Inside the whale

 

   Whale photo: Thanks to Pixabay

It's dark inside the whale, but then, what did you expect? There's a soft dampness to the floor and a smell you can't quite place. Sometimes you find yourself up-ended and rolling about. There's the occasional glimpse of the doors, sorry, jaws, opening, but the outside doesn't look any more pleasant than the inside. In fact it looks scarily sloshy, and you never did like swimming in cold water. You wish there was something or someone to cling on to. Then you realise that actually, there is. 

*****

Some people plan their stories and books with the meticulousness of a scientific researcher. I admire them. By the time they are ready to start the first draft, the problems have been faced, addressed and conquered, and the worst is over. Now it's simply a question of telling, or perhaps retelling, the whole tale with brilliant imagery and sparkling prose. (Stop! Don't mob me. I know it's not that easy!!)

However...

I think I've been stuck in the whale for a long time. After a while it feels more comforting to be in there, more like home, than actually believing that the jaws will open, and that although what's outside may be choppy waters, surviving is a definite possibility.

A dear Irish lady, relative of a relative, now long dead, used to punctuate her correspondence with regular TGs. Not complete words. No. Just the initials.

'Mrs F two doors down is a lot better, TG.' 'Dilys is getting married at last, TG.' 'Your uncle's decided to patch up the hole in the hen-run, TG.'

TG. Thank God. Being grateful really does help you to realise that there is always Someone rooting for you, Someone who knows it's better outside the whale than inside. Someone who might even ask the whale to spew you out onto dry land, help you dry off. Someone who will never give up on you. 

So from today, rascally whale, we, that is all us whose confidence sometimes/often/frequently wobbles, we shall be back on terra firm, TG. 

                North Devon coast: The writer's own photo   

             

Veronica Bright is a prize-winning author of short fiction and drama. She writes occasional book reviews for Transforming Ministry. She is the ACW short story adviser, and co-ordinates the ACW Writing for Children group, whose members meet up on Zoom. For more details look on the Writing for Children Facebook page.