with Leonie Martin. A zoom group monthly writing group based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Uk but, as with any zoom, participants can be from anywhere in the world. This month's meeting welcomed a lady from Singapore and whilst she looked sunny and cool, the UK participants were in winter woolies.
Leonie is an author, freelance writer and facilitator of writing workshops, living with MS. She guides the group into writing just a sentence at first and offering participants to read it out aloud to the group if we want to. She is a natural encourager and we feel safe and more confident about writing in her care. Next may be a 3 minute exercise writing about a picture relating to the topic of the month, this month was 'Beginnings'. Again we read out our work and receive feedback from Leonie. If it is particularly good others in the group may clap or write a comment in the chatbox. The third and fourth exercises in this two hour group zoom is a five minute write, followed again by a sharing of our work. It is lovely listening to other peoples interpretation of the same picture.
Leonie uses 'screen share' to show the group beautiful 'prompts' to aid our scribbles. Here's two pictures and my stories that came from nowhere, such is inspiration!
No matter where I stood I could not find the coloney of penquins that I had filmed five years ago. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would burst within my chest. I wasn't dressed for the ice today, I was being picked up by helicopter and transported back to concrete towns and busy offices.
I pleaded to get just a glimpse; "I know their numbers have declined, but please God let them not have been wiped out."
Just as I heard the helicopter overhead, its blades whirring and the air around me stirring, a black and white head appears before me, then a body, then a jump and a waddle followed by another and another and another. My heart leaps for joy as the helicopter lands behind me on firm ice. Time to go home.
©SueFlint
The inscription on the back of the pocket watch told me it had been presented to Bill Middleton for 50 years service at M.C.H. I 'googled' the name and workplace initials and gained a list so long it seemed an impossible task to find its owner. 'Perhaps I should just hand it in at the local police station?'
I decided to send a brief email to the first 20 Bill Middleton's and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with a local hero. His son, by the same name, invited me to visit as his dad had just turned 90. I spent days with him chatting about his work at M.C.H., his heroic act and how he lost his watch.
A few years later I was moved to tears to receive the watch in his will.
©Sue Flint
Feedback included the thought that I could continue to make this into a short story, readers/listeners wanting to know what the heroic act was.
Hope you enjoyed my tit-bits of writing? Comments are always welcome here or on Twitter @tweetsue13
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