stealing history

Should you be interested, my jiggy mainstreamy short story "Stealing History" is included in the latest issue of Paul Sutherland's excellent Dream Catcher literary arts journal.

Dream Catcher's been hit in recent years by the closure of Borders and by the collapse of the Arts Council budget, but it's made it through the rough period and hopefully will continue to grow stronger under the Stairwell Books imprint. As an outlet for poetry and prose in the UK, it's a real gem. Try a copy if you don't believe me.

My story's in Issue 27. You can get a copy by clicking here.

This is how my tale begins:

 

In the middle of summer, with the temperature in the low thirties C and the sky so bright it seemed to be an extension of the sun's corona, my girlfriend Misheru told me I didn't share enough of my past with her.

‘You know all about me. But whenever I try to learn more about you, you always change the subject.’

‘That can’t be true.’

She eased her head slowly from side to side. ‘I used to think you were a really great listener, that you wanted to know about what it was like growing up in Kobe. I had this stupid idea you enjoyed hearing about what happened to my family during the quake, and what I found when I went back there. But now I just wonder if all the time you've been keeping quiet and nodding through my stories just so you can have an easy life. So that you don’t have to tell me about yourself, rather than caring about anything I have to say.’

‘No, Mish. That’s not how it is. I like learning about you.’

'Then why so evasive when it comes to sharing? We've been together over nine months. How come you don't tell me things?'

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. ‘What do you want to know?’ 

‘The little things, things you don't share with anyone. Give me some soul archaeology. I already worked out the basics. Your star sign and whose books you like to read, your favourite films. Tell me something you wouldn’t think of mentioning at a job interview.’

She removed her sunglasses and I saw that she was serious. I was surprised.

‘You've really been thinking about this, haven't you?’

‘It's what I want to know.’

'Okay.'