April 29th 2019 (Edinburgh)
A hotel in southeast Asia. The white walls, window shutters & red roof tiles are wreathed in creepers. The sun and shadows play on the walls of a courtyard. There is an aura of old colonialism, faded. A long, white car, with sweeping wheel arches and running boards, idles on the dusty gravel.
The reception and dining room are empty. The air is freckled with dust motes, shafted with sunlight. The rooms smell of stale tobacco and whisky-sweat. But although I have had a sneaky, careful, cigarette out the window, I have not drank whisky. I awake and I am convinced (beyond a doubt) that the room is haunted.
During breakfast a ballet group arrive. They perform a slow motion dance around the hotel – taking in the reception, the dining room, the hallways and weaving in and out of the bedrooms. Some of the guests complain, but actually I enjoy it very much and as we leave I make a point of writing complimentary things in the visitors’ book.
‘…more should be made of the ghost guest and the ballet dancers.’
April 30th 2019 (Alnwick).
Gavin K suggests that photographs should be taken at every opportunity ‘inside’ rainbows. This, he (correctly) suggests, would do away with any fake and unnecessary filters being added to snapshots. An excellent idea.
May 7th 2019 (Whitley Bay).
A rose-gold coloured dune buggy pulls up briefly on a busy street. The occupants (hidden somehow) open fire with semi automatic weapons into the shop fronts before speeding away. I notice that a sticker on the side of the car reads ‘only applicable in the Borough of Chelsea after 11pm.’ Despite everyone’s protestations no one seems to think it unusual for such an easily identifiable vehicle to be used in such a wanton act of violence.
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The richest man in the world lives in a penthouse (obviously).
nickreeves 