PORT BROKEFERRY - MONDAY MORNING

(a panorama of Port Brokeferry at the start of the week... provides snatched glimpses of some of the characters that inhabit the town)

PORT BROKEFERRY – MONDAY EARLY

Slowly things come to life in Port Brokeferry on a Monday morning. Lights in the houses turn on. The curtains pull back on some of the windows. Smoke rises from some of the chimneys. There are no clouds in the sky. It promises to be a bright start to things. It augers well for the season ahead.

Kyle wakes Susan. Says her name. Calls her back from sleep. She asks him what time it is. He tells her. She smiles. Just five more minutes, she says. The house at his back is quiet. Corinne is still sleeping. Just five minutes then, he says. He lays his hand on her waist. Like they could be dancing, there in the bed, except her back is to him.

Martin empties his pockets on the sand. Just crumbs. He collects his shoes from high up on the beach. Does not put them on. He looks over his shoulder. Checking to see if Col might be there. He climbs the stone steps up to the road and looks along the main street. He sees Callum throw the stub of his cigarette in the gutter. Martin watches where it lands.

Dodie Bredwell is up and about. He runs his fingers through his hair. Catches himself in the mirror. Sticks out his tongue. Then he laughs. Shakes the weekend from his head and sets the kettle on to boil. He clears the table of dirty dishes and stacks them beside the sink. He sits. There are school books still to mark. He takes up his pen. Not red but green. He opens the first book and begins reading.

Sinnie is making tea. Now she has written her dreams down, she can set about her day. There were owls in her dreams last night. Faces like flowers, claws like thorns. One was wearing a waistcoat, all silver buttons with a watch and chain. She has written a comment on her dream. Something about wisdom and time. She is old and thinks the dream has something to do with that. It hasn’t, but that’s what Sinnie thinks. She is singing.

Helen has been up since six. The baby woke her. It woke Edwin too, but he turned over and fell back into sleep. There was a time when it was the other way around. When Edwin got up and Helen turned over and reclaimed sleep. Years and years back. The time ‘The Silver Herring’ was still a working boat. Now the working hours are a little easier. He opens things at nine. The small ticket booth on the pier. First tour at eleven. Helen wakes her daughter Grace and tells her the baby needs feeding.

Callum is back serving in the shop. The air is so warm there, he has his shirt sleeves rolled up and his face is red. Kerry pays for six rolls. She is smiling. She says it is a fine day for it, though she never says what ‘it’ is. Lillian too brings a smile with her into the shop. And Callum says it is good to see her up and about. Blair does not say anything. He drops his money on the counter and picks up a bag of scones and bread. The bag has his name written on it. He does not look at Callum or Lillian or Kerry. Maybe he says something as he leaves. You can never be sure that he isn’t just clearing his throat.