I write a lot of pish in these postings but and it’s a big BUT, I try and give some guidance and an idea on our thinking and reasoning.
I wouldn’t ask anyone to look back but if you did, there are so many snippets that are there. (And normally ignored!!)
Dave Henson has embraced this and I thank him for his courtesy and curiosity that has made him mention the hints that we give out in these postings.
And there is Marco who (Annoyingly brilliantly) has made a few stories out of them.
With this in mind, I’d like to address another common theme that we are inundated with. I, myself have so many thoughts on this and really, so do most of us. But I want to try and address one huge problem that many writers, unfortunately, embrace in the wrong way.
Dementia!
Let’s get one thing clear – Any poor bastard who has been affected by this in whatever way, I tip my hat to. We all understand. I worked in a unit for seven months and by fuck was that more than enough. I don’t give a flying fuck what anyone thinks of my next statement – I was happy to see the souls who were completely away with the birds – They were in their happy world. The poor bastards that were on the cusp were the ones my heart went out to. The confusion that they lived with was as cruel as any God could inflict!
Now to take this into the short story world, we have one huge problem that we see time and time again – You can’t write this from the afflicted’s point of view – How can you?? If someone could explain, then they haven’t that affliction.
The reason that this has came to my mind was something that happened to us (Me and Gwen) a few weeks back. I will warn you all now, this makes me feel sick and sad and angry and devastated all at the same time.
We had a few days away for our anniversary and we went to Oban – We had a brilliant time – The seafood restaurants were heaven on earth. But I saw the worst thing ever, and trust me, that is a bold statement. I’ve seen death, addiction, self-harm, children being taken from their parents, suicide and every other thing with bells on. I may be judged for saying that what I saw that weekend was the worst ever but I don’t care – For me it was.
We were strolling down a street and Gwen tugged my arm screaming, she was pointing towards the road. I looked around and there was a woman in one of those mobility scooters belting down the road dragging two wee dogs. One was running, one wee soul was on its belly being dragged at, I would guess, ten miles an hour. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen anything so horrific. I roared at her, the Ayrshire retort of me being pissed off which is ‘HAAAAWWWWWW!!!’ As fucking loud as I could. She ignored me. By this time she must have been two hundred yards away. A driver of a van blocked her off and stopped her. Another wee woman turned up beside us and stated that she knew who she was. She said that the woman absolutely loved her dogs but she was suffering from dementia. To my shame (Not sure about that???) I stated that I didn’t give a flying fuck and I would be more than happy to drag her behind our car. When I calmed down, I found a couple of Police Officers and told them what had happened. I had to, I was trying to get the image out my head and I had to do something. They stated that they knew her and she was suffering with dementia. They said that they would make sure the dog was taken to the Vet.
This made me think – If she was that ill, why was she allowed to have dogs. And if she was that ill, why was she allowed to have a mobility scooter – I know! That opens up a whole can of worms as a debate.
Anyhow, going back to writing and all those submissions that we receive which are stories about dementia written from the sufferers point of view – Think to yourself – How the fuck can you write it this way?? We don’t know what is going through their minds. Those poor souls can’t even tell us what they are thinking.
So no offence guys…It is a bit of an insult trying to do it this way and it simply doesn’t work. Go for observational from a third party point of view. Don’t ever send us the thoughts of those suffering from dementia unless you want to explain why you dragged your wee dog along the fucking road for a quarter of a mile!!!!
Okay onto this week’s stories.
This is the first time that this has happened in a long time!!
We have two new writers – That’s not much of a peculiarity but we do have three editors in the one week. Honestly folks, that hasn’t been planned, we are just as much in the publishing queue as everyone else and it just worked out this way.
Our topics this week include; hippies, obsession, cartoon reality, circumstance and poetry.
As always our initial comments follow.
First up was our lovely fellow editor Leila. She is ploughing towards her 100th story which will be showcased the week between Christmas and New Year.
But before that we had ‘Poppyseed‘ on Monday.
‘This made me a bit sad.’
‘Just a great story.’
‘There was a deeper truth about the hippies and the sixties.’
Next up was our first new writer, Alex Reid with ‘Watching It Move‘
We extend our usual welcome to both our newbies.
‘Interesting.’
‘This stretches reality.’
‘Darkly funny.’
And on Wednesday Thomas McDade had his first story on the site.
We hope to see more of Thomas and Alex’s work.
It was ‘Dreams Away At Octavia’s‘ that broke the back of the week.
‘This had a trippy sort of swagger to it.’
‘Excellent tone and pace.’
‘A well done piece with interesting characters.’
It has been far too long since Diane has graced the site with a story. Especially when you read the quality of ‘Danny.‘
‘There is some weird tension in this piece.’
‘The story speeds along.’
‘The ending is very well done.’
And I finished off the week with ‘Macey’.
As always I thank Diane and Leila for their encouragement and help.
Just the usual things guys – Please comment!
And please get involved with the Sunday Re-Run!
I don’t really like thinking about deep or serious things when they affect me directly so I want to move away from the first part of this posting.
The best way I can do this is three fold.
But my lovely wife keeps telling me that it’s not nice for me to hope that certain folks kill themselves.
So I will go for two fold. Not necessarily because I listen to Gwen, more that I would have a list that Leila would be proud of in its infinity!!!
