U. Cronin's Blog, page 5

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 16 of 16: The Longest Day

I’m nearly too tired to kill myself, I think, and erupt into a wave of giggles and sniggers. I can see each convulsion of breath adding to the fuzz of condensation on the car’s windscreen. The whiskey fumes (with strong … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 15 of 16: The Last Supper

To write notes or not to write notes, that is the question. I am very tempted to pen an explanation/exculpation/vindication of my actions to my nearest and dearest and pop them in the post when I land in Glasgow. But … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 14 of 16: Clam Ruth

It’s the last language group meeting, my last night with Ruth. No one else shows up, of course. As has become the norm, we hang around the school until a quarter past the hour, bid our slán leats to Principal … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 13 of 16: Coffee and Sympathy

I am desperate to see Ruth. The combination of stunted voyeurism and alcohol has made me randy and needy in equal measures, and her company would douse the flames of both emotions. Language group isn’t until tomorrow night and I … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 12 of 16: She Who Casts the First Stone

It was pure luck that Shell didn’t catch me that morning. But I certainly caught her! And boy was I surprised! It had been a comfortingly unremarkable morning up until that point. No black out. Very little pain. Affect: middling … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 11 of 16: Walter Mitty’s got Nothing on Me

I’m leading even more of a double life now. On top of all the lies I already have told Shell concerning my visit to Doctor Trendy — they’re “looking into” my fainting spells is the line I have thrown her … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 10 of 16: A Doctor Gets the Truth for a Change

I am sitting at the bar of Sergeant Psych’s local. This time it is me who is early, and am sipping slowly away at my stout. I am thinking how much I love the bar, which I see as a … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 9 of 16: Shell Rushes to the Rescue

My body has let me down. I collapsed today at work. Another blackout. I was found, out for the count, minor gash on my forehead, on the corridor which leads from the wing in which my executive cubbyhole is located … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 8 of 16: A Domestic Scene

“You look awful,” Shell tells me. She is at the kitchen table beavering away on her laptop, while I tidy up after dinner. I absolved her from pitching in when she announced that she was snowed under, something which she … Continue reading →

Come Hell or High Water, Chapter 7 of 16: I Meet my Dealer

Sergeant Psych is all spruced up. He strikes me as a man who has a special set of clothes for each circumstance; gardening; being at home; grocery shopping; going to the library; pottering about the graveyard; walking; washing the car; … Continue reading →