What are you reading
A book of short stories
By Martin Po
Are they good
Yes
At present I am reading a story
Called Lake Side
Is it set near a lake
No that is the name of a small boat
Which is hired out by a group of friends
It is very much like the Menrossa
What happens
In a sense it is what does not happen
Nothing much happens initially
But then the boat hits an obstruction and sinks
The friends are scattered and eventually rescued
That is with the exception of Sandra
Who finds herself alone in the sea
She treads water and practices survival techniques
But as the hours pass she begins to tire
She has accepted that she is going to die
And watches the sun as it sets in glorious colour
The seagulls circle and hover above her
But there is little then can do as she slowly drowns
Just before she closes her eyes she sees a plane
High above her which she mistakes for a rescue plane
It is in fact an airliner flown by her older brother
Her final three thoughts are about the seagulls the sunset and the plane
To her great surprise Sandra finds herself conscious
But she is no longer a woman but a seagull
Flying high above the wide expanses of the sea
It takes Sandra quite a time to become used to this
She does not question it and initially considers it to be heaven
So she flies towards the lighthouse that she once knew well
As it was near the cottage that she shared with her boyfriend
Sandra finds the cottage empty but visits it many times
She thinks that her love has left the small coastal town
But on her tenth visit she sees him in bed with her cousin
That shatters Sandra and she flies out to sea
And sees a man jump from an ocean liner and drown
She slowly begins to realise that she is not in heaven
And returns inland to observe her boyfriends infidelity
Her emotions get the better of her and Sandra weeps bitterly
This is quite quickly noticed and the legend of the weeping seagull is born
Sandra next finds herself in a green mosaic bath with her boyfriend
She is no longer an unhappy seagull but a woman once more
There is a knock at the door which the lovers after dressing answer
Two members of the coastal police force face them with sad eyes
They are told that the Lake Side has been lost after a collision
And all her friends are missing
There is little hope for them as the sea has succumbed to a storm
This overwhelms Sandra and she begins to weep
The police and her boyfriend comfort her
It is then that she notices a seagull on the roof of a shed
For what seems an eternity it stares at her and then leaves
Slowly vanishing from from sight as it climbs into the clouds
Has Martin Po written any other books
Yes
They are on the bookshelf near the door
May I borrow one
Be my guest
I am sure that you will like his stories