OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
An immaculate single blue satin stiletto, lying in the mud in the centre of a woodland path.
Blue: she had discounted red and purple – too tarty – and black – too boring. Besides, blue went with her outfit.
Satin: for Christmas parties – you can get away with tacky at this time of year.
Stiletto: that would be her grandmother’s word: she would just call them heels.
No, of course you don’t choose satin heels for a walk in the woods.But when you’re wearing them, and a walk in the wood happens, what are you going to do?
Single: Why leave it lying there, abandoned, reproaching the onlooker?
She hadn’t known the path was going to be muddy – but then again, she hadn’t anticipated the path at all. Of course her shoe was immaculate: it fell off when he was carrying her, and he wasn’t going to wade back through the mud to retrieve it.
And she wasn’t going to be walking home, was she?
Susy Churchill is a psychotherapist and former lecturer in psychotherapy, whose previous works include ‘TheTroubled Mind’ (Palgrave Macmillan 2009) and research articles. A lifelong scribbler, joining Bournemouth Writers Circle has encouraged her to experiment with different genres. One of her poems was included in the local Lights Out ceremony commemorating the outbreak of World War I. A passionate gardener, the natural world is her constant inspiration.
–Art by Karamelo
–Art by Mariya Petrova-Existencia