Surface Tension

By Neil J

This is my first attempt at a longer story - trying to put a chapter a week up, all comments and feedback gratefully received.
  • 618 reads

Surface Tension - Chapter 1

By Neil J on Wed, 04 Sep 2013

Chapter 1 It’s cold. Not so much that ice is beginning to form but cold enough to know that it’s heading that way. It's reached the point where your...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Chapter 2

By Neil J on Tue, 10 Sep 2013

Chapter 2 Thursday is dull, flat, much as I feel after last night. Driving into work the blocks of flats merge into the dreary, grey skin of a sky...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 3

By Neil J on Tue, 17 Sep 2013

Chapter 3 “Bill, are you all right?” asks Liz. Bill scowls and turns. I watch her disappear round the corner towards the staff room. She's dressed in...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension Chapter 4

By Neil J on Wed, 25 Sep 2013

Chapter 4 The door bell wakes me. It has all the warmth of a Glasgow kiss. It rings again, harsh, abrasive, demanding. I don't want to fight...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 5

By Neil J on Wed, 02 Oct 2013

Chapter 5 It’s late. It seems to have been dark since midday. I’m alone in the library grateful to escape the collective tinnitus of the outside...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 6

By Neil J on Wed, 09 Oct 2013

Chapter 6 I'm balanced precariously between two worlds. As a kid on camping holidays I’d be captivated by the pond skaters. At the end of each day,...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 7

By Neil J on Wed, 16 Oct 2013

The day flows, twists and turns. We meander through the past, things of consequence and things that are not. We talk work, we reminisce, college days...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 8

By Neil J on Tue, 22 Oct 2013

Are there moments when you can feel your life changing, when you know whatever the outcome from this moment onwards it’s going to be different? I’m...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 9

By Neil J on Wed, 30 Oct 2013

Chapter 9 The light bleeds through from the street outside. Sealed here in the room it’s hushed. I smile at Bill's outstretched body, her skin seems...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 10

By Neil J on Wed, 06 Nov 2013

Chapter 10 We’re all criminals aren’t we? I’m not saying everyone’s got the potential to be a murderer, major felon. No, it’s not that but we’re all...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 11

By Neil J on Tue, 19 Nov 2013

Chapter 11 I’m awake. Through heavy eyes I try and take in the new day. I can’t remember going to sleep. I was awake, watching the digital numbers...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 12

By Neil J on Fri, 22 Nov 2013

Chapter 12 “You’re in early,” says James incredulously, slurping from the ubiquitous coffee mug. I glance up from the desk where gradually I've been...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 13

By Neil J on Fri, 29 Nov 2013

Chapter 13 The more I think about it the more it makes sense to me. Trust’s a membrane that covers all relationships. It lubricates, lets differences...
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 14

By Neil J on Mon, 09 Dec 2013

Chapter 14 “What time do you call this? Where on earth have you been? Have you know idea what it’s been like. We've had the press on the phone. Admin...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 15

By Neil J on Sun, 15 Dec 2013

Chapter 15 I push through the heavy glass library doors. For a moment the residual warmth of the building hangs round me but by the time I’m half way...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 16 Part 1

By Neil J on Wed, 12 Feb 2014

Bill slowed the car and swung it round a tight bend leading into a cul-de-sac. The subdued, sophisticated lighting immediately suggested this wasn't...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 16 Part 2

By Neil J on Wed, 12 Feb 2014

She's standing in front of me, smiling, blonde hair framing her face, soft green eyes, a nose that has a kink in it, suggesting some accident, a...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 17

By Neil J on Tue, 18 Feb 2014

Chapter 17 For the first time in weeks the sun might break the unrelenting grey sky and provide warmth. There's a faint golden hue to the morning sky...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 18 Part 2

By Neil J on Tue, 25 Feb 2014

This morning it all seems so distant but the memory of the cold that slapped into us as we walked out makes me shiver again. I press myself up...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 18 Part 1

By Neil J on Tue, 25 Feb 2014

“So you going to be my guide?” “If you want Tony,” Ellen smiles and firmly takes hold of my hand. I expect her to lead me into the depths of the...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 19

By Neil J on Wed, 05 Mar 2014

I take the phone from my pocket. I’ve trouble pressing the right button. My hands are shaking and I nearly cut the caller off. It's not the cold, it’...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 20

By Neil J on Wed, 12 Mar 2014

Chapter 20 We're driving as fast as the soporific traffic will allow. I'm pushing things, turning into junctions when, perhaps, I should've waited. I...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 21

By Neil J on Tue, 25 Mar 2014

Chapter 21 The voice is harsh, caustic accompanied by a thin, cold smile. The casual dress has gone. Beneath his flapping grey-green trench coat is a...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 22

By Neil J on Thu, 03 Apr 2014

Chapter 22 The clouds are thickening, incrementally adding layers like blankets being pulled over a bed, the sickly pallor we've lived with, the half...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 23

By Neil J on Tue, 08 Apr 2014

Chapter 23 I'm grateful for the bed. It's soft. It engulfs me in a way mine in the flat didn't. It feels safe, a place to hunker down in. I'm lying...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 24

By Neil J on Wed, 23 Apr 2014

Chapter 24 Winter strips bare. As a kid I longed for the transforming snow. I’d watch weather before going to bed, then wake with baited breath. I’d...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 25

By Neil J on Fri, 02 May 2014

Chapter 25 The sleep is deep and refreshing, reaching into my bones, replenishing, revitalising. It's in the half, grey light as I leave the darkness...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 26

By Neil J on Wed, 07 May 2014

Chapter 26 Ellen left, the kiss lingering. I collapsed on the bed and woke what seemed moments later but must have been an hour plus as it was inky...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12
Cherry

Surface Tension - Chapter 27

By Neil J on Wed, 14 May 2014

Chapter 27 The ground's hard. The snow's melting, seeping into my trousers. Two hands reach under my armpits and swing me up. For a moment I'm...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Surface Tension - Chapter 28

By Neil J on Sun, 25 May 2014

Chapter 28 The touch makes me yelp. “Sorry,” Ellen exclaims, backing away. “I didn’t mean…” “That’s OK,” I lie. In the half light I see a faint smile...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Final Chapter 29 Part 1

By Neil J on Wed, 04 Jun 2014

Chapter 29 The day's crisp and clear. Fresh snow has fallen, a clean carpet that’s swept away the marks of the scuffle by my car. You'd have no idea...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12

Final Chapter 29 Part 2

By Neil J on Wed, 04 Jun 2014

I pull the bedroom door closed. The house is wreathed in silence. To my ears the door’s click sounds likes a gun shot. I pause, waiting for a torrent...
Drama
Story
Certificate 12