Short Story freebie

Copyright © Margaret Cooper-Evans

The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of he copyright owners.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

CLARA ROCK

It had been a year since Danny died.

I still go over that day in my mind every morning as I squeeze onto the 7.45 train with hundreds of familiar strangers. We jolt along in the sufforcatingly hot carriage,the air conditioning never seems to work on this line. As we move towards Marylebone Station, that day starts inside my head - again, as it has done for the past twelve months.PTSD I suppose. It's not likely I can ever forget.

I changed my name to Clara Rock, the place he died, so I wouldn't.

Thinking back, it was an easy climb, we'd done it a couple of times before. He was roped, for some reason he didn't want to wear a harness like the rest of us. Not exciting enough for him, I suppose.

Clive was above him,I was below.

I see him falling, smiling, laughing - almost like he was on a ride at Alton Towers. 

He'd slipped before. Done this before. Big joke. But this time he had unscrewed his carbiners. He had done it. On purpose.

He grinned up at us as he fell.

The shock was terrible for all of us. 

Especially me. 

What should have been a stunning dream holiday in the Far West of Cornwall had suddenly turned into a nightmare.

The train shuddered to a halt, bringing me back to the moment, I thought I should have got the fast train, but it had been cancelled. As I walked out of the station towards Baker Street,

I felt choked as the memories flooded back. I made my way to work as usual, along the hot pavements.

I had to crowd fund his funeral. He had no money. None. 

He didn't own anything of value. His flat was a mess, we just put everything in the skip across the road by the demolition site. His Landlady said she wouldn't charge us back rent if we could leave it as it was when he moved in.

Immaculate.

It took three weeks; cleaning, painting the walls, taking the bottles,newspapers, girly mags, and clothes to the recycling.

How could a twenty six year old guy have so much crap in his flat? 

His parents came down to help. His father stared disbelievingly at the remnants of his son's life, trying to make sense of it. His mother cleaned and tidied as if he was coming back that day, and she had to have it ready for him. She stood, red eyed in the kitchen amongst the take away trays and burger wrappings, tears falling. The only thing he had in the fridge was a fine growth of green furry mould.

I walked into the office. Executive Travel. My job was to shovel would be tourists onto over booked planes. I got well paid for it, but it was boring. My RayBans blocked the flare from the car windows in the street, and disguised my tears from passers by.

I wanted to take today off, but Olivia had beaten me to it. So I wasn't allowed. Fucking Olivia. who had only met Danny through me, had taken a week off.

I had been his girlfriend.

 I turned my computer on and went into the back to make the coffees.

"Mawning darling." Clive drawled, dropping his manbag by his seat, and walking into the back to get his coffee."How are we on the first anniversary of Danny's death?"

"Oh you know." I handed him his black, no sugar. "Fucked up."

He smiled, "He was a bastard wasn't he?"

"The best kind." I sat at my computer and opened up the bookings screen.

Danny's face popped up as an emoji waving at me.

"I suppose you think that's funny!" I snarled at Clive turning the screen towards him.

"Not me darling, I'm surprised you think it was." He came to look over my shoulder as I turned the screen back towards me.

He fiddled with the keyboard. He was wearing expensive aftershave that filled my nostrils.

Clive was tall, handsome, well manicured. I wondered for a moment why all the really good looking guys were gay.

"Look at this, he sent this the week before we went to Cornwall."

"So he knew what he was going to do?" I asked.

"Obviously." Clive squatted beside my chair, "Perhaps there's more."

"He didn't leave a note at the flat." I said feeling weird.

Suddenly the shop door opened with the bell ringing. A fat middle aged woman with dyed purple hair, wearing an oversized orange tee shirt opened the door for her even fatter husband. She had tattoos of her grandchildren on both arms.

"Can Coon." She breathed heavily as she waddled into the shop. "Got any fing for Can Coon?"  She elongated the word as Cockneys do.

Clive stood up. Suddenly very masculine. "When are you thinking of going?" He asked.

I took the cups back to the kitchen. Danny had joined us last year as a temp, but as he could sell snow to Eskimos, he was very quickly made permanent.

So the four of us, Clive, Danny, Olivia and me became not just a sales team, but a kind of disfunctional family. That sometimes included Clive's partner Miffy.

Danny was the life and soul of our party, he dared us to go on adventures. All on staff discount. So weekends were spent caving, bungee jumping, canoeing, paragliding, you name it. Week after week with Danny and his dares. We were getting exhausted, but no one wanted to be the first to give in.

More and more excessive adventures followed until one day, in the pub after work, Clive said, "darlings, I'm suffering from adrenalin overload, and my poor Miffy hasn't spent any real time with me in weeks." He sipped his drink. "What about doing something a little safer? Miffy can watch us from a Hotel balcony by the sea as he sips his cocktails."  He smiled, "we can still go out and try and kill ourselves."

