London, 1897...


A sound.
So simple, so soft and yet, there it is.
He heard it, as before, that soft sound like a breath, so soft and warm, stopping him and for a moment, he’s scared, scared that if he moves, it would take away that sound as quickly as he’d heard it.
Please don’t go…
A voice from him, pleading with this to stay.
Please…

His bed, so lonely, alone and that’s how he has been for years, his way and cannot let anyone in.
Here and the sound that has stopped him, knows who he is, and he, listening to a breath that he feels, knows her.
The loss that he feels has never let him go and no one is like her.
The breath fades, a distant sound, a parting, he stays as a statue, hoping that she will return.
An echo of what was once a love, but now a soft breath of love, he would hold that in his heart and never let her go.
A kindness, a tenderness not felt since, he is so alone and he shouldn’t be, not like this, not as he is…

London, 2008...

Cold. Cold that creeps it’s way in and refuses to let go.
The heating is on, he rubs his hands and his feet feel the cold more now, standing against the radiator, feeling the warmth on the back of his legs.
He turns, to feel the heat spread from his legs upward and to look out of the window.
Down there, on that street, so many people and traffic that never seems to stop.
A grey, December morning, dry but cold.
A cold that he doesn’t like.
He looks at the people at the bus stop, waiting for the next bus to take them away and deposit them elsewhere.
A smile, a rare occurrence from him.
Moving away from the warm and back to his desk.
What was I doing?
Looking down at the mess that’s left there and a slight nod of recognition, sees the papers, old and wrinkly, they smell too.
An age old set of papers, so carefully put away and now, he has them out again.
Looking for something to help him end this.
In these papers, he believes and hopes, the end could be found.
His glasses lie next to his telephone and his next action saw him sit and begin again.
Memories stir, of a time and place long gone, of friends that are lost.
He thinks of her and a love of so long ago...


“I’m not bloody doing it!” She says, quite determined that she wouldn’t.
This is Jennifer, twenty six years old, she says she’s slim and has dark brown hair and odd coloured eyes.
One is blue, the other depends on the day, the week or even the month.
Actually, they’re both blue.
Oh and her mood.
The debate, is about who is washing up.
It’s become rather heated, because, Jennifer and don’t call her Jenny or Jen, won’t do it.
The other girls, Sharon, who’s just a stroppy cow, according to Jennifer, won’t do it, because she doesn’t feel like it.
Then, there‘s Alma. She won’t do a thing to help, unless there’s something in it for her.
So, finally and it’s probably about that time, we have the blonde haired singer and to be honest, she is rather good, she’s thinking about doing the washing up because there’s no sodding spoons left.
Her name is Jackie and she doesn’t mind you calling her that.
Jennifer walks away from the sink, leaving the pile of muck behind. Passing Jackie, who would do the washing up, but Jennifer would rather she didn’t.
Alma should do it really.
Because she does little else, except moan and bitch about everyone and anything else that springs to mind.
Putting her coat on and heading for the door and escape, Jennifer is stopped by Sharon.
Like we knew that wasn’t going to happen.
“Where you going?” Sharon says and it’s more the way she says it, that awful whining sound in her voice and that pisses Jennifer off more than anything else.
Well, not that on it’s own, there are other things, but one thing at a time, okay?
“Out.” A simple, flat response.
Sharon looks at her, “You going to be long?”
“About six feet.” Jennifer replies and a smile.
“Yeah, funny.”
Jennifer has her hand on the door lock, waiting to turn the knob and out of here.
“So…” Jennifer says, not sure what Sharon wants.
“I thought you’d help put the tree up.”
Wrong! What the bloody hell do I want to do that for? All it would do is start another series of rows and that is something I don’t bloody want!
“Yeah, maybe.” Jennifer says.
Sharon seems to look a little happier, but it could have been wind.
The door is open and Jennifer is only a step or two away from the outside now and Sharon looks like she hasn’t finished yet,
“Well, I’ll wait for you to get back then.” She says.
Jennifer was going to say something, but she didn’t, she smiles at her and shut the door.
Sometimes you just have to know when to shut up!

