annanotbob2's Diaryland Diary

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Day 202

Friday writing group started with a random three word starter - we gave C a number which related to a page in the dictionary and he found a noun on the first page, then a verb then an adjective. Anaconda, automate and quick-tempered. We all had 5 minutes to write something that incorporated all three of those words. I always think 'this is bollocks' then give it a go. This is what I came up with today:
" There was an anaconda, a boa, a cobra... on and on, all the snakes in the world laid out in tubs in alphabetical order. You just had to press some buttons on the screen - the whole thing was automated. She could feel anger rising in her belly - she'd always been quick-tempered and this was untenable - you can't sell animals like this - or you shouldn't - how could they know who was buying, if they had all the right equipment, the knowledge...? She was tapping the panel, crossly... her finger hit the 'a' button, a glass panel slid across and the anaconda slithered out of the tub, across the floor, raising the front of its body to stare at her, coldly.."

There were only four of us there today. One wrote about Anaconda, a female wrestler, in her dressing room after winning a bout; another had a massive factory full of exhausted. oppressed workers and a snake emerging from under a machine, and the last wrote from the point of view of an anaconda in a pet shop, plotting its escape and dinner. Fantastic - all within ten minutes of the start of the zoom meeting.

Next we were given a sentence to start a piece with:

"'...black dog finally succeeded in hijacking my life...' Bella wasn't trying to listen but this sentence drifted out of the cubicle into her ears and spread out in her mind. What did it mean? She'd seen the woman in the waiting room, before she went in - she looked quite ordinary for Brighton - a big shapeless coat, stripy tights, DM boots. Very flat mousy hair, no make up, a bit twitchy. She'd been tapping her foot and the metal toe caps in the boots had made a loud clattery noise on the wooden floor.
Did she mean she had a dog? Why was she telling housing benefit about it? Had it moved in with her uninvited, like Cat had moved in with Bella? Had Cat hijacked Bella's life? No. Bella wasn't having it. Not from that bloody cat.
She could hear sobbing now. The cubicle door opened and a scrawny, stricken young man shot out, grabbed the box of tissues on the table and fled, giving Bella a look she wasn't sure how to interpret.
But it was certainly more interesting than she'd expected, here at Housing Benefit. She liked the look of the young man and hoped he'd survive the dog woman and interview Bella when her turn came.
Why did the colour of the dog matter? Maybe it was just for dramatic effect - black dog had a ring to it that you didn't get with, say, a golden retriever..."

I saw an osteopath this afternoon, to try and get me more balance, or rebalance, in my posture, after walking about with one leg effectively longer than the other for three weeks. I liked it, though I felt very tired afterwards and went to bed. She also did a bit of cranial osteopathy, which felt like her just holding her hands against my head very softly but I could feel surges of fucking energy pulsing through me when she did. I'm going to have four or five sessions - she thought the cranial stuff might be able to clear my brain fog, which would be a bit of a result.

The bath I had planned has had to be postponed - apparently we have to leave the bath full of water to 'settle' for a few days. Sigh.

Three good things today: rain and rain and more rain - we need so much to get the water table back up to normal, so all good; Indian takeaway for dinner - tarka dhal, aloo gobi, tandoori chicken, raita, chapatti, delish; booked a haircut - I'm planning on going Grayson Perry - his hair is thicker than mine but has the same vaguely wavy quality. We shall see. It's been five years since I last had a trim, so may be time.

Take care, y'all xxx

10:56 p.m. - 02.10.20

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