"Clara Rock." Danny spurted enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to climb Clara Rock since I was a kid."

"Where is it?" I asked sipping my Margarita, "I can't afford a long haul flight this month."

I remembered the pile of brown envelopes containing bills, mounting up on my table at home, waiting to be paid.

"Cornwall," he grinned. He was handsome when he smiled."We can drive down, a road trip. What do you think?"

"I'm in!" Oliva fluttered her eyelashes at Danny as she smiled. She'd fancied the pants off him from the moment he came into work for us.

She didn't know it, but I was the one he was sleeping with.

"Sounds lovely." Clive finished his drink. "We need to learn the ropes so to speak, what say we go to the climbing wall at CMK on Sunday? Miffy can do a bit of shopping."

"CMK?" Danny smiled puzzled, "what's that?"

"Central Milton Keynes," I answered. "It's got a ski slope, a climbing wall, a sky diving air tunnel."

Danny was immediately enthusiastic. "Lets do the lot! Come on guys, you only live once."

"Climbing." Clive pursed his lips. "We need to learn how to climb, to practice. That's all I'm doing."

So we practised, we learned the ropes, the techniques, the equipment. We climbed plastic walls, we climbed Mam Tor in the Peak district, we even climbed Clara Rock a couple of times, though not quite to the top.

What was different that day, I couldn't tell you. We were all up for it. Danny more than the rest of us.

It was now a year later and he was gone.

That evening Clive invited Olivia and me to his flat in Finchley. His Miffy made us cocktails and we toasted Danny's life, laughing about the dares he got us to do.

"Is it time to see the film I shot that day?" Miffy asked slightly worried."Are you ready?"

We all nodded in agreement.

The huge flat screen tv was switched on and the memory card inserted into it's side.

We watched ourselves climbing the huge stack of rock. Seagulls circling us screeching through the bright blue sky, thinking we were after their eggs. The scenery was stunning, the sea was a beautiful turquoise green against the white sand on the beach. 

We looked quite professional, roped together, a steady climb. Lots of easy foot and hand holds. This time we reached the top and stood taking in the view. Clive waved to Miffy on the opposite cliff top and blew him kisses. So we all did and fell about laughing.

Danny had bought our picnic from M&S, salmon in pink gin, creme caramels and a bottle of raspberry and elderberry wine. An explosion of tastes that didn't go together. Just like us.

Just like Danny.

We watched hawk eyed as we made our descent. Danny was unscrewing his caribiners as we absailed down, he freed the rope, and fell. He passed us, smiling and waving.

He said something as he fell.

Miffy stopped the shot so that we could make it out.

It wasn't goodbye. 

It was YouTube.

We stared at each other for a moment. Clive picked up his laptop and went on to YouTube. 

"What do I look for?" He asked frustrated.

"Danny Seagull." I suggested, "It's his work log in."

Miffy took the laptop and typed it in. After scrolling through films of seagulls nicking ice creams and chips, he found it. Danny Seagull adventures.

Danny's bright tanned handsome face popped up.

"Hi guys, took you long enough." He was sitting on the balcony of our hired villa in Cornwall.

The sea was bright blue against the white of the walls of the villa. "So, I'd better tell you then, hadn't I?  Clive. Stop frowning, your forehead will look like a bum crack!" He laughed.

Clive rubbed a hand over his face.

"I just wanted to say I couldn't have spent my last year with better people." He sipped a cloudy lemonade he had on the table and smiled.

"Oh, Clive and Claire, thanks for all the sex!"

Miffy frowned at Clive, who looked puzzled, and Olivia frowned at me because she thought it was true.

Danny laughed loudly. "I wish I could see you faces, what a joke!"

"Turn it off!" Olivia pouted.

"No!" Clive, Miffy and I stared at her.

"OK, time to get serious. I have a brain tumour. Cancer. Inoperable. I'm going to slowly lose my marbles, my bodily functions, and myself." He sighed, but he was still smiling. "So I spent every penny I earned, probably more, and had as many adventures as I could with you guys." His eyes softened, "but today is the day I say goodbye. Yesterday I couldn't pick up my razor, today I have a massive headache, so I know what's coming next."

We all gasped in shock.

"See this?" He picked up the cloudy lemonade."It's so full of drugs that I won't feel a thing. Just pleasure." He laughed again. "Yeah, I'm a great big shit. I hope you'll all forgive me, extenuating circumstances and all that." He stood up. "Well, time to go, you're all waiting for me by the car." He looked straight into the camera. "Really love you guys."

He switched off.

Silence.

Miffy picked up his cocktail "To that great big shit Danny Seagull."

"Danny Seagull." we echoed, laughing and crying at the same time.