OTHER VOICES

The Day He Left
When he left I was a mix of sad and happy. I was sad because it was all spoiled and I was happy because now he was taking all his shadows away with him. When the bus came all the tears burst out of me. I hugged him big and tight to me and I almost said, don't go, but I clenched my teeth to stop it coming out because I wanted him to go. His eyes were wet too, but he didn't cry. He never cried. And then he just kind of shrugged me off as he was always doing. Like I was a blanket or something. His eyes stopped being wet and became empty. He got on the bus and sat down, and then when the bus started up, he gave me a little wave....

An Unbearable Ecstasy
I can't exactly say it always happens, coz this is only the second time, but already I feel like saying, 'it always happens'. It's like I never learn. The first time I did E was with a pill head lassie I fell in love with almost instantaneously. Didn't know it was a chemical trick. She fucked my head about something rotten. And I still love her. There's a bit of her in my bloodstream. It just gets pumped round in weird mooncycles and spins through my heart every now and then. It's not exactly predictable. It just happens. Haven't seen her in ages....

Letter From An Island In The Middle Of An Unknown Ocean (English version)
Robert, husband of mine, I'm missing you badly, for there is a gaping hole in my heart where you are not. I have cried myself to sleep these past three nights without your arms around me. It has been a rare long time since last we held each other, but since I've arrived here I have fair noticed your absence. And if I fear that you're sleeping with someone else this night, as the sun sinks red into the red ocean, it's because I still hope to see you again....

Letter From An Island In The Middle Of An Unknown Ocean (Scotish dialect version)
Robert, husband ay mine, ahm missin ye badly, for thair is a gapin hole in ma haert whair ye are not. Ah huv cried masel tae sleep these past three nights wi oot yir airms aroond me. It hus bin a rare long time since last we held each other, but since ahv arrived here ah huv fair noticed yir absence. An if ah fear that yir sleepin wi somewan else this night, as the sun sinks red intae the red ocean, it's coz ah still hope tae see ye again.

The Re-Hang Boy
From up here I can see the cimbrerstaal crew. They look, en-masse, like a strange twenty limbed creature, scratching frantically at itself, scratching out clods of strange pale flesh and rich, deep red blood. The fish are supposed to get to the cimbrerstaal almost clean, but when the gutting machines break down or malfunction, as they often do, the fish arrive looking like they've just been fighting in the Great War.

The Model Woman
Tony and his brother are debating the finer points of a football match, which was televised and shown in recorded highlights last night after the ten o'clock news. I am nominally included in the conversation as I was there last night while they watched it, in my usual capacity as hostess. When I was not fetching beer or running other errands I sat in my armchair, drinking from a can of Tennant's Lager, on which there was a picture of scantily clad woman who made me feel like a frump in comparison.