Song to Wake to

As I passed it the gate opened. The three dogs tumbled out onto...

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:55:17 -0400

As I passed it the gate opened.

The three dogs tumbled out onto the road. I stood up, leaning on the bicycle’s pedals as hard as I could and watching them over my shoulder. They righted themselves from a tangled heap. After sniffing around for a couple of seconds, first one, then the others, set off after me. As fast as I went, they caught me up. They bayed and I shouted for help. Just as I reached the turn where I had my encounter with Tiago Toscano, the leading hound caught me. It snapped at my ankle. I screamed and jerked the handlebars, sending the bike skidding into the hedge and myself falling off the side.

Growling, the three dogs advanced. I scrabbled up the bank on my bottom, looking down at them and holding my bike between us as a flimsy defence. What was it about this bend? “Help!” What I wouldn’t give for Tiago Toscano to be testing the handling of his sports car now. “Get away.”

The dogs seemed surprised in the change in circumstances. Barking at me through a fence was one thing, cornering me on the road, three hundred yards from home, was something else. They growled, but also glanced back at the gate they had broken through.

The largest, a slavering black beast with the square head of a bulldog, lunged at me. I kicked out, he snarled.

London slipped away like water running down a window. I put my...

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:00:26 -0400

London slipped away like water running down a window. I put my feet up on the dashboard and watched it go. Heading west out of the city, gardens grew bigger, spaces between houses expanded, and glimpses of green appeared in the distance. When London disappeared completely I switched my eyes to my feet, clad in my favourite pale blue ballet slippers. I wiggled my toes inside them and admired my best cream linen trousers that today I had paired with a new, suitably countrified blue body-warmer. Today I was in transit. Tomorrow the body-warmer would be joined by sensible cords and wellington boots and Maddy the city girl would become Madeleine the country maid. I pictured myself going to the farm in the morning to get eggs and milk from the farmer. I would be brilliant at it. I needed to get a guidebook to flowers and birds and stuff.

“Bom dia, Mad-a-lena.” I gulped. He had an astonishing way of...

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:01:37 -0400

“Bom dia, Mad-a-lena.”

I gulped. He had an astonishing way of saying my name.

He ran a finger along the gleaming paintwork. “You remember my car.”

“Uh-huh.” He was still an idiot.

“You want come for a ride?”

“I’ve got an art lesson.”

He shrugged. “So?”

I bit my lip. Sitting in the passenger seat of the Aston Martin would be like being in a Bond film. I shook my head. In a Bond film, but besides the villain’s stupid henchman.

The light in the room dimmed slightly. Eddy Moon filled the...

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:04:01 -0400

The light in the room dimmed slightly. Eddy Moon filled the doorframe. From under his hair he glanced around the room and chose the opposite seat to my own. He sat down, pulled a textbook from his bag and read until Ms. Merrick arrived.

I glanced at him once a minute through the lesson. He never looked my way. Not once. From the moment he sat down I didn’t get a single glance at the beautiful, leonine face. Then the lesson finished and he was gone.

“What’s with him?” I hissed at Pippa. “Not very friendly is he?”

She stretched her mouth down at the corners. “I don’t know. He looks like a complete scarecrow, though, eh?”

I shrugged. I didn’t want to argue with her, but I wasn’t going to pick on anybody else’s school uniform. My own was dodgy enough. “Don’t know. Maybe he’s an inner beauty.” To me his outer beauty was perfectly obvious.

“Ah.” I couldn’t help smiling at a sudden flashback. When I was...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:05:27 -0400

“Ah.” I couldn’t help smiling at a sudden flashback. When I was ten years old Grandma had taken me to the Shire Horse Centre. The scale of everything transfixed me. The width of the doors and the height of the fences, but most particularly the gigantic size of the horses. Their heads as long as I was tall, towering over me, shifting massive, feathery feet and huffing like steam trains.

Mum looked at me. “Grandma took you there once. You would have met his son. What’s his name?” Her speech suddenly lost its rhythm.

“It’s Kieran.”

“There’s another one.”

“Really?” I took another mouthful of lasagne.

“A foster boy. I think his name’s…” Again Mum’s voice rose a tone. “His name’s Eddy or something.”

The road sliced through a space in the final range of hills and...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:06:00 -0400

The road sliced through a space in the final range of hills and the Somerset Levels spread themselves before us, flat as the surface of a pool in which no one swam. In the distance Glastonbury Tor rose like an arm pushed through the water, holding a small tower on its summit.

“Nearly there.” Mum blinked hard three times and rubbed at her eyes.

“So Mum…” I tried to think of a subject of conversation to keep her awake. “What was it like when you were my age in Glastonbury?”

“Oh, it’s much better now. I just used to swim, a lot, and pretend I didn’t like the rich kids or the locals.”

“You were a rebel?” I gaped at her in mock surprise.

“I suppose so. It annoyed me that everybody knew each other. Everybody knew us, especially. The Bride women. The fact that your grandfather was never anywhere to be seen always seemed to fascinate people and that drove me crazy.” She indicated as she pulled around a motorcyclist stopped by the side of the road. “Everybody at Levels College was so rich and fancy, and we weren’t. But it’s not like that now.” She added the last sentence very quickly. Levels College was the private school I would be starting at the next day, fourth of September.

“So that’s why you went to London?”

“I think so. It seems so long ago now.”

The road dropped onto the levels, long, flat and straight as a ruler, with a drainage canal gleaming beside it in the low September sun.