You ever gone out for a walk with nowhere particular in mind?
Jennifer is doing that, right now, until she gets to the park and there’s the swings.
It’s cold enough for no one else to be here and Jennifer has that quick look around, has the row of swings in view and it’s the middle one now.
A kiddies swing, only, very few kiddies come and play, well, the weather isn’t helping, but there’s more to it than that.
So, anyway, Jennifer starts to swing.
Getting up to a reasonable speed and listening to the chains that creak and groan.
Maybe I should get off, nah not yet…

And then, a light.
It is a light, but not where you’d expect to see one.
Jennifer suddenly stops, faster than she’s done before and almost lands on her face.
Not very lady like, but hey…
The light is still there.
Now, she’s walking, toward this light, it’s in the middle of a tree.
Yeah, in the middle!
This tree, looks smaller than the others, it’s branches reach up and out the same but they’re not like the others, and let’s be honest, a tree to Jennifer, is just a tree, she couldn’t tell you what names they have, it didn’t matter.
But this light did.
Thinking that someone is playing a game, it is Christmas, well, almost, just a couple of days, but who would put that there?
Jennifer isn’t that far from it now, fixed on it, like it’s drawing her in.
The light is a soft blue, a twinkle, stuck either on or in this tree, but Jennifer looks at it, without blinking, in case it should suddenly disappear.
It seems to grow larger, Jennifer stops, but this blue glow, is growing, moving out to meet her.
It touches her hand, it feels warm, it moves over her hand and begins to travel up her arm.
Oh god!
Jennifer couldn’t move, she wants to, she wants to run, but she finds that she’s stuck, this blue glow has her and it moves up onto her shoulder and then, a bright flash and the glow is all around her and she isn’t on the ground anymore.
Slightly above it, oh yeah, a good couple of inches and this thing is holding her and she hears it speak.
Oh shit!
A soft voice, a woman’s voice, talking to her and the only word that Jennifer wants to say is Mum!
The voice carries on and Jennifer finds herself asleep, in this glow and then gently, back on the ground again.
Jennifer is lying on her back, looking up at the tree.
The grass is damp and her hands are cold and the blue glow has gone.
Jennifer sits up, laughs, thinking that she couldn’t tell the others what had happened.
Then standing, against the tree and her fingers are touching it and from somewhere, a voice, soft and it says thank you…

Jennifer begins walking away from the tree, looking back at it over her shoulder, anyone else think that this is all wrong?
Jennifer doesn’t know what’s going on and she certainly doesn’t know where she’s going but she walks.
Someone had called her.
What?
-Was it you?
What the-
Jennifer walks to the side of the road and the traffic makes her jump.
Scared is the word she’d use here, she didn’t seem to know what these things are, but there is a lot of them.
The voice in her head, is trying to work out what had happened.
-Did you call me?
Jennifer has heard the words, but thinking that someone is next to her, she turns, but she’s on her own.
-I say…
What?
-Who are you?
I beg your pardon?
-Who are you?
The voice is quite pleasant, not angry or even rough sounding, but it still didn’t answer where it’s coming from.
Jennifer decides to go home.
The voice has gone quiet.

Jennifer’s bedroom.
Okay, it looks like it, but looks different.
She looks puzzled, then kicking her boots off and lying on her bed.
The ceiling, oh yeah that’s so interesting, but the something in her head didn’t recognise it.
What is going on?
Jennifer turns on her side and drifts off to sleep.
The other thing began to move about her room. It didn’t know any of these things, it’s careful not to touch anything, but there is a sense for it to find out.
There are clothes, not perhaps as it knows them, but they are scattered over the carpet and there on the dresser is a tube shape thing with another thing dangling off the end of it.

It looks back at the sleeping young woman on the bed and sighs and rejoins her.
When you’ve woken up, perhaps you’d be good to enough to explain all these things, it says.
It settles and it too sleeps.


Something has happened. He could feel it. It has stirred, but he doesn’t know where.
She is here!
Such a joy, if it were true.
Why should it not be?
He looks at the papers, the passage he’d read out and then he realises what he’s done.
He’d used this to call her.
That’s not what he was trying to do.
Now, somewhere in this city, a city she had no idea of, she is here.
He has to find her, now that he’d done this.
She would have to be with someone, someone who would be close to her in spirit, that bond that would hold her here would have formed already.
But she would have no idea of where she would be.
His fault, his mistake and now he has to make this right again…