Haven’t we all found ourselves stuck with someone who just will not stop talking. We look away, we look to others, we find excuses to disengage - we get rude and impatient with them.

But is it them, or is it us?

Is their incessant verbal attack simply because we have written them off?

Have you ever been rewarded for taking the time to listen when the temptation was not to?

Even though it is so hard not to start every sentence with ‘I’ when writing in first person POV it seemed natural for this story because of these very questions.

Link to story - GAB

Like all good fables there is a mixture of truth and fantasy in this short story.

The beach house is real and it has always been my bolt hole. The book, or books, are also real and truly lifetime favourites - well before the films came out!

It is also true that my children knew and loved the story, well before any of their mates got excited by the cinema version. These books were their introduction to reading full length novels.

The dog is also real and the Strider of this story is not a neighbour, but he exists all the same.

When did you work out what the books were? Early on I hope because that means you love them too!

Link to Story - FABLE

Spoiler Alert!

I had been mulling over this word to not much avail when I noticed the bulbs in our garden starting to shoot. Each of them a promise of spring, highly assorted in both colour and type.

Such a group of individuals that combine to make our whole garden magical. So that got me started on the group mentality versus the individual or the group versus group scenario, the difference between group inaction and empowerment.

Big themes, touched on only lightly with this story.

Hope you enjoy and perhaps look at your garden with a warm smile. I am off to pick daffodils now.

Read it here - EACH