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This story isn’t easy to tell. It’s a bit like one of those obscure films where nothing happens for hours but then you realise that, somehow, everything has changed. It started the day I met Jonah. He was coming out of the tunnel by the bridge and heading for the quay. I’d been cleaning in… Continue reading Addled Chapter 1: Jonah and the Whale
Jonah’s red and rusting transit van was a treasury of sweet wrappers, empty crisp packets and assorted fluff and sticky stuff. I was surprised. His flat was an oasis of order and cleanliness. I shot him a questioning glance as we drove into town. ‘Not me,’ he said. ‘The text writing bitch?’ He chuckled and… Continue reading Addled Chapter 2: Popper Originals
The tide was coming in at Tynemouth and the water-logged sand reflected the cold blue sun, dazzling the handful of hardy dog walkers trudging up the beach, wrapped tightly against the wind. Their dogs ran and leapt and barked at the sea, which crashed and rolled as it advanced. Jonah and I ran down the… Continue reading Addled Chapter 3: Three Scary Monsters
I stood before the open wardrobe and ran my eyes along the desultory collection of clothes huddled inside. Moving out was the perfect opportunity to get rid of my junk. There was stuff in here I hadn’t worn in years and couldn’t remember buying. I was going to have to be systematic and ruthless. Jonah… Continue reading Addled Chapter 4: Little Miss Ouseburn
I was walking into Heaton, my backpack heavy on my shoulders, when my mobile rang. I knew it was Danny without looking and braced myself for the onslaught. Reality had penetrated the fug in his head and he wasn’t happy. ‘I’m not abandoning you, Dan. You’re not a child.’ I hung up feeling guilty. Then… Continue reading Addled Chapter 5: Maya
The lights had been up since October but it was only with the Big Day looming, that the mania set in. Everybody was getting stressed. I’d already had three desperate calls from panicked clients freaking out over poultry or puddings or oversized trees. Town was heaving. I dribbled forward like a snail, squeezing between crazed… Continue reading Addled Chapter 6: False Pretences
Fragmented images flashed and swirled about me, none of them lasting long enough to decipher. It was the tail end of a convoluted dream that had confused me even while I was having it, and I wanted to wake up and get back to reliable, linear reality. At last, I struggled into consciousness and lay… Continue reading Addled Chapter 7: Thumbprint of God
As soon as I walked through the supermarket doors I wanted to turn around and walk out again. I was still feeling jangled from my latest encounter with weirdness, like my skin had been pulled off. It was early, so Morrisons wasn’t too busy, but the light still hurt my eyes and the vacuous music… Continue reading Addled Chapter 8: The Ultimate Subversion – part 1
I slammed the front door behind me, swept through to the living room, and flung myself on the sofa. Jonah was composing on his synth at his computer in the corner, headphones clamped to his ears. He slipped them off and spun his chair to face me. ‘What happened?’ he said, looking worried. ‘He’s a… Continue reading Addled Chapter 8: The Ultimate Subversion – part 2
Adam wasn’t there when I arrived at the concrete seats. I leaned over the fence and watched the river tumble by, my breath condensing in the frigid air. A polite cough sounded behind me and I turned. Adam was sitting on one of the seats dressed in his usual exquisite tailored suit, having made no… Continue reading Addled Chapter 9: A Grand Prix of Cogitation – part 1
I sat in a pool of sunlight pouring through the long Velux, amplified and focused by the glass. Propped up on a cushion, struggling to keep my back straight, I fidgeted and rubbed my knees. I was supposed to be watching my breath. Adam said I could count them if it helped, but I kept… Continue reading Addled Chapter 9: A Grand Prix of Cogitation – part 2
I walked back to the flat in a daze, mind on a loop trying to work out how I’d missed Adam and how fast you would have to walk to disappear that quickly, unless he was going round behind the farm along the river, perhaps that was it, I’d have to check, when I nearly… Continue reading Addled Chapter 10: Metaphysical Flimflam