1. Get very drunk – Tick!
2. Tell you two of my favourite stupid jokes that you will probably have heard a million times.
A snowman speaks to another snowman and asks – ‘Can you smell carrots?’
And
A wee mushroom in a room full of Adonis’s is delighted to be propositioned by the most beautiful woman in the world just because he looked like a fun guy.
Hugh
(PS – I know that last apostrophe is wrong but like Leila, I don’t like a double s. Although unlike Leila, I will put in a wrong apostrophe.
Image – Magnus Hagdorn, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
edited by dd
literally stories 
I know I said it before, but why do people turn extra evil when they lose their senses? No one ever becomes a weird saint that I have ever seen. Maybe it has to do with a person willing to take a sick dog to be put down while a dog would never do that to a human, no matter how much it is needed.
Ha! Never heard the carrot joke before. Could say “Fun guy” is a moldy oldie. Which I guess I just did.
Great post.
Leila
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You raise a good point there, why don’t they just become sweeter and nicer. Maybe it’s fear and confusion making them defensive.
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As for the snow people. The one to the left looks ready to sever the bond. There’s something in the coal eyes that says “Enough, I need my space.” (Or would if it were 1973).
LA
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They did make me laugh. Maybe it’s because they are Scottish but they look most unlikely. I reckon they’ve had a hauf or two anyway. Now I look at them I do think that maybe words have been had and someone is going off somewhere. Hey Hugh – you could give us a story about these two.
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Hi ladies,
Clarence and Theodore were two Scottish snowmen with two traditional Scottish names who were made late June.
They were inseparable until they had a falling out. Surprisingly it wasn’t about sharing smack, White Lightening or deep-fried Mars Bars, it was about Clarence (On the left) wanting to become fluid when the summer kicked in on August 3rd.
If you look closely, you will see that Theodore bit his nose off.
And if you look even more closely, you will see that Theodore’s own nose was excited about this.
Vegetarian snowmen can be perverted psychopaths too!
He left it a week and then he made a huge slushy out of poor Clarence. The day after he had to wipe his arse after dumping him.
Hugh
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you actually just made me snigger.
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Hi Leila,
Gwen has a theory that some good people turn evil with dementia due to suppressing anger all through their life. They bite their tongue and stay nice for nice sake. But when this affliction hits them, their brain doesn’t want to be nice anymore so all that anger and ‘What I should have said’ manifest itself in pure nastiness.
That’s a theory. I also think that they could simply be being cunts for cunts sake!
If it is Gwen’s thoughts, then I’ll be fine, I normally say as is. If it’s my idea then maybe I should find a mountain to live on for my latter years!!
Thanks as always.
Hugh
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That is interesting. My mum was one of those people who always smiled and played nice until what we now realise was the start of dementia and she became actually a really horrible person. Trouble was she didn’t get a diagnosis until about two weeks before she died by which time she had nagged my dad to suicide and made us all dislike being with her. Very very sad and I reckon Gwen has a really good point. When we look back we can see times when she was hiding her real feelings behind a ‘civillised’ front.
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Your observation about those on the cusp being the ones who suffer more is something I hadn’t thought about and shows your first-hand experience. Good advice on writing about dementia. What a horrible thing you saw. I was glad to have the closing images of carrots and fungi as a kind of pallet cleanser.
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Hi Dave,
Thanks as always.
I think most of us have either been touched or should I say slapped around the face by Cancer and Dementia in one way or another. What I hate about life is suffering and those two diseases are so cruel in so many ways. For those who watch them mourn not once but three times. (At least) First off with a diagnosis, secondly when all hope (Or understanding) has gone and thirdly when the souls pass away.
My first experience of Dementia was with my Grandfather who was the proudest man I have ever known. Over five years he was reduced to nothing of his former self.
Hugh
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You just lost your chance at “Some Who Wander”, my brilliant story from the POV of a man suffering dementia.
A Scot comes a pile of brown stuff on a trail. He first smells it and then tastes it. “Eww dog shit, glad I didn’t step in it.”
I’m told I’m some percent Scots, but I can’t do an accent.
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Comes upon a pile of brown stuff which looks like peanut butter. Why don’t I ever read what I wrote? Rhetoric question.
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Hi Doug,
It’s easy to know if you have a bit of Scots in you. Read the following statement and see if you concur…
A Scottish male is a cynical skeptic who uses sarcasm as a way to emphasise their realistic pessimism with slight delusions of destructive optimism when they are having the best day of their life.
Thanks for the read and comment my fine friend.
Hugh
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Hugh, I am shocked by this drift from the truth:
“And there is Marco who (Annoyingly brilliantly) ….”
Okay, the annoying part is spot on.
Oh, and just because we can: Double Adverb Warning!!
And, yet more… I am currently working on a story in which an older woman is fleeing her daughter, a hard-edged daughter who wants to smack Mum into a home. I hear and heed the warning about the ‘Dementia POV.’ Loud and clear!
All the best, as always,
Marco
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Hi Marco,
I look forward to it!
It’s difficult to explain some of our thinking as we don’t want to come across as know-alls. But the best way I can describe our thinking is not so much we preach what we know, we more preach what we see, if that makes any sense???
Thanks as always my fine friend.
Hugh
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