Slip

A Short Story

In 2012 I had an idea for a short story, two actually. However, I was busy writing my previous novels and so it has taken five years to write just one of them.

'Slip' is loosely based on a true story about my mum and one of her sisters. The idea for 'slip' was already alive in my head, it just needed some soul. I remembered my mum and my auntie, who lives in Canada, having some kind of unresolved issue a few years back. So I called my mum. She told me what had happened.  

On my aunts last visit, my mum told me she was apprehensive. Like so many of us, things had been said and done over the years, but not talked about. My mum had written a letter before her sisters visit and put it in the post to Canada.  

My aunt only spent a day with us, but it was lovely and the whole family was there. My mum is the eldest with two younger sisters and one brother. And that day is a memory I will treasure forever. All my cousins and their children came, and everyone had a good time. 

I remember after my aunt returned home my mum was still upset. My aunt had not mentioned the letter to my mum and only spent a day with us, which had upset my mum. As it turned out, my auntie called my mum a week later. The letter had arrived late! They talked and managed to say things to each other that had been unspoken as far back as the 1940s. 

This got me thinking! What if my mum's letter had arrived before my auntie had left for England. Would she have made more time to see us? Would the day have been even better than it was? Or what if they had picked up the phone to each other years before? And so I was inspired to write Slip, to encourage others not to let time slip away.  

My editor sent me back the final draft and asked if she could have a copy once published, for her own sister. I also sent a proof copy of 'Slip' to my best friend, and she told me that after reading 'Slip', she called her sister and sorted out a small issue they where having. That really touch me, and I knew then that I had written  a story with soul. 

'Slip' Available November 2017  

Blog update: Jan 2018
To those of you reading this blog because I directed you here via the back page of my book, thank you. Thank you for reading, and for wanting to find out my mothers back story. 

If you enjoyed my story, it would be lovely to read your thoughts in a review. 

Review