Recommended Reading
A quick story for a sunny day
“Have you seen Baird’s latest?” David asked me, as Clare took her coffee from the tray and Jan arranged Sam on the fifth chair at our table.
“What, about psychopaths?”
“It’s about Medium.”
“Oh, no, I haven’t. I have read his latest on Substack.”
“It’s interesting. Worth a read.”
“I’ll rush home and read it after this.”
We were sitting in the sun at the Pavilion, at a rectangular table between the cafe and the bandstand. This was our monthly get-together — not deliberately a meeting of writers on Medium, but hey, writing on Medium is contagious.
Every now and then, a passer-by would stop and compliment — or in one case, photograph — Sam. Jan doesn’t usually bring Sam, but when she does, he gets more attention than all the rest of us put together.
We were talking about writers we liked on Medium, shoes, public parks in Chile, writing, bicycles, the Royal Cornwall Show, Miami International Airport, good and bad background noise, and having ideas for stories.
“We could even write a story about this,” said David. “Each of us, our own version.”
“What, a story about us sitting here having coffee?”
“I wonder what we’d all make of it. Why don’t we all write a story about this morning?”
Time came to leave. Jan picked up Sam and put him over her shoulder.
“I like his shoes.”
“Yes, John needs them back.”
Changing her mind, Jan took Sam off her shoulder and folded him in half to carry him out to her car.
“Is he wearing John’s clothes?”
But she didn’t hear.
Watching her drive off, David said to me, “You’re going to do it, aren’t you?”
“I hope you are too.”
“Are you going to say anything about Sam?”
“What, that he’s six feet tall and very flexible?”
“Also, that Jan made him using a sewing machine, a lot of stuffing and her husband’s clothes?”
“Nah, don’t think I’ll bother with that. Also, I’ll leave you to explain why she brought him, shall I? Anyway, I’ve got to rush home first, and…”
…read this.
