Reality Bites - Time and Space

 

I did my first 6by6 reading challenge in Spring 2019 and really enjoyed the Big Book2Film challenge of 2020 and the Fantastic Reads of 2021.The above books represent the Reality Bites selection for 2022. Below are the history, scifi and journey titles for my Time and Space challenge of 2023. For the time challenge I also hope to read 2 books representing the 2 world wars, Goodbye to all that and Inside Hitler's Bunker.

The Midnight Cat

'The Midnight Cat' is a piece of flash fiction inspired by our cat Maddie. It is part of my flash fiction collection 'Bubble Universe'. This story did not make it onto WattPad, so here it is, in full, on my blog.

The midnight cat by LJ Finnigan

Jasmine couldn’t sleep. She was restless in her bed; the atmosphere oppressing her, the air stifling and the rain beating hard against the window.

‘What a day and what a night. If I don’t get to sleep soon I’ll be late up in the morning,’ she thought, ‘I wonder what the time is.’

She reached over to her bedside table and pressed the night light on her clock.

‘Midnight.’

Somewhere outside, beyond the rain and the wind, a cat’s meow pierced the dark night.

Jasmine rolled over and stared through her rain splattered bedroom windows at the deep grey night, the shadows and the swaying trees. She closed her eyes and the sound of the midnight cat’s plaintive cry broke into her waking dreams.

Suddenly she was outside, following the serene, soothing creature through the stormy night. Her nightie was thin, she should have been freezing, but the cat had an extraordinary presence; an aura of coolness, warmth and calm emanated from it; an aura whose sphere of influence surrounded Jasmine.

She walked on behind the cat; through the sparkling city streets, along the haunted canal, through the lush park and the sparse forest on the edge of town. All the while the cat walked through the weather and was hardly affected by it, its velvet paws hardly touched the ground, yet is senses were acute; seeming to register every light footstep, feint car hum and gentle leaf rustle that stirred in the darkly hostile night.

The motorway loomed and the cat turned to face its follower. Its eyes gleamed a glowing green and transported Jasmine back to her bed. She rolled over to check her clock once more.

‘One o’clock.’

Jasmine sighed, before becoming aware of the soft purring, emanating from the furry mound that now inhabited the space beside her.

(302 words)

Summary: A sleepless girl’s troubled night-time is soothed by the mysterious influence of the Midnight Cat.

Tea Therapy

  

I started drinking tea when I was about ten and have now been enjoying it for over forty years, other rivals have come along like Guinness and Lattes, but they have failed to overtake my love of a good cuppa. I ran the SubVerse Poetry Tea Room from 2000 to 2005 which was inspired by my love of surrender, tea and poetry. Above and below are some of the tea related art I have created over the years.

Walking with nature

 

I first discovered the joy of nature walking in August 2019 when I visited our local House Gardens in Hillingdon. By March 2020 we had found six special nature spaces we could visit on the bus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Covid 19 and the national lockdown meant we had to find nature places within walking distance. Thanks to Google maps we found a different local nature walk for every day of the week.

In Summer 2020 we were able to return to our original six places and we found even more green spaces to explore in the Autumn. The Winter brought fresh restrictions, but our nature walking continued, nearly every day, which really helped us through this very difficult time.

When Spring 2021 arrived, I was determined to visit the House Gardens at this special time of year. We managed to visit them once in March, once in April and twice in May.

It has been good to visit all our special places in Summer 2021, they have been very important for our mental health and wellbeing over the trying times of the pandemic and beyond. I hope we will continue with our local nature walking well into the future.