Category Novel

Santa Gertrudis

This entry is part 20 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

Christina’s car was a reluctant old thing. I sat in it a while, breathed in the stale upholstery, looking for clues about her life. There was nothing in there except an empty bottle of diet lemonade and a half-eaten packet…

A New Theory of Infinity

This entry is part 19 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

I am telling you this for what will follow, so that you really know where I am coming from. I am not prone to far-fetched nonsense. I think the moon landings were real and that the Earth is, roughly speaking,…

Mathematics

This entry is part 18 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

I am not great at believing in the mystical. I think it is because I was raised a Catholic and have had a life full of unanswered prayers. I wouldn’t say I am totally unreligious. But even when I was…

A Third Full

This entry is part 17 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

I felt uncertain. And this uncertainty was to intensify until I had to hear my own breath just to know I was real. A part of me wondered if I was now taking part in some elaborate prank. After all,…

Satisfaction

This entry is part 15 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

It was a lovely letter. Any letter that gives you a car in the postscript has its bonuses. But I must admit it made me feel exhausted, troubled, and even more confused than I had been to begin with. I…

Dear Grace,

This entry is part 14 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

If you are reading this, you made the right decision. This house isn’t much, but it is everything I own. I wanted to thank you. Your kindness all those years ago saved my life. I know it sounds melodramatic, but…

The Olive Jar

This entry is part 13 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

I walked around the place. I was looking for answers, but I couldn’t find any. I saw a dried and probably dead potted plant in the bedroom on the chest of drawers, drooping and brown. A peace lily, I think.…

The Pictures on the Wall

This entry is part 12 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

And there I was, on the asphalt in the sunshine. My swollen feet desperate to be released from their shoes. I wished I had worn my easy-fit sandals, but they had seemed a bit too outré this morning, when I…

Desolation

This entry is part 11 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

We were pulling over now. We were here. A desolate place with nothing around but traffic. The only picture I had seen had been of the exterior, reprinted onto a letter, and, like my eyes, was not of very good…

Salt

This entry is part 10 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

The driver had seen me looking at the bicycle and thought I was interested in the shop. He seemed to be trying to make up for his earlier awkwardness at seeing the address. ‘Ibiza is an island of salt. They…

It Begins with A

This entry is part 9 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

I had a small tartan suitcase and an address and an envelope with a key inside. That was it. That was everything. A world condensed. ‘What hotel?’ the taxi driver asked me, smiling, as he placed my case in the…

The Tall Rock

This entry is part 8 of 34 in the series The Life Impossible

The Tall Rock On the plane to Ibiza, I sat in front of a row of young people talking excitedly about nightclubs. It sounded like a new but half-familiar language. A kind of code. ‘So … Ushuaïa tomorrow, Monday DC-10…