Book of the Month - Half a Creature From the Sea. Full review here.

As a kid, I used to run out of the room to hide from the TV. It started with a hint something was going to go wrong. Not the thriller, your wife and children will be kidnapped, but the comedy, look what this idiot is going to do. The tension would build, my heart would race, and my skin would crawl until I leapt from the sofa and sprinted into the kitchen. I knew what it felt like to put my foot in it, to be the butt of the joke. I couldn’t watch and laugh because the characters were all me.

Fiction Bite - She Suspected a Problem

‘Your tyres are fine, Ma'am,’ said Jim, standing up and cracking an end-of-shift crick in his back. He looked over the car to where the lady waited, her spotless cream suit looking out of place in the oil stained garage. ‘Ma’am?’ She crushed her glossy magazine between manicured hands as she stared across the street. He followed her gaze to a couple who were kissing, hands searching across each others’ bodies.

‘Do you have a wrench I could borrow?’ He stammered, reached for the trolley, but hovered halfway. ‘On second thoughts, never mind.’ She slipped her hand inside her designer handbag and pulled out a monogrammed pistol.

‘Ma’am, whatever you’re thinking—’

‘Call an ambulance, Mr Jones. A cheating scumbag is about to get shot.’

Without a sideways glance, she strode through the midday traffic. Jim stood watching, mouth agape. Until the crack of a gunshot sent him scurrying for the phone.

Quote of the Week

Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.' Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Final Words

I’ve never seen a gunfight or even a fistfight with vicious intent. I have no idea what it feels like to survive an explosion, or a plane crash. How can I watch scenes of such powerful emotions and remain unmoved, while being unable to sit through a fumbled proposal in a rom com? And what do I miss by not being able to empathise? If I can’t feel for people in extreme situations, will I be driven to help them? Or will I stand and watch?

With Love

Joe

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