Our Creative Writing Group met on Wednesday 15 April for a series of stories that took us out of this world!
Under the heading “New Beginnings” we started closer to home, with a story about a broken marriage where the daughter of the family makes her own way in a hairdressing salon, eventually taking over the business in a South West suburb of London. Help is needed, and a young girl is taken on who brings in more business. Eventually, it is time for our narrator to pull out from working 7 days a week, and the young girl and her partner take on the business, allowing the previous owner to retire in the West Country, devoting time to her own children.
We then had a story about the daughter of the family moving house and discovering that the elderly previous owner had a store of first edition books from the Victorian era which had been forgotten about, and were left in the loft. The new owner struggles, even with the support of her parents, to deal with the ethical dilemma of vacant possession and valuable items left behind. Contacting the family of the previous owner proves much harder than expected!
Our next new beginning involved a terminally ill patient having his brain downloaded into a memory chip, and starting a new life in a computer after his physical demise. Can a computer memory chip be unfaithful? What can the widow do about the claim that the computer makes on the wife’s inheritance? This was a fascinating situation that may become a reality at some time in the future.
We then moved on a further series of limericks with a discussion about the rhyming requirements demanded on the persons depicted. A topical story followed that with a family’s daughter having a husband chosen for her, and pressure being placed on her to go through with the wedding. Through education and qualifications achieved without the support of her husband she manages to establish herself and break free of the unhappy marriage.
We then had more new beginnings when a series of spaceships from the Orion Constellation arrive above Earth, and the governments of the planet, after unsuccessful attempts to negotiate individually, finally decide that they have common interest in working together to reach a deal with the aliens. How can 9 billion people work together for the first time in the history of our species? Creative writers have the answers!
Our final story concerned a dog that had been sent to a dog rescue centre when its owner was no longer able to care for it. The dog is fairly old and is delighted to meet a grandmother who is seeking company, and a happy outcome was ensured.
Our next Creative Writing meeting will take place on Wednesday 06 May 2026 at 10:00am.