Take A Break Fate & Fortune Magazine …….. Darrell Is Sort Of Published!

Oh my goodness, you can only imagine the excitement that thronged The Towers on Friday morning when Darrell finally received “the” e-mail from Take A Break, Fate and Fortune Magazine, heralding him as a noted, published author …….  and it was out already!

There was no doing with him!

He was all for rushing in to town to get a copy, but as Nigel was already up there, I told him to just sit down and try to calm himself, while I texted Nigel to nip into W H Smith for him …….

…….. promising, under Darrell’s strict proviso, that he wasn’t as much as to take even the tiniest of peeks of said magazine until it was sat sitting safe on our dining room table, so we could read and admire Darrell’s “raisin to be/life’s blood” together ……..

Once he’d secured his quarry, he was to come straight home, without delay or detour, taking a taxi, at Darrell’s expense if needs must, however, this he declined, choosing instead to run all the way home.

Those ensuing 20 minutes of waiting were absolute agony ……. with Darrell pacing up and down and needing to go to the loo every couple of minutes …….

…… until, at last, we heard the little fella’s key in the door and we all rushed to sit sur la table!

Then there it was, laid before a quivering audience ……..

…….. the magic of Darrell’s holey stones, but it seemed an awful lot shorter than Darrell remembered ……….. and so, after finding his original submission, it was with a heavy heart  that Darrell found he was right, his letter had been tweaked ……..

“Finding Comfort In Stones

Some people look at finding a white feather or seeing a robin in the garden etc. as a sign that their loved ones are watching over them. However, when I am away, by the sea in particular, my thoughts and memories of my own loved ones seems to intensify and this is when I quietly ask them to send me a "holey stone" as a sign that they are with me, and to date, comfortingly, they have never once let me down.

I thought at first that looking and finding this particular type of stone was just something peculiar to me, but when I did a little research I found that I was not alone. They are known by several different names such as hag, witch or fairy stones and according to folklore are said to hold magical protective powers to bring good luck and ward off misfortune and negative energy if  worn or carried. They have also been used to prevent nightmares if hung on a bedpost or placed under a pillow by the sleeper and protect boats in stormy weather.

Even if there only appears to be very few pebbles on a beach I never fail to find one. Sometimes it feels as if I am being made to "work" for one by having to look for ages, other times I simply gaze down to discover one right at my feet. Some are tiny, others are quite large, but I know as soon as I bend down to pick one up, it was put there for me.

The "spookiest" place I have ever found one of my stones was on a gravel verge on the estate I had just recently moved to. It had been a huge upheaval, to a completely new area and in those early days I found myself wondering if it had been the right decision. The stone reassured me once again that I being watched over and my new life was meant to be.

I always bring a few stones back from my travels, they stay with me for a little while and then I return them for the sea to wash over them and perhaps be found by someone else, like me looking for a sign.”

In among all the other fascinating and intriguing articles and letters it appeared that poor Darrell had crushingly been cut short, pruned, sheared, truncated , not to mention abridged.

He isn’t quite up to questions being asked in Parliament just yet ……

…….. but, it has to be said, it’s taken the wind right out of his aspirational sails as far as any future authorship is concerned.

However, in an effort to buoy up his somewhat flagging spirits, he’s decided that his cheque, for £25, when it arrives, will be put towards excellent good use, to wit a fish and chip supper during our upcoming (thank you Santa) trip to Weymouth …… where no doubt he will take the opportunity to look for a few more holey stones as a sign of what he should do next ……..

……. not finding a holey stone meaning he should give up the pen …….. which all seems rather drastic at the moment,  but hey ho, we shall see.  However, I can’t help wondering if the aforementioned fish and chip supper might also include a cheeky pot of curry sauce?  What am I like?