Skein Island

by Aliya Whiteley

  ‘If you don’t like the smoke, stop smoking. Smoking in bed is disgusting and dangerous.’

  ‘I don’t smoke!’

  ‘And stop making stuff up. This ghost guy – you created him to push me away… You realise that, don’t you? He was only there to make me jealous. I told you, you need to do something about it. I wish you the best in solving your problems. I really do.’

  The things we tell ourselves to make certain we’re front and centre in our own stories. ‘Goodbye, Dave,’ I say. I turn my back on him. I hear him sigh, and then walk away.

  * * *

  I lie very still, early the next morning, in the first light of dawn, and I think of what my ghost would have said to me about the whole thing. Min, girl, that wasn’t the right man for you. He fooled his own memory to make you out to be the bad guy. He decided not to believe in me, even though I’m right here. Plain as the smoke drifting past your nose.

  Except you’re not here any more, are you? There’s no more smoke.

  I pick up my phone and take it with me under the duvet. In the warm darkness, I find there’s a text message from Katie.

  All right?

  I wonder what it cost her to write that, and whether she’ll hate herself for it later.

  I text back, and we start a conversation. I tell her about Dave and she calls him deluded, which makes me feel much better.

  Forget him. Irrelevant. Bloody people. I still hate them all.

  I text back:

  I hate them all too. Do you want to meet up? I was thinking about trying parasailing, or taking tango lessons.

  There’s a long pause. Just at the point where I’m about to put the phone down and return to sleep, she texts:

  But I’m miles away.

  I’m not sure who she is and I have no clue who I am, but I know us just enough to be sure that we’ll find something that brings us together, real or imaginary. It doesn’t matter which.

  I text back:

  I’ll come to you.

  If there’s more to us both, we’ll find it.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Skein Island is set in a world that’s not quite the same as our own. Although the story contains real towns and places it also has quite a few imaginative liberties taken with those places. Apologies to anyone who knows the locations and gets confused by the geographical alterations. It’s also worth mentioning that the book was written more than a few years ago, and some elements, such as the repatriation days that used to take place at Wootton Bassett, and certain technological developments, have changed in reality. I decided to leave them as they are in this revised version.

  The novelette that accompanies Skein Island was a recent revisit to the island, to look afresh at some of the themes from an older (and probably not wiser) point of view. I hope it works as a complement to the original story.

  Big thanks to Neil Ayres, John Griffiths, Tim Stretton, George Sandison, Gary Budden, Max Edwards, Adam Lowe, Victoria Hooper, Francesca Kemp, and everyone at UKAuthors and Titan Books. And thanks to Libby’s Café for the coffee and teacakes.

  This book wouldn’t exist without the support of the people who give me daily injections of confidence. Nick, Elsa, Mum, Dad, Harley and Barney, and the best big brother in the world – Jim Ovey, my hero – thank you.