Stealing Moments...

Some ideas come from nowhere you can properly our your finger on. They seem to leap into your mind as if they were hiding behind that door wanting to make you jump. Or they feel like they've always been there, sneaking into your thoughts to the point where you can't actually remember not having the idea in your head at all.

Then there's the idea which comes from a word or a phrase or a picture or TV show. One that pops like a lightbulb and gets it's claws into your brain and refusing to shake its grip. 

Last year, I went to the Manchester Ethiad stadium to see Bon Jovi.  It was a concert is wanted to go to for years and I have to admit I wish I'd done it years before as it didn't live up to expectations. But that's as may be. 

One if the support acts was excellent. James Walsh, ex of Starsailor, was grey and a pleasure to watch and listen to. One of his songs was Precious Stolen Moments, and an idea formed. 

Or the hint of an idea, at least. 

In fact, I don't think it was even that. I think it was more like the title dug in for the winter, hibernating until the spring came and it could germinate into something much more. 

Well, spring is here. 

And the idea is germination and blossoming. 

Only the other day something was said about 'stolen moments' in a conversation with my wife, and that became the fertiliser I needed. 

Last week, I finished my story Secrets, the latest entry for my Darker Places collection - the follow up to Dark Places. My intention was to finish off Puddlebrain and continue to work on Mortal Sin, the sequel to Sin. 

Things don't always happen as I intend, and I felt the need to finally begin the story about these 'stolen moments'. 

And so it begins. I keep writing little bits as time allows, thankful for finally discovering OneNote on my iphone to let me keep track of such scribblings. 

Here it is so far. It's not much but, and this is something which happens very rarely, I know where it's going. I've even, after a fashion, written the ending. 

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Stolen Moments

 

I help people. I help them. 

 

I don't kill them. I... I help them. I...

When they have nowhere to go except into the hearafter, I bring the hand of Death and theirs together, to be led peacefully wherever they would be taken.  

When the edge of night threatens to darken their day, I bring a torch with which to guide them on.

I don't kill them. 

I don't...

It started…  Oh God, when did it start?  It seems so long ago. Another lifetime. Another me. Another town. Another…

Well. Just 'another' everything.

Then things changed. Things changed so much. It was as if space and time were spinning about their singularity and one dipped its toe into the chaotic waters and I was one of the ripples. 

The crow, I think. 

It started with the crow.

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I hope it shows promise. I think it does. It has its claws in me anywho, so I'm stuck with finishing it. I'll let you know when we're done!