Short Stories to Entertain

My dad was a fella with an Einstein brain from a not so well off family. The way his brain worked was a wonder. It took him a while to gather his thoughts which kind of suggested he was indecisive which was not the case. When it came to it he made a choice and stuck right on with it. At fourteen he left school and worked as an apprentice bookbinder of all things. At fifteen he had enough to pay for night school. Electronics was the thing he thought. At sixteen his brother joined him. At eighteen they both qualified. At nineteen in 1940 he was in the RAF mending radios on bombers. His brother mended radios in tanks in the desert and Italy. In 1946 he got married on a whim to a nurse who nursed him. Nothing so romantic as a war wound. An in-growing toenail. In 1950 he was developing radar and early computers. His brother fixed TVs in South Africa after emigrating. What is all this about you might ask. A life history. In a way for sure but mostly it is about taking the plunge. In 1963 he...

Raphael Ravenscroft suddenly fires up and fills the speakers of the bedside digital clock. That riff. And what a riff. That infectious sound, a creation of pure genius by the coming together of one of the greatest saxophone players of the modern age and the burgeoning talent of ex busker and Steelers Wheel front man Gerry Rafferty. Eight in the morning and time to get up. Tommy Tucker, as is his usual practice, wakes but does not turn off the alarm. He always, most definitely always, listens to the entire track. Baker Street containing the best example of passionate saxophone playing. Ever. He bounces out of bed full of beans and into the shower. Then dressed. He wears his normal clothes which considering his natural buoyant exuberance are rather subdued. White T shirt with a motif of guess who, a young Raphael stencilled on the front. Black, white and a shade of grey. Hanging loose over a pair of everyday jeans, faded blue and part covering pale blue sneakers. The mop he calls hair so...

Quite clearly the way forward was do as the boss said. There was no question. He was always right. Lucy Turnbull was not happy though. The system they were installing as far as she was concerned was defective. It left them vulnerable. They had significant value in clients’ funds that needed a very serious degree of protection. The system should have a built in fail-safe but didn’t. That surely was a mistake Lucy had worked at the solicitors for a good number of years. The office manager. Organising, arranging, dealing with the constant stream of contrary and sometimes abusive clients that fell through the door every day. The practice was large with around twenty-six legals, that’s how she referred to them, covering a vast array of fields. And all their support staff, of course. They varied in competence. There were a few that were just simply a pain in the arse. The legal side of their work was fine, after all she did not get involved in that. The administration though, that was someth...