#awritingcorner

'If I could, we fear something may be draining the magic from this world' 'Yes' the squid called, 'I've felt it too'.

Puzzles, I've always been fascinated by them, maybe it was just the hormones release from completing them that evolution had kindly laid on my lap that set me on that path or maybe that's just a cynical over simplification. Either way I ended up chasing after the idea of puzzles, at first I thought that maths was the answer. Maths is in essence the most effective, streamlined approach to solving puzzles and problems. This I do not doubt, maths is pure and beautiful. But the best way isn't always the right way, Maths is an ideal, like any utopia it's thwarted by the perfection it is defined on, even standing on the shoulders of giants we can't reach up indefinitely. The idea of a puzzle is to find the answer, there's always this end goal of completion. But that's not how life works, every person you meet is a puzzle, a mosaic of parts that fell together, that doesn't mean they're there for you to solve, nor that they can solve themselves. Sometimes a puzzle that should not be completed is far more important. 

From across the room I watched them look from each other to me and then back at one another. The music seemed to trickle away as I studied the pair, the chatter became nothing but background noise. Finally the pair made their walk towards me, black dresses, mechanical smiles, eyes locked on me. My heart filled my ears, the baseline to my senses. I took one more deep breath, could be my last. 'Fuck you' screamed a familiar voice, Kate lept out sending bullets pouring into the pair, startled they snapped their necks to see their attacker, shots continued to ping off the two. The room collapsed into a mad rush to escape. A bullet made contact with the left one's eye with a satisfying clunk, it shuddered but the two continued marching in my direction. I backed away but couldn't break eye contact. An ice cream van smashed through the wall, a jingle faintly playing. 'Did somebody order desert' screamed Jack a shot gun in one hand, a cornetto in the other.

'OK' she conceded a little panic on her face, she gave my cheek a peck and I returned one. 'Don't forgot Bunny's kiss' she squeaked, I gave the toy a quick smooch and Emma animated Bunny's to me. Emma ran up the stairs on all 4s with a beaming smile, I gave Polly's phone another ring, straight to voice mail. Shit. I looked down at Emma's picture of the happy family under a rainbow, Me, Polly, Emma and Bunny. I felt a trickle softly dance down my cheek.

Lucy drifted through the display of leaves gently floating down, earthbound. Splashed of red, orange, yellow and Brown dazed in and out of focus. Lucy could have been 4 or 9 or 16 as she walked the orchard paths she'd walked a thousand times before; she was ageless here. The ground was different, these leaves were not those she'd seen in her childhood but the trees stood tall, unmoved beacons. A warmth swept through her, a slight redness crept through her pale cheeks which began to blend around her long ebony locks. She exhaled a long deep breathe as long buried memories poked their head into the light and blossomed. A small smile scaled into place around her well crafted dainty lips.