The Creative Writers Group had very good reviews of their first
venture into print entitled Beyond Words. Keen to keep the
momentum going they have now embarked on web publishing using the oirayr
website as their vehicle. Below are this month's contributions.
This section of the site, however, is open to anyone who has a story
to tell. David Mainland
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Remembrances
by
Margaret Jamieson
Winter had come early to the house on the hill. Caroline made to pull
the curtains across the slaty, sullen sky glad to see the back of the
weather. She shivered momentarily as she turned to face the welcoming
room. Everything was there in its place and that was such a comfort.
Dad’s bookcase stretched from floor to ceiling stuffed with a lifetime
books. Mum’s display cabinet winked at her ladened with clinking china
and shimmering silver. The three - piece suite provided a haven of
rest in front of the fire. A “real “ fire was such a luxury she
thought as she bent down to load the coals on ready for a warm night ahead.
Before putting on the table lamp she pulled her chair in closer to enjoy the
growing fire. As she watched her mind wandered down paths she had
trodden long ago.
The yellow sparks burst dancing into
life, mingling momentarily before rushing off up the blackened chimney.
John and her had been like that - bright sparks - growing up together -
growing closer. They had lived for the joy of the moment. Now
the coals were beginning to glow sending out intense orange flames.
Caroline remembered the strong, surging, deepening of their love.
Pledges had been made and there were promises to keep. Yes, they were
invincible, standing together against the world. Suddenly the fire
collapsed in on itself and cold blue flames came from its heart. Hard
words were spoken, blame and recrimination fell between them and spite broke
up what they had had. John left and moved halfway across the world.
As far as Caroline knew he still lived in New Zealand. A tear of
remembrance slid down her old wrinkled face.
Ah well, that had all been so
long ago. No good living in the past. She had led a good and a
long comfortable life. With a rueful smile she switched on the light,
put on her specs and reached out for her knitting. My, Aran sweaters
always got so heavy. Never mind just eight more rows of cabling and
the back would be finished. Half an hour later she sat back well
content with the cast - off work lying on her knee. Her tired eyes
gently closed as she sank into a cosy doze. Then she leant back into the
chair letting the heavy knitting fall out on to the hearth. All would
be well and she smiled lost in remembrance.
Winter had come early to the house on
the hill. John was here at last. He stood beside the fire - blackened
door and wept for remembrance.
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Global Warning
by
Martha McKellar
I am an alien. I have landed on planet earth in human guise to
report on your way of life and to discover if people are making full use
of the resources available here. In fact they are not. Due to
our advanced technology I am able to transport myself to any of the five
continents in your world and no where have I found a satisfactory source
of power to produce the heat, light and energy required by an ever
increasing world population. Efforts have been made to use an eco
friendly supply using wind, wave and solar power with little effect so far
and many governments are in favour of nuclear power stations as the main
supplier of energy. They may regret this in years to come but world
leaders and scientists must unite to find an answer before all resources
run out.
Efforts are being made to encourage people to conserve and save energy in
the home and work place but in most cases the message has not got through
even with the cost of gas, electricity and oil escalating at an alarming
rate. On the subject of oil, I am amazed at the number of cars on
the roads here which can cause at certain times absolute chaos more so in
cities and towns with many drivers suffering from an ailment called road
rage. These can be easily picked out by the apoplectic look on very
red faces and apparently very rude words coming forth from their foaming
mouths. Governments are trying to encourage the use of public
transport but according to all reports in many cases this is not very
reliable.
So between the damage to the environment and the ever increasing cost to
the Health Service resulting from accidents and stress related illnesses
it seems that much is required to be done to improve the prospects for the
future in the field of transport. It will be many years before they
have discovered the power we have in this respect.
I have also been asked to report on the subject of global
food consumption and I am at a loss to understand the gross over-indulgence,
obesity and waste in one half of the world and the abject poverty,
starvation and depravation in the other. On the one hand we have those
who spend a great deal of money on so-called wonder diets and attend classes
where they are trained to eat less and on the other side of the world
thousands die every day because they have nothing to eat. I observe
that many organisations try to help the situation by supplying food and
medical aid but they are often thwarted by corrupt governments and evil
dictators who themselves would appear to live the lap of luxury. Sadly
once again unless a concerted effort is made by world leaders and
humanitarians this situation will continue for many years to come.
In conclusion I must say that even with all its problems this is still a
beautiful world and I look forward to my next visit in a hundred years or so
to see what changes and miracles even have been wrought.
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