Issue 24 - September 2012 (PDF) - Chipping Norton Times
Issue 24 - September 2012 (PDF) - Chipping Norton Times Issue 24 - September 2012 (PDF) - Chipping Norton Times
14 A Short Story by Nicholas John WAITING FOR SIX Women with pushchairs, dangling toddlers; old people wandering the aisles. I hate shopping. I mean it, I really hate shopping. And she knows it, lets me off gently, though I don't deserve it. "Why don't you just go and get a coffee? Meet you in the café, just give me twenty minutes, okay?" I mumble agreement. I can never find what I'm looking for anyway, even if I actually want anything. The escalator pitches me into the lingerie department, acres of nylon bras and huge posters of uplifts and frilly knickers. Men's Fashion in beige - New Men with cheery, self-satisfied grins and full heads of hair, dressed like they're off to dinner on the boss' yacht. But, look around, if you want a pair of elasticated trousers, you're in the right place. It occurs to me I need a new pair of slippers. Dislocation. "You could make more of an effort, couldn't you? You could just try and pretend to enjoy it at least. Treat it like a day out - " "What, like Alton Towers or the zoo?" I snap back. Unreasonable or unresponsive - which is it to be? "I'm having fun - no, honest, I am!" Spiteful and brittle. I'm an unbeliever in the temple of the godless. And I'm going to pick away at the pieces. Bit by bit, like a kid worrying at a scabbed knee. We both know that I'm not going to let it go, not till I've done some real damage. My father's son. "I sometimes think you do this on purpose," she says quietly while I stir my coffee, knowing it will never, ever taste any better. "Think what you like," I say, but she already has, probably in a previous lifetime. Her mother's daughter. In the precinct, the polished shine of marble floor leads to the Exit, where the High Street clings to the grey of the late afternoon. I see our reflections in shop front windows, but it's another, uncertain couple who stare back, adrift in an unknown world of their own making. The traffic's at a standstill and I'm two yards behind her, trying to avoid the cracks in the pavement. A red car has stopped in the entrance to the car park, just yards from the barrier, a woman sitting in the driver's seat. The woman's reading a book, but it's none of our business. I carry the bags toward the car: push change at the ticket machine, load the backseat, try to leave the sinking feeling behind, but it's lodged tight inside, immoveable. "What's she doing?" I turn around, half in, half out of the car. "Nothing, just sitting there." Two more vehicles have pulled up behind the red car, but it still doesn't move forward. "Do you think she's alright?" "Looked okay to me. She was reading." A lady gets out of the car behind. It's blocking the yellow, criss-crossed grid and she can't move forward or back. I momentarily lose sight of her behind the ticket machine as a first, few, small drops of rain begin, almost delicately, to fall. "What's going on now?" I don't reply, but I'm curious, a bystander. I can hear the shouting, see the arms waving, but I feel curiously detached, distanced, like I'm watching a play at the theatre. A comedy of errors. The red car finally lurches through the barrier. The second lady's furious: sees us watching. "She was waiting for six. Can you believe it? Six o'clock. Trying to save money, waiting for the evening rate." Shakes her head, gets back in her car. We look at each other and I look at my watch. "5.58."We both laugh and the tension releases like air from a valve and we grasp at this unexpected reprise. But it's short-lived. "You do that, you know," she says as she pulls out on to the main road. "Do what?" I know what's coming. "You know, find some stupid, forgotten principal and hang on for grim death." I glance sideways; she's smiling, but it's loaded. I don’t want to answer, because there's no point really. She's right after all. She always is. Here we go. " I can't help myself." "Try occasionally. You might feel better." "Don't bank on it - " She can read me like a book. And she reaches down inside and tears the page a little more. "You do it over and over, don't you? You're not content to let anything lie, are you?" "Not really, no - " "It's a game to you isn't it? And I can't play it any more. You just keep on pulling everything apart. Again and again, three, four, five times." She looks at me, hands gripping the wheel, joints whitening. "What are you doing now?" I'm staring straight ahead. The windscreen wipers click and scrape at the drizzle. We've reached some kind of crossroads. "Waiting for six." I say and close my eyes. Nicholas John©09/12
