For Absent Friends

By Michael White

When retired widower Ted notices a weather worn and neglected wooden bench in his local churchyard he resolves to restore it to its former glory. Once he does this however, he meets Veronica, and from then on nothing in his life would be the same again, which leaves him with a rather delicate question. Is it ever really too late to find love...?

"For Absent Friends" is just one of ten short stories from the collection entitled, "Paul McCartney's Coat and Other Stories", which is available to purchase separately.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael White
• Release date: Jun 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476330631

Michael White

Ex-drummer, Ex-software author and Ex-flares wearer Michael White was born and lives in the northwest of England. In a previous life he was the author of many text adventure games that were popular in the early 1980's. Realising that the creation of these games was in itself a form of writing he has since made the move into self-publishing, resulting in many short stories and novellas. Covering an eclectic range of subjects the stories fall increasingly into that "difficult to categorise" genre, causing on-going headaches for the marketing department of his one man publishing company, Eighth Day Publishing.Having accidentally sacked his marketing director (himself) three times in the last two years, he has now retired to a nice comfortable room where, if he behaves himself, they leave him to write in peace.In his spare time (!) Michael likes to listen to all kinds of music and is a big fan of Steven Moffat, whether he likes it or not.Michael is currently working on several new projects and can be contacted at the links [e-mail], or via my own website on http://mikewhiteauthor.wordpress.com, or via twitter on @mikewhiteauthor.

Book preview

For Absent Friends

Michael White

(Smashwords Edition Copyright © 2012)

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. No benches were restored during the writing of this story.

By The Same Author

Paul McCartney’s Coat and Other Stories

Tours of Note

The Fae Wynrie

Vallum Aelium

The Greatest Virus of Them All

Here Be Dragons

The Road from Ballylaneen to Skellig Michael

Liverpool

Overboard!

(Autumn 2012)

About the Author.

(Or... It’s all about me.)

Ex-drummer, ex-software author and ex-flares wearer Michael White was born and lives in the north-west of England. In a previous life he was the author of many text adventure games that were popular in the early 1980’s. Realising that the creation of these games was in itself a form of writing, he has since made the move into self-publishing, resulting in many short stories and novellas. Covering an eclectic range of subjects the stories fall increasingly into that difficult to categorise genre, causing on-going headaches for the marketing department of his one man publishing company, Eighth Day Publishing.

Having accidentally sacked his marketing director (himself) three times in the last two years, he has now retired to a nice comfortable room where, if he behaves himself, they leave him to write in peace.

In his spare time (!) Michael likes to listen to all kinds of music, and is a big fan of Steven Moffat, whether he likes it or not.

Michael is currently working on several new projects.

For Absent Friends

Here sits a bench, marked by time, mildew covered and shrunken; old and bowed by age. Moss covers the warped wooden slats of the seat, the arms of the bench fragile and no longer straight. Dark green lichen covers parts of the wood, large misshapen irregular green puddles of moss and mold. If time was taken to look more closely at the bench itself however, you may just be able to make out the faded carvings made by some of people who have sat there. John loves Jane one may just possibly say, another illegible but the numbers 1945 just about visible. Look closer however, and you may notice that although many of the carvings are old, some are much older, but are mostly unreadable, more like man made scars in the wood, yet faded away by the effects of many seasons of weather, lost like whispers on a breeze.

Ted thought that it was beautiful. Neglected for certain, but workable. The bench would fit three people with comfort, four at a push, and had stood where it was for as long as anyone could remember. Hundreds of years, apparently, and as Ted stood examining it he thought that it certainly looked as if it had been there that long.

It’s a nice bench thought Ted In need of a bit, well a lot of attention for sure, but sturdy nonetheless.

As he stood there in the rain he decided that it was going to be him that fixed it.

Ted was handy with his hands. He always had been. His wife had remarked upon this sometimes in a slightly saucy way, and Ted smiled at this, though she was gone nearly five years now.

The