Thursday, July 07, 2005

Swish, walk now and I'm all right Jack.

1. The sound of water being swept off a patio with a stiff broom.

2. Walking out of the Post Office and on to a crossing that has just that second changed to the green man.

3. My copy of Avram Davidson's Limekiller finally arrived. These six short stories are set in a mythical colony, British Hidalgo where slightly unreal things happen. I love them for their lush Caribbean setting, and the laid-back, easy-living yet scholarly hero Jack Limekiller, who putters up and down the coast in his yacht Sacharissa solving supernatural mysteries along the way. I first met him in a fat book of sci-fi novellas, which included "Manatee Girl, Ain't You Coming Out Tonight", a tale of fear and inbreeding. I wanted more Limekiller, so hunted down two Avram Davidson anthologies, only to discover that Manatee Girl was in both.

Done, moon and Irish fairy tales.

1. A meeting that is over by 9.30am. 2. A big full moon is stuck on next door's chimney pots. 3. By my bed is a large and comforting boo...