It was like leaving an airlock. Alec climbed down from the warm interior of the van, away from Danny’s running commentary on life and the chattering VHF, the stale smell of chips that had lingered since the back shift, his cap, turned upside down on the dashboard to hold Annie’s morning rolls, and stepped into … Continue reading Normal Service Will Be Resumed
Author: absentmindedscribe
Hi! Come on in. I’m just an ordinary Scottish guy, writing short stories and personal thoughts on the inter web. Feel free to browse and if there’s anything you like, let me know. It always good to hear whether anything chimes, or resonates in a fellow human being. Best wishes, Brian :)
The Beauty of Time
Technology is both a blessing and a curse. In this case I'm going with the former. The type of technology that would have cost you tens of thousands of pounds a decade or so ago, comes as standard in your smartphone. I live on a small rise in the land in a suburban enclave in … Continue reading The Beauty of Time
iScot Article
My first ever magazine, or newspaper opinion piece. As good or bad as it is, I'm really pleased it got published. Thank you iScot! Everybody wants to change the world. Well, most of us do. It’s that fundamental human urge to travel ever onwards. A river of life thing, bound with the laws of the … Continue reading iScot Article
Snow!!!
It's a relatively rare thing to have snow fall as often as we've had this winter. Turns a grey winter cityscape into something altogether easier on the eye. I used to work in an area of Glasgow riven with multiple deprivation. The only time it ever transcended it's perma-bleakness was on days like this. Snow … Continue reading Snow!!!
It Had Been A Long Day
It had been a long day. Possilpark, its sullen streets lined with hard as nails tenements, looked gloomy in the constant rain. They had trudged around as popular as Jehovahs witnesses, leather folders clutched against water-streaked raincoats. At every door they had met the same reception. Shaking heads and hostile faces. Now he could feel … Continue reading It Had Been A Long Day
There’s Always Someone
There’s Always Someone He took one last look. It was raining and a cold wind made the lampposts sway and judder. The street was empty. The Sergeant had gone and there was only a dry rectangle against the kerb to show where the police car had been. Harry closed the door and retraced his steps … Continue reading There’s Always Someone
Light
A walk home from a night out with old friends always puts you in a reflective mood. Maybe you open up to the world a little. Beer helps. That said, a smartphone camera lens is a poor way to capture a night time scene, but hopefully this gives some sense of the unusual. I am … Continue reading Light
Musical Serenity
I came across this rare footage of David Gilmour playing an old Richard Thomson song some months back. The Dimming Of The Day. Beautiful version of a wonderful song 🙂 https://youtu.be/EK2N3S0lr4c
Something New..
So. I did a new thing. Something I'd wanted to do for a long time, but for reasons I won't elaborate on here, could not. It wasn't on a bucket list. I didn't swim with a dolphin. Machu Picchu is as far away as ever and I won't be swimming in the Dead Sea anytime … Continue reading Something New..
