Publisher's Synopsis
Everyone has a 'safe place', somewhere to retreat for a few moments to catch your breath and re-align yourself ready for life's next challenge. Its just a snatched daydream away, somewhere you can relax, take a few deep breaths and reset, like rebooting your computer after a 'blue screen'. You can return victoriously with a 'ta-daa!' and a smile!
My 'safe place' isn't like that, and I seldom return with a smile, more of a groan mostly. Returning with a 'ta-daa' would be unthinkable! (despite having just thought it.) It is, however, an island ... it has a name too - its name is 'Indrieg' - but you'll not find it on any map. You can't just hop on a flight from Heathrow and arrive in three-and-a-half hours. Its uncharted and, questionably, not as 'safe' as a 'safe place' is ideally supposed to be. It's never been 'what it says on the tin', more everything undocumented in the small print, at the bottom of the tin, under the poorly-adhered price label. It can only be found somewhere tucked away, behind a large grey filing cabinet and in front of very solid looking wall, in the depths of my mind. It's a place where dreams and imagination collide, like splitting the atom without there being need of an atom to split. It's a fantastical place, a place with endless possibilities, seamless impossibilities, unlimited probabilities, and unbounded intrigue. As an island its rich in flora, fauna, vegetation, and geological features. In fact, its rich in practically anything and usually, at the precise moment, that it needs to be rich in it. It's a bit like a paradise, but with a twist, and when I can work out what that twist is I'm reasonably determined to have a go at untwisting it! In the meanwhile, I'll just accept the twist as one of the many quirky features that makes my island so unique and intriguing. Haphazardly plonked, right in the middle of the island, but slightly off to one side, is a shed. It's in the shed where you'll find me, working away tirelessly. Hopes and dreams don't just make themselves, no I'm working hard ... long and hard. For a short, or indeed a long time, I've decided to open my island to visitors in the form of this short story. Should you decide to pay a visit you'll be very welcome. I would like to ask, however, that you take home anything you care to bring and that you don't make a lot of noise ... especially outside my shed. Also, please don't feed the animals as they can be very messy to clean up after. Have a lovely trip! Disclaimer: 'Indrieg' is an entirely fictitious place existing only in the author's mind. Any resemblance this story has to 'real life' is purely coincidental and unintended. Whilst visiting wear a hard hat and high-vis vest at all times. Anything that happens during your visit is also fictitious and should not be removed from the island. Neither should you remove any of the pretty little opal-like stones from the coral beach, or any of the lush fauna, even though it looks amazing in flower arrangements and is ideal for brightening up a dark corner.
