A Dose Of Familiarity

By Annette Siketa

A servant has devoted his life to his mistress, and one day she asks him 'why'. She could never have imagined the answer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annette Siketa
• Release date: Nov 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005927608

Annette Siketa

For those of you who have not yet made my acquaintance, my name is Annette Siketa, and I am totally blind. Were you aware that most blind and visually impaired people are extraordinarily perceptive? To sighted people, this ability must seem like ESP, and I suppose to a certain extent, it is. (I'm referring to the literal meaning of Extra Sensory Perception, not the spooky interpretation.) To compensate for the lack of vision, the brain and the other four senses become sharper, so that we can discern a smell or the identity of an object. I promise you there's no trickery involved. It's simply a matter of adapting the body to ‘think’ in another way.Being blind is no barrier to creativity. Like most things in this world, life is what you make of it, and after losing my sight due to an eye operation that went terribly wrong, I became a writer, and have now produced a wide variety of books and short stories, primarily of the ghost/supernatural/things that go bump in the night genre.So, how does a blind person write a book? On the practical side, I use a text-to-speech program called ‘Jaws’, which enables me to use and navigate around a computer, including the Internet, with considerable ease. Information on Jaws can be found at www.freedomscientific.comOn the creative side...well, that’s a little more difficult to explain. Try this experiment. Put on your favourite movie and watch it blindfolded. As you already ‘know’ the movie – who does what where & when etc, your mind compensates for the lack of visualisation by filling in the ‘blanks’. Now try it with something you’ve never seen before, even the six o'clock news. Not so easy to fill in the blanks now is it?By this point you’re probably going bonkers with frustration – hee hee, welcome to my world! Do not remove the blindfold. Instead, allow your imagination to compensate for the lack of visualization, and this will give you an idea of how I create my stories. Oh, if only Steven Spielberg could read my mind.

Book preview

A DOSE OF FAMILIARITY

By Annette Siketa

Copyright © 2021 Annette Siketa.

No part of this book may be manipulated, transmitted, or altered by any method or manner whatsoever. All rights reserved. Please respect the authors’ rights. Only through honesty can the insidious practice of illegal copying be curbed.

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A Dose of Familiarity.

Weather permitting, at four o'clock every day, Thomas Greenslade placed the wheelchair against the step in front of the house. When he had positioned the chair exactly at the point where his mistress could easily lower herself into it, he would enter the house to receive any instructions from his master, which were usually delivered in a furious voice.

A minute or so later, Greenslade would reappear on the step supporting the enfeebled Mrs Braxton, who was exhausted simply from descending the stairs. When she was settled in the chair, Greenslade would grasp the handles and set off in the direction of the river.

The July sun was beating down on the street. Dogs were sleeping in the shade of the houses, and there was a distinct smell of dust in the air. Greenslade, now a little out of breath, hastened his footsteps in order to reach the river a little quicker.

Mrs Braxton was holding an open parasol, the tip of which kept catching in Greenslade's beard. For goodness sake, man, go slower or you'll kill yourself in this heat.

Every stone and blade of grass seemed determined to hamper their progress, and it was not until they reached the path that ran parallel to the river that Greenslade slowed down. Then, as though they were mirroring each other, they produced handkerchiefs and mopped their brows.

Mrs Braxton breathed in the fresh damp air. Ah, that's better. Now I can think more clearly. My husband was not in a good mood today.

No, madam. In fact, I thought him excessively grumpy.

Greenslade had been in service to the Braxtons for thirty-five years, first as an orderly to Captain Braxton, and then as a valet. He had always got on well with Mrs Braxton, but after her accident some six years earlier, a companionable familiarity had arisen between them.

They always talked about affairs as though they were equals, and more often than not, the main subject was the sour disposition of the captain, whose long military career had begun with much promise and ended with little glory.

Mrs Braxton continued, "And it's been happening far too