Amy. Rodhri. Bella. Lucy P. Kemala. Luke. Lucy M.
Who are these people?
And a rather unhelpful contact titled, simply: ‘Work’. And there was only one recent message from ‘Work’ and it said:
Where r u?
There was one name she recognised.
Dan.
Her heart sank as she clicked on his most recent message.
Hey Nor! Hope Oz is treating you well. This is going to sound either corny or creepy but I am going to go all out and tell you. I had a dream the other night about our pub. It was such a good dream. We were so happy! Anyway, ignore that weirdness, the point of this is to say: guess where I’m going in May? AUSTRALIA. First time in over a decade. Am coming with work. I’m working with MCA. Would be great to catch up, even for a coffee if you’re around. D x
It was so strange she almost laughed. But she coughed instead. (Maybe she wasn’t quite so fit in this life, now she thought about it.) She wondered how many Dans there were in the world, dreaming of things they would hate if they actually got them. And how many were pushing other people into their delusional idea of happiness?
Instagram seemed to be the only social media she had here, and she only seemed to post pictures of poems on it.
She took a moment to read one:
FIRE
Every part of her
That changed
That got scraped off
Because of schoolyard laughter
Or the advice of grown-ups
Long gone –
And the pain of friends
Already dead.
She collected those bits off the floor.
Like wood shavings.
And she made them into fuel.
Intofire.
And burned.
Bright enough to seefor ever.
This was troubling, but it was – after all – just a poem. Scrolling through some emails, she found one to Charlotte – a ceilidh band flautist with earthy humour who’d been Nora’s only friend at String Theory before she had moved back up to Scotland.
Hi Charl!
Hope all is fine and dandy.
Pleased the birthday do went well. Sorry I couldn’t be there. All is well in sunny Sydney. Have finally moved into the new place. It’s right near Bronte Beach (beautiful). Lots of neighbourhood cafes and charm. I also have a new job.
