A dedication on the bench

Collaborative story writing

The bald man leapt up from his chair as if he’d been scalded and looked around the café for the “woman”, eyes crazy. She had simply evaporated.

Stuffing everything into his backpack, he stumbled onto the pavement outside, bulldozing through the swathes of people on their way to their office jobs. Unaware of both time or destination, he blindly pushed on. He was only aware of the looping thought “the drought is existential”.

Sometime later, completely shattered, he flopped onto a wooden bench. Still unaware of what the time was or where he was, he rubbed his face roughly with the palms of his hands. He took a shuddering breath.

For the first time since the incident in the café, he felt like he was back in his body and he took in his surroundings. A small lake reflecting the blue sky above, edged with a profusion of delicate, leafy, silver birch trees. The bench itself was situated in a sunny spot surrounded by an open area of heathland, sprinkled with early blackberry brambles and deeply purpled heather.

With a jolt, he realised he was in some country area outside the city. He remembered how the Mother Nature Woman had admonished him for not getting outside enough, and now, somehow, here he was sitting by a body of water in nature.

He drew in the deepest breath he’d taken for years and let the calmness wash over him like a balm.

He sat on that bench for a long time, until his need for hot food and a warm bed became urgent. He reached for his pack and stood. As he turned to walk away, the dedication plaque on the bench caught his eye:

“Save the world with your genius”

“Well I never”, the bald man said to himself as he strode away to find his way home.

This is an ending for Pipp’s (

Pipp Warner

) story “And the world will applaud you”.

I know that am one of at least three who took up Pipp’s challenge to write an ending to her story: @Rosie Mawhinney, @Susie Mawhinney - A hill and I and @Mark Fitzpatrick.

I’ve not yet read any of these other endings as I did not want to have any other ideas in my head!

We’d love to know what you think of this approach to story telling!

What next?

• If you fancy collaborating with me on a fictional story, contact me here

• Read more of my micro-fiction

• Visit Take a Moodle with Me

• Say hi, just for fun! 🖐🏻