My Writing – Short Story Extract

Today, I wanted to share the beginning of one of my short stories about first impressions. I wrote this collection of stories a year ago and really enjoyed writing them. I hope that you will find this extract intriguing.

Garden Depths

Finally, the sun was out and, for the first time in ages, my schedule was clear and I had found the time to do a bit of weeding. The garden was a joke. A mess. I, like anyone else, appreciate wild flowers. But not all over my garden, choking the plants that were meant to be there and making my grass look unkept and like it was about to turn into a Savannah. I half expected a leopard to be hiding behind some of the clumps of long grass, watching me as I peered out of the patio doors, perusing my own territory. Although, perhaps it wasn’t mine any more.

Even during the erratic weather of the last month, Eric had been spending a lot of time out there. Sometimes with his friends, playing football or hitting the swing ball around that rickety pole. Most of the time it was just him though. He’d sit on the bench sketching or making cartoons or maybe keeping secretive notes. Who knows? He always had his ear pods in and it seemed as if he preferred time alone in the garden to time inside, being nagged by me. Was I really that dull now? Well, one thing was for sure. This garden was being cleared up and I was going to make an effort to spend time with my son out there. First thing first. Where had I put those shears?

I was a bit more old fashioned. I liked having a speaker tethered to my iPod much more than having earphones in my ears. Somehow, they always made me feel like I was in a bubble and that the world was outside of that bubble. When I was gardening I wanted to embrace nature, not shut it out. Having said that my taste in music meant that I wasn’t exactly playing orchestral pieces or melodic tunes that would remind you of the great outdoors. A bit of Slipknot never hurt anyone right? It definitely made the dreary act of weed pulling more interesting, much to the disgust of my neighbour, Joan, who just gave me discouraging looks from time to time, as she put her washing out and pottered around her neatly aligned marigolds. The temptation to ramp up the volume was getting the better of me, when Eric emerged from the house, holding the phone.

Hopefully you enjoyed this sample of my work and might consider following my blog for more about reading and writing, alongside articles about the environment.

My book, ‘Second Glance’ is available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DM6N2LF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_WA59ZJBHXBN8608Q23C1