The Shortest Day

by Colm Tóibín

is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Text copyright © 2020 by Colm Tóibín All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Published by Amazon Original Stories, Seattle www.apub.com Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Amazon Original Stories are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. eISBN: 9781542026024 Cover design by Shasti O’Leary Soudant Professor O’Kelly moved a pile of books from his desk onto the floor so that he would have space for his large notebook. He found his fountain pen and slowly and meticulously filled it. Then he began to write. Even though these notes were, he knew, primarily for himself, he made his handwriting as clear as he could. The passage tomb he was about to visit came from the Neolithic period, around 3200 BC. He wrote down the date. It was locally called Newgrange, but could be known also as Brú na Bóinne. On a site above the River Boyne, it took the form of a circular mound, with a retaining wall at the front that had withstood all weathers, and it had a narrow passageway leading into a vaulted central chamber. There were sp...

Time represented in spirals

He looked at a drawing he had made of one of the spiral designs on a stone at Newgrange. It was so stark and pure. It could be a symbol of something, maybe time as circular and coiled, maybe the cycle of life, or the cycle of each day or the seasons. Who could tell what it meant? But it did reveal something that no archaeologist would be fully comfortable speculating about. It revealed an imagination that was both simple and sophisticated, that dealt in ambiguity and suggestion as well as clarity and directness.