Davies Rosamund - Story Cities: A City Guide for the Imagination

First published in UK 2019 by Arachne Press Limited

100 Grierson Road, London SE23 1NX

www.arachnepress.com

Arachne Press Limited

ISBNs:

print: 978-1-909208-78-0

ePub: 978-1-909208-79-7

mobi/kindle: 978-1-909208-80-3

The moral rights of the authors and designer have been asserted.

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior written consent in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Except for short passages for review purposes 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 prior written permission of Arachne Press.

Thanks to Muireann Grealy for her proofing.

Printed on wood-free paper in the UK by

TJ International, Padstow.

A Quarter Glass of Wine Jayne Buxton 2019

Alleys and Dumpsters, In Between, Sunny Day Patty Tomsky 2019

At the Crossroads Matthew Pountney 2019

Backwater David Mathews 2019

Between Skyscrapers Wes Lee 2019

Careful Where You Tread, Eavesdropping, The Right Place, and Todays Arrivals and Departures Rosamund Davies 2019

Chance Meetings and Happy New Year Maja Bodenstein 2019

City Tour and Coffee Meeting Stuart Larner 2019

Coffee Shamini Sriskandarajah 2019

Dance Where No One Watches Cath Holland 2019

Dawn of the City Nicholas McGaughey 2019

Feet in a Yard Sarah-Clare Conlon 2019

Flotsam and Jetsam and Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Cathy Lennon 2019

Foundation Myth Cherry Potts 2019

Go Directly to Go Rob Walton 2019

Hole in the Wall Ash Lim 2019

How to Go with the Flow: a Survival Guide Arna Radovich 2019

Humans Of Belinda Huang 2019

I Left the City that Night Pedro Basso Neves 2019

In the Park, Man with the Guitar and Switching On Kam Rehal 2019

Lifted and On Whose Bench Are You Sitting? Jane Roberts 2019

Lost and Found Catherine Jones 2019

Not Every Train Jasmin Kirkbride 2019

Other Signals Annabel Banks 2019

Passage Jess Kilby 2019

School Bus Evleen Towey 2019

Seeing in the Dark Roland Denning 2019

Slim Odds Laura Besley 2019

Spider Goes to the Park Melaina Barnes 2019

Starlight C.A. Limina 2019

Survivor Rachael McGill 2019

Tech Down Nic Vine 2019

The Alleyway i and The Alleyway ii Miriam Sorrentino 2019

The Call of the Sea Aisling Keogh 2019

The Citys Heartbeat Emma Lee 2019

The Promise Reshma Ruia 2019

The Second Car from the Front Alexandra Penland 2019

Truing the Square Dave Murray 2019

Two Till Four Liam Hogan 2019

Walking Back to the Future Mire Malone 2019

You Stand in the Secret Place Steven Wingate 2019

Your Brand of Smokes Jesse Sensibar 2019

Which city are you in? How have you come to be here? What are the characters, voices, stories that you have come across in your city? Your experiences the people and places you encounter, the things you hear and see, the thoughts and sensations you feel are at once individual and also connected to countless others in cities everywhere. Your city is also the city.

These were the thoughts that inspired us to put together this collection. Through the voices and perspectives of many different writers, it offers readers a book that they can take with them into the city to experience it through stories.

You will not find in its pages any cities, landmarks, or even characters that are identified by name. These are stories about any city, every city in which you might find yourself. The story of the woman sitting in front of you on the bus, the waiter in your caf, or even the spider on the pavement.

As you read them, maybe you will also start to see in the streets and alleyways and cafs and hotels of this city, the one you are standing in now the lines and traces of other cities: familiar cities, past cities, cities of the future, cities of the imagination.

We would like to invite you to share your experience of the city through your own photos. You can email them to us at

Rosamund Davies & Kam Rehal

Rosamund Davies

Those who have just arrived

Those who are going home

Those who have left home

Those who are on leave

Those who have left it all behind

Those who are on holiday

Those who are here on business

Those who work here

Those who need work

Those who need money

Those who are here for the season

Those who are lost

Those who have something to lose

Those who are fleeing a war

Those who are carrying a passport

Those who have a ticket

Those who have something to sell

Those who have something to give

Those who are homeless

Those who are travelling light

Those who packed the night before

Those who are thirsty

Those who are hungry

Those who have missed their train

Those who will not be missed

Those who are waiting for someone

Those who are waiting for a connection

Those who do not mind waiting

Those who check their watch repeatedly

Those who are in a hurry

Those who look straight ahead

Those who look around

Those who look down

Those whose feet hurt

Those who are looking for somewhere to sit

Those who are looking for somewhere to sleep

Those who have just woken up

Those who remember what it used to be like

Those who want to make a new start

Those who are returning

Those who are going to war

Those who come and go

Those who will never leave

Those who are leaving for good

Sarah-Clare Conlon

Each time I see her, she is wearing a different pair of shoes. Tonight, they are shiny. Patent leather. Im jealous of her shoes. Ive watched her every day for three days out of a week for four months. Shes stood in the same place each time and traced a half moon on the station platform with the toe of a flat shoe until the train arrives. She glides up the steps into the carriage even when the train comes in slightly before or slightly behind what I assume is its designated stopping point. Yet despite me watching her feet, I never see any significant movement either to her left or to her right.

I gradually move closer to her. For two weeks, Ive loitered nearby, ready to climb on board alongside her. I have marked the spot like a dog. Theres the crumpled flagstone at the edge where the warning line has worn out and the rut collects water. When its raining hard, I hold back because a puddle will have formed. But I know when to surge forward, split seconds ahead of them calling the arrival, and I always find a seat. Even so, I never see her once Ive pulled myself up with the handrail and look around. I never see her, until the same time, the next whenever day it is, because its not always tomorrow. I wonder what shoes she wears on the other days. I wonder if she takes the same size as me.