“Whilst I’m doing this, um, I’d like to introduce yourself to...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:28:17 -0400

“Whilst I’m doing this, um, I’d like to introduce yourself to the student beside you and find out why they’ve chosen to study history.”

I sighed. Not only was I sitting next to somebody who tagged along with boys thinking themselves kings of the school. I was going to have to ask him about it. “What’s your name?”

“Sorry?” He turned to face me.

“I said…” The sharp retort dried in my throat. Looking at me was one of the most extraordinary faces I had ever seen. Deeply tanned, its symmetry was perfect, with a square jaw, wide mouth, thick brows and startling catlike eyes. Gazing down a straight, strong nose, he reminded me of a lion in a wildlife documentary, staring impassively across the savannah.

Ms. Merrick passed our desk and took our printouts. I glanced at her, trying to clear my head, before returning to my beautiful neighbour. I started again. “Um, I’m Madeleine Bride, I’m new. What’s your name?”

“I’m called Eddy Moon. I’m new too.”

"Blue is the color of longing for the distances you never arrive in… in this world we actually live..."

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:27:55 -0400

“Blue is the color of longing for the distances you never arrive in… in this world we actually...

warbyparker: (via girlfriendmagazine)

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:17:54 -0400

warbyparker:

(via girlfriendmagazine)

I followed her eyes. Five boys had strolled through the dining...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 06:23:01 -0400

I followed her eyes. Five boys had strolled through the dining hall entrance. A hush slowly spread through the room and heads turned toward them, or kids watched their progress from the corners of their eyes. The students all wore school uniform, four of them walked abreast in beautifully tailored suits, definitely not from the school shop where I got mine. All of them stood over six feet tall and moved with long, graceful strides. The fifth, slightly behind the end of the line, was even taller with shaggy blond hair and a jacket that looked too small for him.

“Who are they?”

The leading foursome scanned the room as they walked, raising their chins to acknowledge people. The fifth kept his eyes down.

“They’re the polo team.”

“The polo team? Levels has a polo team?”

“Ssh. They call themselves the Four Horsemen.”

I snorted with laughter as they reached the snack machines. I bit my lip, sometimes I felt like being irreverent, sarcastic Madeleine, but today wasn’t one of those times. The boy nearest me snapped his head around and stared into my face.

housingworksbookstore: It belongs to Professor Robert A....

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:48:57 -0400

housingworksbookstore:

It belongs to Professor Robert A. Macksey. Macksey is an author in his own right along with being a well-known, beloved professor at Johns Hopkins University, and co-founder of the university’s Humanities Center. He is the owner of one of the largest personal libraries in the state of Maryland, with over 70,000 ($4 million worth) books and manuscripts along with art work. Macksey’s course on Proust is famous among underground students at Johns Hopkins, and he is known to hold graduate level courses in his famous library. (via Libraries of the Rich and Famous: Part Two | BOOK RIOT)

WHOA.

I began to cry. Two of the dogs pounced at once and I slipped a...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:00:05 -0400

I began to cry. Two of the dogs pounced at once and I slipped a little, down the bank towards them. “Help!” I sobbed and vomit pushed at my throat.

A deep shout rang from the field behind me. “Get off her!” The world went dark. A shadow arched across the sun. As I gasped I had a sudden, pungent lungful of stables and a massive shape soared over me, like a jumbo jet landing. A gigantic chestnut horse clattered onto the road beyond the dogs. They crouched, growling, turning away from me to face the horse.

I recognised the enormous creature as a Shire horse, with feathery fringes of white hair around its hooves. From high up on its broad back, Eddy Moon shouted at the dogs again. “Get away!” His blond hair blew back from his face as he urged his steed forward.

The chestnut horse’s eyes rolled and its enormous hooves rang on the country road. It passed between the dogs and turned next to me as I sprawled against the hedge.

Eddy bent from the saddle. “Come closer!” he commanded.

I did as he said. He leaned nearer, grabbed me under my arms and with incredible strength lifted me into the saddle in front of him.

I slumped backwards against his chest, wide and solid. “Oh thank you. Eddy.” He smelled of cut grass. My head spun as if I was about to faint.

totalfilm: Josh Hutcherson talks The Hunger Games: Video...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:32:31 -0400

totalfilm:

Josh Hutcherson talks The Hunger Games: Video Interview

The Hunger Games’ baying fans now only have a single day to wait until it is released in cinemas, but to keep you going, we’ve got exclusive interviews with Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence…

"I remember riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy sky; I..."

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:08:50 -0400

“I remember riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy...

Maybe music would help me sleep. I considered that month’s...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:00:06 -0400

Maybe music would help me sleep. I considered that month’s favourites. Motorhead, Abba; Abba, Motorhead, before realising I didn’t know where I had unpacked my earphones. Instead I opened my laptop and watched a series of cheesy old music videos. The last was the final scene of a movie from the seventies. I strained to recognise the handsome, strong-faced actor, wearing a white uniform and striding through a factory. I felt like had seen him before, but didn’t know where. A lump swelled in my throat when he appeared behind the beautiful factory girl, tapped her on the shoulder, and swept her up into his arms. A power ballad soared and I considered how wonderful it must be to have a beautiful man just carry you out of nasty situations. I shook my head. I didn’t need anybody to carry me anywhere, but still I resolved to watch the entire movie, and made a note of the title: ‘An Officer and a Gentleman.’

At two o’clock in the morning it started raining, finally a noise I recognised. Raindrops on my window had always soothed me, and this was no exception. I fell asleep and dreamed of rain, falling and falling, until it filled a small, steely-looking lake.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 06:49:31 -0400

laptop