The Sound of Silence. The FastFictionPodcast team is delighted to be able to finally release our fully dramatized story, The Sound of Silence. It’s a powerful story, and sadly very much part of our times. Maybe there are a few warnings to take on board – but we will leave you to find them yourself.
And please remember to give us a review when done; iTunes would be wonderful, but if not, we would like to find ourselves given a tick of approval on your own favorite platform.
. One of the traits of the Three Monkeys. We continue into the last week of the Australian holiday season with a beach story. Short and Sweet. Or is it? We have a beautiful beach, a handsome man, romance. What could possibly go wrong? Enjoy.
Note: On our last post we promised you the dramatic Sound of Silence. Apologies. It will definitely come next post. We just thought we would keep the holiday mood going as long as possible.
Driver Unknown is not a nice story. In fact, it is a Cautionary Tale, once known a story with a moral, or a message. What that message depends on the reader and how it is read.
While it is our last podcast for the year, we hasten to add that the next pod will be coming out very soon, and will be very different. So please bear with us while we impart a simple story from LifeInTheSlowLane, that MakesYouThink, while also being a candidate for the CrimeWithoutGrime series.
See you in a happier story next year.
Time: 23 minutes.
Don’t be confused by our podcast cover showing the 8th December. We want to be well prepared ahead of time. You see for those fans of the Fab Four that is the day that John Lennon was killed by a crazed Mark Chapman in front of the Dakota building in New York back in 19880. While it is just possible that those younger listeners may ask ” Who were the Fab Four,” and “Who is John Lennon,” it is more likely they really know. But it is unlikely they feel as much anguish as Violet Flaherty, the luckless lady in our recent podcast.
The Beatles: While not only admitting knowledge, but admiration of The Beatles, I also remember those traumatizing headlines, and news headlines of December 8th, 1980. and how the world seemed to stop rotating in disbelief. Remember, this was long before 9/11 and all the subsequent horror days that have united the entire globe in a mixture of incredulity, skepticism. shock and personal tragedy.
But while undoubtedly a serious continuum of events for our players, we assure you that our new release is not to be taken too seriously. Just allow yourself time to listen, 23 minutes in fact.
Oh, and by the way… If you enjoyed the story, please give us a review on your favorite platform, or iTunes. And if you would like a copy of the manuscript, or any others, just pop across to our Contact page.
A Day Too Long: Our latest pod is another story that is difficult to classify. Although we have tagged it as one of TheSpouseTrap series, it does fit the CrimeWithoutGrime series too. But if you give thought to the story a little more, it could easily classify as MakesYouThink. Why? Well, usually our Spouse Trap stories cover marital discord in some way. But this marriage has lasted for over 40 years. Yet it would appear that 40 years is A Day Too Long
Where’s Fred? our new podcast is a particular favorite of mine. It has turned up in many formats: first in print as part of the CrimeWriter Queensland books, Perils under the Pandanus, it was made into a short film*, performed on 4DDB FM and is now brought to you as a dramatized reading.
It begins with the words, “I remember exactly when I decided to plan my husband,” so there is not too much doubt about the plot.
*A little later in the month I will ‘spill the beans’ on the film shoot. And no, don’t go looking for it, it never made it to the screen, or anywhere else for that matter. (Although a copy does lie deep in the back of an unused cupboard.) But the story of the making of the film was really very funny, and probably worth a podcast of its own.
Time Gentlemen Please: This story is not really about time, or even Rolex.
There was always an irony in the fact that a Rolex watch was often given to retirees after a lifetime of service to a company. At the very time in his life when time is of far less importance. Even so, in some ways, the watch would represent a man’s life. The Rolex itself, prized for its accuracy, also represents the highest level of achievement.
So why not listen to the story and decide yourself?
Synergy: 11m25s Maureen Durney and John Cross
One definition of Synergy is the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts. The term synergy comes from the Attic Greek word meaning “working together”.In the garden Synergy is the growing of compatible plants together to produce a better outcome. However this story is NOT about gardening.
We meet an ageing spinster on one ‘dark stormy night’ which changes her life. It could comfortably fit into our CrimeWithoutGrime series, but it is hoped that some of the things covered will also MakeYouThink. Enjoy.
A long time waiting has been a long time coming.
It is based on not one but many true stories that began their genesis soon after the second World War.
The United Kingdom struggled to overcome the devastation caused by bombing when thousands of families lost their homes. Children lost parents, and all lost some part of their identity.
During the next fifteen years it is estimated that nearly 150,000 children aged 4 to 14 were rounded up as part of the child migrant scheme. Over 7,000 orphans and children from disadvantaged homes were sent to Australia in order to enjoy a “better life.” In other cases, the parents – many of them single mothers were forced to give up their child for adoption. This was due to poverty or social stigma, with the assumption of neglect. Parents and children were encouraged to believe they were going to better life. Parents were told their children had a better chance in life. Yet few had details of where their offspring were sent.
Reality
The reality, for some of those children, was a childhood of servitude and hard labor. They were sent to foster homes: on remote farms, at state-run orphanages and church-run institutions. They were often separated from siblings. Some were subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
Oranges and Sunshine
In 1987 the English social social worker Margaret Humphreys learnt of the truth of this program and let the world know. In 2010 the film Oranges and Sunshine starring Emily Watson was released, and became a triumph in the box office. However it is only now that the children, all now in their seventies and eighties are being recognized as victims and compensation considered.
A long time waiting is a complex story which sits comfortably in the CrimeWithoutGrime, MakesYouThink and even TheSpousetTrap series.
National Apology Day, 22nd October.
Today is the Australian National Apology Day for all those young children, mostly between 6- 14 years, who were shipped out from England after WW2 on the premise they would have a better life. While a good many were orphans, there were also a good many who were simply disadvantaged by having a single working mother whose care was automatically questioned. At best the children were losing possibly their only living relative, at worst they were used as child labour, and possibly physical and mental abuse.
Not only was this a cruel project, it was insidious in its cover of being a kindly act. The parents and children alike had their lives ruined, and these wasted lives have long been forgotten. So, as our story A Long Time Waiting infers, this National Apology Day has been A Long Time Coming.
While this story is one of fiction, it is based on first hand knowledge of true events. And so, while it may not be a story you Enjoy, we hope it Makes You Think.
While we cannot go back into the past, we can ensure that we do not take those mistakes into the future.
The Hand: It is difficult to say much about this complex story without giving the plot away.
Neighbours know each other in ways that are more intimate than families, and the garden fence is no boundary to borrowing or sharing personal items, or even one’s life.
Although The hand fits comfortably in our CrimeWithoutGrime series, it was once entitled Neighbours. No doubt you will see why once you listen to it. While it is true you can’t choose your family, you can choose your friends, and in some ways you can choose your neighbours. And while friendship with neighbours is a wonderful thing, it is also fraught with problems.