I flopped over the final card.
All fifty-two and the jokers lay in a messy pile on the counter top. One knock and they will scatter like broken petals over the fireproof office carpet. I scoot them into a rough pile. Toppling them would be like ripping down a painting in a church.
The presentation of this story confused me. Multiple references to blogs, links and phone taken photos suggested website posts. But the cards are tactile originals, not facsimiles, daubed with paint and blu tac and scarred with biro.
And where is Clifton? Is Bristol real or fictional? Were these the proofs for some kind of abstract writing guide?
Someone needs to make a documentary or pen a newspaper article about all this stuff. But I still cannot get a grasp on what this place was for. If this was someone’s warehouse, why is there a lack of signage? If this was a business, where was the logo for a props department or publishing house? Where do they do they paperwork?
All this reading was thirsty work. I looked for a kitchenette, a drinks machine. A bathroom. Past a wall of framed, water damaged papers was a small paint-spattered sink, the kind with the long hose like nozzle curling round in a U bend. I turned the blue tap, and a thin dribble of water hit the ceramic. I stuck my head under, and licked at calcium infused droplets.
One more. One more before heading home. Snow still battered the ground in silence, and the darkness summoned the street lights. I was in no less trouble if I read one more.
On a nearby table sat a white binder surrounded by photos of the moon. Many folders line the office, but what caught my eye was a letter slipped under the front plastic.
Hi Archie,
I hope you are well.
Found this when we cleared out your mother’s place. It is not like her other pieces of work, and although we are considering the options in terms of publication, I thought it best to send to you first.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts, or if the contents rings any bells. Happy to have a chat any time.
Best wishes,
Barbara
I sat in a W shape against a magnolia wall, and began.