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