Frozen in place at the end of the board, too scared to jump, too embarrassed to turn back.
In years to come it would feel like this moment encompassed two thirds of Tina’s childhood rather than approximately forty five seconds one Saturday afternoon when she was eight.
___________
Notes:
1. Written on July 7th, 2023
It was the greatest story ever told. Love, death, heroism, villainy, selflessness, satisfaction. Even a joke now and then, and some dancing too. Everything was up there on the screen, depths and layers you could stare into and see whatever it was you wanted to, needed to, hoped to, dared to, like a magic mirror, or a wishing pool, or an old album full of photos redolent of things greater than were ever really true at the time.
The projector caught fire half an hour in and no one ever saw the end.
__________
Notes:
1. Written on July 5th, 2023
Gridflip is an ultra simple puzzle game where you have to flip the grid of blocks from white to black. Contains 3 mildly different game modes, plus high scores and saves. You can play/download on itch.io, or play it straight away in your browser here.
___________
Notes:
1. Made between September 10th and September 15th, 2023
2. Using twine again
3. Even though it would probably make more sense to have made this in basically anything else.
A Day Out – The others said it was cheating to use this for A but I don’t care what they say.
Big Wheel – It went round and around until we got on and then it stopped. Everyone blamed Claire except Claire, who blamed everyone except Claire.
Candy Floss – Mum said we wouldn’t like this and she was right!
Dagger Throwing – We are NEVER allowed to do this at home.
Eggs (Pickled) – “It’s not a picnic without pickled eggs” says Mum (and no one else).
Fortune Teller – Apparently Tina’s going to get married! To a boy!
Gargantuan – What an amazing word. “The circus was gargantuan!”
Horror (House Of) – Daniel had a nose bleed in here.
Idiots (AKA Clowns) – They grow their faces in jars. Maybe they should keep them there.
Jugglers – Mum hates jugglers but will never tell us why. She wouldn’t let them teach us anything. We weren’t even allowed to watch.
King – Tina said he wasn’t the real King but then why was he wearing a crown?
Lady Luck – She told us we’d win but we didn’t win a thing (except for Daniel but he was cheating). Never trust Lady Luck!
Mirrors (Hall Of) – This made Claire absolutely furious!
Night – It was day when we went in, but night when we came out. I said this was magical and Mum agreed but then Claire said it was just the passing of time and she stamped in a puddle to prove it. (I still thought it was magical!)
Oracle – Apparently Tina’s going to get married! To a different boy!
Pennies – I found four and Tina found three but Claire and Daniel found EIGHT! But then I found a pound so who won really? (Claire and Daniel did it was a draw).
Queen – Tina said she wasn’t the real Queen but then why was she drinking all that tea?
Robots – Supposedly these aren’t “traditional”. But they were the best bit!
Selkie – Basically a mermaid. It’s a good thing Dad wasn’t here or he’d have gone all weird again.
Taffy – Mum said we wouldn’t like this and she was wrong!
Unicyclists – (see Jugglers)
Vampire – Mum said he wasn’t a vampire he was the ringmaster but he was definitely a vampire you could tell it was obvious.
Water – £5
Xtremely Unfunny – We didn’t laugh once (not even Daniel).
Y – Good question!
Zebras – There were some horses and that was as close as we ever got to a Z.
__________
Notes:
1. Written between the 11th and the 14th of July, 2023