War

I wrote this for the Writing on The Wall competition to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War, the theme was The Front Line. I chose to write about another conflict, the story was based on a guy I  knew in the late 1970's. The three winning entries were excellent. Amazing amount of creative talent out there. We need to learn from the past to stop repeating our mistakes. In my perfect world I'd be a teacher of History :)


History
He dropped to the floor like a stone; we were all used to it, any sudden loud noise or a car back firing made him do this. Sheepishly he’d get to his feet and carry on with his life. We all knew he was frightened of snipers. Fortunately for us living in this sleepy market town the last one was Little John when he drew his longbow and shot another peasant in error whilst out hunting.

He’s in a wheelchair now. A degenerative illness of the immune system, anyone can get it says the Doctors. I think it was caused by the stress of walking the divided streets. He doesn’t talk about The Troubles I don’t pry. It’s in the past.

Portugal Revisited

Spent last week in Albufeira, nice hotel, excellent food and it was so hot, had to stay in the shade for the last two days :)  Mr T was playing golf with his mates and I tried to relax and read. Went back to work on Tuesday and felt so down, I feel like a hamster running circles on its cage wheel. Then tonight I read that Stephen Sutton aged 19 died today. He raised more than £3 million for charity and his words were inspirational.


"From someone who wants more time in this world, please don't waste yours, you'd be amazed what you can achieve if you try"


So Stella get a grip I've had 40 more years on this earth than Stephen so tomorrow I WILL SEIZE THE DAY.......