone floor. Irritated with
himself now he’d found a practical reason for his unease, Kiernan
knelt and beat with the palm of his hand against the clay packed
stone floor. “Hello!’ he shouted, “who’s down there?” and
then waited, ear pressed to the floor for a reply. </i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>His
only answer was a shuffling sound, of feet creeping slowly away, then
silence. Angry now and convinced that he was the butt of some hugely
unfunny practical joke Kiernan jerked himself upright, raised his
foot knee high and then slammed the heel down as hard as he could
against the stone. He had a split second to reflect that this was
perhaps not the wisest possible course of action to take whilst
standing on a three thousand year old floor before the flagstones
split and dropped him down into darkness.</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The
nurse bent over the side of the bed to wipe the multiplying beads of
sweat from her patient’s brow, trying to keep up as his head
twisted painfully from side to side. He raised his hands as if to
push something away and she made a grab for the hand with the cannula
in it. If it came out again, her carelessness would draw the
attention of the night sister and then she’d be in big trouble. The
patient seemed to calm at her touch though and when she looked down
at his face she could see the tension and pain begin to recede,
leaving behind a fresh and open countenance. Long-standing creases at
the side of his mouth suggested an easy disposition and one quick to
smile, but she could also see the faint beginnings of pale frown
lines outlined against his sunburnt brow. At first she thought they'd
been caused by the trauma of the last few days but then realised her
mistake.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">What
brought you here, I wonder?” she murmured as she ran her forefinger
down the side of his face, lightly tracing the outline of one
prominent cheekbone and moving down across a stubborn jawline.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Is
there a problem, nurse?” Sister Eidica’s voice, dripping with
disapproval carried clearly across the ward.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">No,
sister,” the nurse started guiltily. “I was just trying to keep
him calm.”</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Very
well. I know you’re new to us, but please remember there are
proprieties to be observed here. Come to my office tomorrow before
you start your shift and I’ll discuss them with you”</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Yes,
sister. Sorry, sister”. The woman at the bedside nodded in what she
hoped was a suitably subservient manner and busied herself in
routine, first checking the flow of the drip then updating the
patient’s temperature chart, all the while feeling her gaze pulled
back to his face where his eyes moved rapidly under closed and
abraded lids. Something was definitely going on in there.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Kiernan
relived the moment in slow motion, unable to change a thing. Looking
down as his foot descended he could swear the mortar between the huge
slabs dissolved before he made contact with them and then his
nightmare plunge began. In the fading light of dusk, he saw the lower
floor just too late to brace against it and heard all to clearly the
sickening snap of his ankle as it gave way and pitched him forward,
slamming his head against a stone block in the middle of the cellar.
He lay still for some time, fighting for consciousness and then,
unable to control the waves of nausea washing over him, he turned his
head and vomited. Cursing the world at large and his rebellious
stomach in particular, he inched himself over and onto his back,
trying to move his ankle as little as possible. The pain was
excruciating but he needed to get an idea of his surroundings and any
possible way out before even this faint light was lost. He tried to
raise himself to a sitting position but warm blood poured down from a
deep cut over his right eye, obscuring his vision and setting his
head to spinning once more. </span></i></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>To
his left, Kiernan’s groping hand gained purchase on the top of the
stone block he’d crashed into. It appeared to be hollow and at some
time in the past its lid had been displaced and was propped drunkenly
against the side of the container. Inch by dizzying inch Kiernan
eased his back up against this welcome support and then, target
achieved, he closed his eyes in relief and leant his head back
against the cool, carved stone. For some time, the pain in his head
had been trying to persuade him that passing out would be a good idea
and he decided that perhaps now would be a good time to listen. As he
allowed himself to sink into welcome oblivion he heard a rustling
sound behind him and dust-dry, paper-skinned hands followed him down
into the depths where he fell to reach around his neck. As he let
slip all ties to consciousness, Kiernan heard a wind-faint voice
whisper in his ear. “Warn Manny she is restless. Hold close the
marriage ties.”</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d0e0e3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">And
then he was gone.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />Lynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4985859084615344334.post-80132665519158767072012-03-04T03:48:00.003-08:002012-03-04T03:48:51.541-08:00<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: inherit;">5am, a
computer and a fresh mug of tea. Fantastic. All the ideas from your
dreams still floating round your head with nothing to interrupt
them. No feelings of guilt because I told my husband I'd be with him
in ten minutes two hours ago, no phone calls, no texts – not even
the dog wants to go out and pee at that time in the morning. It's
just me and a keyboard full of plots with no excuses. You should try
it sometime - just make the tea strong enough so the tannins
dissolve the spoon and you'll be fine. </span>
</div>Lynne Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00597476448824690870noreply@blogger.com0