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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 2h

We'd drive to the Sunday market rather than walk to the church. Coffee and a bacon roll was our communion. The preachers had handwritten signs telling us the saucepans were #deluxe and "only" 39.99. We recited the same prayer: "is that your best price?"

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 9h

Thanks. Loved the musical theme and always nice to find someone with similar tastes.

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 1d

There wasn't anything she could put her finger on. He was never anything other than nice. It was just an #undertone when they were alone. Like a slightly out of focus photo.
That night he offered her a lift home. It was the natural thing to do. She was grateful. He was kind.

But...

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 1d

The first single i tell people i bought: I don't like Mondays.

The first single i really bought: Wanted by The Dooleys

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 2d

The subsidence wasn't exactly a selling point and we had to be creative. The crack across the front garden had filled with water, so I made a sign and planted it in the middle.

WARNING:
#PIRANHA INFESTED MOAT

Still no offers, but we haven't been burgled. Every cloud...

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 2d

I'd go for Jesus and Mary Chain - Who Do You Love? Or the Was Not Was version of Papa Was a Rolling Stone

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 3d

It had rained for forty days and forty nights. In the absence of the skills to build an ark, Bob bought a #raincoat instead. In line with the suntan lotion he'd bought just before the monsoon, the rain stopped as soon as he exited the shop wearing his mackintosh.
#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 4d

How come you do everything like that?

Like what?
She said.

Like everything is the most brilliant and important thing ever.

It's the last thing he told me.
She said.

What?

To live my life with #verve.
She said.

And you're sure he wasn't talking about the band.

Oh.
She said.

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 5d

There is one person in every room that everyone sees. My sister is that person in any room. Any crowd. She smiles sweetly, knowing her aura forgives her #libertine ways. She doesn't ask permission and doesn't apologise.
Never joins a queue. Never takes a step back.

And then goes home alone

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 5d

I saw The Waterboys at Glastonbury in 198? and Mike Scott made every song sound like he was writing it there and then. When he sung the words "I freeze in the wind and I'm numb from the pummelling of the snow" a gust of wind blew across the field.

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 6d

A hill of #ash sits in the middle of a field. A single flake rises into the sky and lands on my shoulder. A breath of wind kisses my head and the ashes dance to an imagined beat.
An ash tree forms and I shelter under its branches.
A flap of wings and the bird on my shoulder soars to its nest
#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 7d

The #clash of colours made her wince. She pressed her lips together and pushed her hands deep into her pockets.
"Should I try a darker jacket?" Said her cousin.
"I guess that would be a start." She said through gritted teeth.
#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 8d

I #associate Christmas with the sea. Walking along the prom on Christmas morning. Building up an appetite for dinner. Salty spray scouring my young face. Jumping over puddles and feeling like one more leap would take me into the sky.
#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 9d

The café was full. Dad was offering half-price milky coffees - latte and cappuccino hadn't reached Stockport.
At 12:40 we stopped serving and turned up the radio. The closing bars of Common People faded away and Dad told everyone to be quiet.
He smiled and held my hand as our #advert came on
#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 10d

They were born a day apart and their houses backed onto each other.
The day she said she was moving, she tied their hands together with an #elastic band.
It pulled and stretched and became transparent, but he could still feel it.
Still feels it today. Tightening and loosening when she moves.
#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 11d

His speeches were projected on the side of every public building. Broadcast on every channel. Taught in every school.

Still, the people read the words of their ancestors.

He ordered the army to #pulp every book. Wipe every recording.

So the people told tales. Sung songs. Shared memories.

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 12d

We've been at sea for 8 days. Or it might be 9. I think i overslept one day and lost track.

I wonder what i missed that day.

I focus on the horizon; looking for an #oasis of land. When, perhaps, I should look behind. See what I've missed. See if sanctuary has already passed me by.

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 13d

Nobody knows exactly when they moved to the sky. Some say they've always been there.
We're left here on the ground. Beneath them; figuratively and metaphorically.
As I stand on top of Chapel Hill and look to the horizon, sky and ground and sea #blur into one and, for this moment, we're one

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 14d

He'd only applied because she'd challenged him. He got one question a week on Mastermind and she said #Conundrum was "more your level".

Now, here he was; through to the final and one riddle from the jackpot.

"You said what?" She said, making no effort to hold back the laugh.

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 15d

The mobile library visited every Wednesday. They kept the travel books aside for him. This week he would visit Prague and Geneva. He'd #sublimate his dream of conquering worlds into planning itineraries he'd never fulfil.

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 16d

Dad started researching the family tree after watching Who Do You Think You Are? We came from a long line of dockers, but he found a branch for a daughter who'd married a Baron. The next day he ordered an #escutcheon to put over the front door.

Honor est tantum fabula quam homines credunt

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 17d

Any questions?
He was sure someone would ask, so he stayed quiet.

Everyone wished they had his confidence. Obviously there was no need to check his work. Any #scrutiny would have felt almost rude, so he was left to get on with it. And, unsurprisingly, everything went well.

At first.

#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 18d

They called their first daughter #Caprice. From the moment she could crawl, she never stayed still. She picked up a different toy every 5 minutes.
Then she discovered music. Her #sonorous alto filled the hall but she could never get past the first chorus without switching to another song.
#vss365

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 20d

Einstein said God doesn't play dice. And she doesn't. She plays cards. Each #eventuality is represented by a card. This moment - this #vss365 - relates to the 10 of spades. She told me she sometimes puts in a joker; that's when it gets really interesting.

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shippers1871.bsky.social @shippers1871.bsky.social · 21d

I was 3rd generation. Bob was 5th. And Nix... Well legend was that her family were farming those hills when the Normans landed.
Her leaving was the #bellwether for the desertion of the town. The lights went on and everyone could see the exit
Now weeds strangle the pavement and I'm left alone
#vss365

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