………….

A disturbingly short time ago, in a land uncomfortably close by I had an encounter that irrevocably changed my course.

There I sat, aware of my surroundings, cool and still, but like a sea breeze whipping up a sudden summer storm. The air crisp, tinged with a smell that could only be described as clinical. Fitting really, because the voice that was delivering the monologue sounded like a pungent bottle of antiseptic, might it have a sound.

The words they kept coming, I visualised them pilling up in front of me, a stack, a hasty commentary. Then they stopped. An aged face staring at me with anticipation.

‘So you know what you have to do’, the face enquired.

In fact I had no idea what I had to do, I would need to sit with the word pile for an extended period of time, before I had even a semblance of an idea. I knew one thing at this point, and one thing only, nothing would ever be the same again.