The town of course was not as I knew it. In fact, although I had only lived there for a few weeks, I feltthat I had known both it as it was now, and as it had been in the past quite well. The old cinema was aWaterstones. An old bank was a pub. The old post office was a furniture store. One of the old pubswas now a clothes shop. All of this had been quite evident in the brickwork, the floorwork, thearchitecture. But none of this matched what I now found as I wandered the streets in growingconsternationWhere a thriving, or at least surviving, cinema ought to be was a liquor store. I would have said "offlicense" but the words on the black wooden board above the door quite clearly called it a "liquorstore". Where the Post Office really ought to have been in all its grandeur was an automobileshowroom, all brick and glass, displaying the newest in Phoenix Motors and Endymion Automobiles,for all that my memory had no inkling of either my father or grandfather mentioning such makes.Where the bank was supposed to be was the Post Office, but not the same building by any standard.This one was huge, F III R carved into every cornerstone, a queue of people even on a Saturdaywaiting outside to get in.Only the old pub was where it was supposed to be, The Nag's Head in the centre of town, lookingancient and downtrodden, a few disreputable characters standing around outside. I had often, in theweeks I had been at university, fantasised about what the disappeared pub must have been like, butnow passing in front of it I had no wish to enter, even if I had had money older than the 1980sBut the layout of the town was more or less as I knew it. Apart from the one-way loop that had beenintroduced in the 1970s and was absent here, this was the same town that I knew, but it was all sodifferent. I began to hunt for similarities, looking not for the disappeared buildings, but thoseestablishments which I knew had always been there. I found The Lion Hotel, old grandeur fading evenat this period, in mine it had been a dive, a rough pub underneath what was at best second staraccommodation. It didn't look much better here.But of the other pubs I found little sign, the war memorial that stated it had been built in 1919 wasmissing completely, and even the medieval church was gone, replaced by some Gothic constructionsomewhat in the style of the university..."Oh shit..." I said, and sat down on the benchReality warped itself around me one more time, and I realised where I was, or rather how I was. Suchdescriptive terms did not give easily to translation, but the best one could muster was a how, ratherthan a where, or a when."This is a fucking alternate reality!" I yelledThankfully nobody noticed, or if they did nobody did anything.I rose quickly and crossed to a newsagent I had seen earlier, but barely noticed. Inside, by the door wasa pile of newspapers. I picked one up "The Britannic" it was called, the front page full of news of thefighting in Algiers, the date at the top... May 20th 2000....."I'm in the fucking present..." I said"Mind your language son", the man was hard but smartly dressed, holding a little girl who seemed tobe all curls, by the hand"Sorry" I muttered"Make sure you remember in future" he said, still staring at me, or perhaps at my clothes"Sorry", I said again, "I will""Very well" he nodded and was off, the little girl turning round to stare at me as they went until heyanked her round."2000 AD" I muttered dropping the newspaper and walking back onto the streetIt made sense of so much, except for the fundamental reality of how I came to be where I was, and
how it came to exist at all... but perhaps those were questions for someone far more intelligent than I..."So be it" I said, and thought fleetingly of the man in the fedoraWhat did he know? Could I ask him?"Going to the show, pal?"A faun coloured car had pulled in front of me, the driver dressed in an outrageous pink shirt andfeathered hat, two young women giggling in the back, dressed in short-sleeved dresses and enormoushats."Yes" I said, since the man in the fedora had told me to not stop moving"Excellent, get in" he opened the far door, "The more the merrier""The less the toll" giggled one of the girls behindI climbed in and nodded my thanks"Got to get you a hat" the man saidI pulled the hood of my fleece up over my head and looked at him. He stared for a moment thenlaughed"Damn me, but that's a clever one!"With that he stepped on the accelerator and the little automobile shot away from the kerb.Where-ever we were going, I thought, it had to be better than standing still...
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In MemoriamMAUREENMumLlyn Clywedog
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Special Cellar PacksBe ready for th
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Question 4Which other authors do yo
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Photograph by Sanuj Goswami
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that the king says would serve well
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1st January 1844New Year and still
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5th May 1845The 5th of May has no p
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against Japan. Quite how far they a
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23rd August 1849One is not certain
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7th November 1852If it is true it i
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There was no expectation on my part
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25th January 1856It is a sad irony
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Photograph by Sanuj Goswami
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I'm playing with colour, recreating
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One last colour sketch of this view
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Carnivore series by Swaroop Acharje
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I thought I won't be writing at all
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signed in a band and we had success
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time we don’t remember the person
- Page 47 and 48: That night, at Hard Rock Café`, I
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- Page 51 and 52: We got out first night of solitude.
- Page 53 and 54: “It is beautiful. It is just beau
- Page 55 and 56: You know, how much I regret those d
- Page 57 and 58: It was then, I had an idea. I am no
- Page 59 and 60: She fell on the cold pavement with
- Page 61 and 62: “Piya na tole mohe, maan ka prem;
- Page 63 and 64: Poets’ CornerInnovate Update #5 f
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- Page 89 and 90: The Library - Chapter TwoI carried
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- Page 94 and 95: "That has to be a PIC" I said, as i
- Page 96 and 97: It was good as a mental exercise, b
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- Page 104 and 105: "How?" I pressed, knowing more than
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