Cas
“The Corner Cafe normally smelt of coffee beans and burnt butter but today it had the scent of collective damp clothing and mouldy umbrellas. Yet through the condensation covered windows with their chipped white painted frames Harvey continued to stare, ignoring his fellow patrons. Then, at last, his patience paid off. Through the gloom appeared a petite woman in her early twenties. She stood out from the crowd with her large, purple headphones, yellow umbrella, battered dark green parka jacket and bright red converse which had seen better days. Her hair was light brown in tight shoulder length curls. Harvey watched her as she walked by the cafe window, bouncing around the puddles which had formed on the uneven path. He would have known Cas anywhere.
Time to go.”
I wrote Cas as a submission to Monkey Kettle as they were doing a short story collection with the theme of crime and it was accepted. The book now takes pride of place in my bookshelf!
Cas was written in 2013 and there is a lot of me in her situation. I often get lost and then will wander streets aimlessly and the idea spun from the question ‘what if this wandering isn’t random? What if some knowledge is driving the direction?’ I wonder as I wander.
I also had epilepsy when I was younger - a type that appears and disappears in puberty because let’s add to that fun time - which is where that plot point came from.
The character of Harvey Williams was named after the cat I had when I was younger (who in turn was named after Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s boyfriend). He’s quite vaguely sketched in the story due to the length and his motives were left intentionally dubious. I have an idea of where this story goes next which I might write one day.
