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  • Okay Sea, that ‘honesty snagged my conscience:

    The  last time I cried was as I attempted to sleep,  having earlier been admitted to hospital after my husband Steve correctly diagnosed the oddness of my being unable to control my fingers, while doing the Saturday General Knowledge as potentially a stroke. Quoting ‘FAST’, he did everything right…[Read more]

  • Athelstone posted an update 9 months ago

    It’s that time again. If anybody feels inclined, please take a glance at the Donations Group. If you aren’t a member of the group, you’ll need to join to see the forum, but that doesn’t commit you to anything.

  • As you know, Sandra, this prompt came about following the loss of one of our cardiologists and my subsequent inability to write anything meaningful in his Book of Condolences. Faced with Imposter Syndrome because I didn’t know him as well as some of the other nurses, I simply invalidated my feelings and wrote a stiff little sentence that had n…[Read more]

  • <p style=”text-align: right;”>Sorry Sea, I’ve been racking my brain (while fighting off Ken Dodd and attempting to pack for some days in the  Hebrides) but am totally bereft of  words about tears.</p>

  • RichardB posted an update 9 months ago

    Finest line of dialogue I’ve encountered for some time. From The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, by Natasha Pulley:
    ‘What does a clockwork octopus in an elevator shaft sound like?’

    • Kate replied 9 months ago

      I love that book, and the sequel. Beautifully written, with a touch of magic.

    • I agree with Kate. They’re both lovely books. Natasha Pulley has a warmth in her story telling that I find appealing.

  • Athelstone replied to the topic Positivity in the forum Blogs 9 months, 1 week ago

    William James seems like an interesting man. He’s an example of something less common these days, a polymath. He studied widely across medicine and philosophy, developing expertise in both fields so that he taught physiology, psychology and philosophy (at different times) at Harvard, whilest finding time for an apprenticeship as a painter, and…[Read more]

  • For July, I’d like to be enthralled by your creative endeavours inspired by the following quote:

    ‘There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.’  Washington Irving…[Read more]

  • I won’t lie, I logged in last night to find out what the prompt for this month’s comp was going to be, little expecting – in the face of the other entries – that I would be setting it 😂

    So thanks, Ath, for the comp and for that WTH!? moment when I got home from work 😃 and thanks to everyone else for inspiring me to try in the first place. I’l…[Read more]

  • Thanks, Ath, for  this months  competition  theme, what a great crop of entries it  garnered.

    Congratulations ,everyone, for the interesting and well crafted   reads and well done Sea for being the one taking the  lead into  the July   challenge.

     

  • Well, that’s an unexpected turn of events!

  • That’s such a fabulous story, Seagreen.

    I enjoyed everyone else’s entries too. Thank you Ath for the prompt and all your comments.

  • Oh, hooray, and congratulations @ Seagreen, but similarly to all for a varied and thought-provoking selection of ‘last times’. Thank you too Ath  for the prompt – a subject which I ponder increasingly  frequently.

  • Bumper crop springs to mind, but the cliché is wrong because these stories didn’t just spring up, they were all lovingly made by hand.

    Janette’s story reminds us of the way that roles are exchanged as age demands. More than this, it reminds us that life is full of last moments each important and deserving of attention and memory. There is a wist…[Read more]

  • Any more takers? Last chance today. That could be the subject.

  • Moving On

    The elderly man picked up a landline receiver. On his desk lay an open, glossy page of Country Life. The man underlined a phone number and dialled.

    “Hello, my name’s John Tucker,” he said. “I’d like to sell my house. Could you send a valuer?”

    He gave his address. A distant phone voice burbled.

    “Two valuers?” said John. “This aft…[Read more]

  •  

    Just pulled the last bit of candy floss from my brain, looked at some famous last quotes “Julius ‘Groucho’ Marx and Noel Coward.” Played with some authors and their book titles, used some well know sayings and came up with this bit of fluff.

     

    <u>The last question</u>

     

    I was surprised when the invite appeared mysteriously on my lap.

    F…[Read more]

  • If anyone would like a free one-month subscription to Galley Beggar – Pressing Issues on Substack, let me know. As a subscriber myself I can give this offer to three people. I’d need your email address so please include it in a PM.

    The Pressing Issues newsletter is available to non-subscribers. Subscribers get all the other stuff too — insights…[Read more]

  • UNTITLED (149 WORDS)

    Contains an obscenity

     

    Today is the last day I will beat myself up over this.

    It’s the last day I’ll say sorry for hurting you, as if I haven’t said sorry a million times already.

    It’s the last time I’ll try to make amends for something you will never forgive me for.

    It’s the last time I’ll go to bed and wonder how di…[Read more]

  • Athelstone replied to the topic Positivity in the forum Blogs 9 months, 4 weeks ago

    Jill, it’s so good to hear from you again, in spite of what you’ve been, and are, going through.

    I think any response that isn’t on a level with your own experience of positivity is likely to sound trivial, or at least less significant. But it is a fascinating topic. It’s often said that realists have a less positive expectation of outcome, but…[Read more]

  • Two fabulous stories and still half of the month to try your hand. What luck!

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