COTSWOLD BOOKSTORE 20 High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh 01608 652666 email: cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.u NEWS Because of a holiday, I’m writing this a full month before it is required (six weeks before the magazine is published). Therefore I regret I cannot impart, in any amount of detail, the exciting news hinted at in our ad below. What I can say is that we have a very exciting month of signings coming up, perhaps more than one author visit per week throughout September. What we would like you all to do is ask at the shop or take careful note of our blog address and check for the news there - cotswoldbookstore.blogspot.co.uk REVIEWS The Cutting Season by Attica Locke Paperback at £12.99 The setting is a show-piece plantation, a museum of slaves and their owners, an unusual and surprisingly claustrophobic environment. When a young woman is murdered, there are old crimes to uncover as well as the new one to solve but the protagonist, Caren Grey, initially seeks to hide her young daughter’s connection to the murder, placing herself outside the law. The careful way the author leeks the truth, of both the new crime and Caren’s family history, makes this a page turner, yet one in which all her characters have time to come to life. I was looking forward to this book, having read Attica Locke’s ‘Black Water Rising’ and I was not disappointed. If anything, this is even better. The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks Hardback at £20.00 Two things you should know about Iain M. Banks’ ‘Culture’ novels (and this is one). 1. They deal with huge themes in vast settings. 2. You will feel, if this is your first visit, that the deep end of this particular pool is very deep indeed. These books are a glorious challenge of intellect and staying power and this must be one of the best. Why does everyone take an interest in a young instrumentalist whose civilisation is soon to opt out of the universe and why do some people want her dead? Anything to do with her short contact with someone who seems to have outlived everyone by thousands of years? Despite the vast backdrop and mind numbing technology the sense of humour of the Culture ships is there As usual, a top class Sci-Fi read. More news and reviews - cotswoldbookstore.blogspot.com FINISHING TOUCHES female painter and decorator Also Carpentry, Laminated Floors, Doors etc • Free Estimates • Reliable Service • Interior & Exterior Work • References Available • All work guaranteed & insured 01451 870133 | 0797 292 8317 15
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COTSWOLD BOOKSTORE<br />
20 High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh<br />
01608 652666 email: cotsbookstore@tiscali.co.u<br />
NEWS<br />
Because of a holiday, I’m writing this a full month before<br />
it is required (six weeks before the magazine is published).<br />
Therefore I regret I cannot impart, in any amount of detail, the<br />
exciting news hinted at in our ad below. What I can say is that we<br />
have a very exciting month of signings coming up, perhaps more<br />
than one author visit per week throughout <strong>September</strong>. What we<br />
would like you all to do is ask at the shop or take careful note of<br />
our blog address and check for the news there -<br />
cotswoldbookstore.blogspot.co.uk<br />
REVIEWS<br />
The Cutting Season by Attica Locke<br />
Paperback at £12.99<br />
The setting is a show-piece plantation, a museum of slaves<br />
and their owners, an unusual and surprisingly claustrophobic<br />
environment. When a young woman is murdered, there are old<br />
crimes to uncover as well as the new one to solve but the<br />
protagonist, Caren Grey, initially seeks to hide her young<br />
daughter’s connection to the murder, placing herself outside the<br />
law. The careful way the author leeks the truth, of both the new<br />
crime and Caren’s family history, makes this a page turner, yet<br />
one in which all her characters have time to come to life. I was<br />
looking forward to this book, having read Attica Locke’s ‘Black<br />
Water Rising’ and I was not disappointed. If anything, this is even<br />
better.<br />
The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks<br />
Hardback at £20.00<br />
Two things you should know about Iain M. Banks’ ‘Culture’<br />
novels (and this is one). 1. They deal with huge themes in vast<br />
settings. 2. You will feel, if this is your first visit, that the deep end<br />
of this particular pool is very deep indeed. These books are a<br />
glorious challenge of intellect and staying power and this must<br />
be one of the best. Why does everyone take an interest in a<br />
young instrumentalist whose civilisation is soon to opt out of the<br />
universe and why do some people want her dead? Anything to<br />
do with her short contact with someone who seems to have<br />
outlived everyone by thousands of years? Despite the vast<br />
backdrop and mind numbing technology the sense of humour of<br />
the Culture ships is there As usual, a top class Sci-Fi read.<br />
More news and reviews - cotswoldbookstore.blogspot.com<br />
FINISHING TOUCHES<br />
female painter and decorator<br />
Also Carpentry,<br />
Laminated Floors, Doors etc<br />
• Free Estimates • Reliable Service • Interior & Exterior Work<br />
• References Available • All work guaranteed & insured<br />
01451 870133 | 0797 292 8317<br />
15
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