http://slow.writerscafe.org/SJHBks The original writings of author Sidney J Hogan en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776137606 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 I wholeheartedly believe that if I had remained in France I would be alright now. I imagine i'd have struggled a bit, but in a manageable way. I had never known cruelty like it, I had never seen anything like it. I don't know if anything to that degree had ever happened before, nor how it had been.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2171594/ I missed who I was before, strong, charming, brave Edward. Edward James Tompkins. He was brilliant. I used to walk an hour everyday from my home in Bethnal Green to the West end. My goodness, I couldn't get enough of the noise, the colours, the beautiful and wonderfully talented people who I met the.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2171586/ http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2171575/ As the summer grew warmer, we started to sit in the never ending garden, only a small gate between us and a hundred farm animals. We would spend the morning feeding the cows, the horses. Then we would sit on deckchairs, radio on the grass, cigarette in hand. I'd have a beer and her a glass of wine. .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2170346/ I was always fascinated by the caveman like ways the boys at my schools, up until university behaved when it came to getting women and having sex. On nights out they would be harassing girls shamelessly trying to shag as many as people as possible, all trying to one up each other. When I was in coll.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2169810/ I was fascinated by the breeze and sounds that would emanate from the open window. I'd sit, eyes closed feeling the wind softly wash down and around my face, the birds chirping and the sun bathing me. The sound of her breathing softly as she slept in the middle of the big white bed, tangled in white.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2169770/ A love story in the summer of 89. From the bedroom of a British traveller and a French student. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2169768/ Edward didn't go to the pub, he didn't really go anywhere, he just kept walking and walking praying an air raid would come and drop a bomb right where he was standing. He found himself in the middle of the east end, surrounded by rubble. Death. All around him was family homes no longer standing, thi.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2168518/ Poem from the perspective of a solider as he takes his final breath. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2168143/ The worry crippled them for such a long time, that even if it was bad news, they felt as though they could take it. They convinced themselves, it was better than not knowing. They were tired, frustrated, anxious, and depressed. Dorothy would sit for hours of a morning, staring out the window as.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2167626/ The joy, as usual, wasn't long lasting. Edward had found himself back in the pub most nights, steering clear of women but heavily back on the booze. He wasn't so much short tempered with Dot as he was, frisky and handsy. It bothered her, because he used to be so gentle, so romantic. When they were y.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2144534/ They hadn't heard from Jimmy for a while, naturally, it was driving them up the walls. They waited about 4 weeks before they received any kind of letter. He had been relocated to Burma, where he had been injured and was stuck up in a hospital bed. As parents, they felt, helpless. They couldn't exact.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2143527/ The strain of the war and the anticipation of not knowing whether or not they would ever see their son again was becoming more and more evident in the Way household. They argued more than ever, Dorothy unable to put up with his drinking and temper any longer. She knew he was being disloyal, too. It .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2136504/ Jimmy was a charming young lad, mummy's boy, and just like his dad. Very popular, did well in school, and had a job at 15. Never any trouble whatsoever, he was close with all his father's friends, too, as he worked in the pub. Even had a girlfriend, Elsie. Dorothy loved her, which was so important t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2134365/ Like everyone else in Britain between 1939 and 1945, Dorothy and Edward were desperately struggling to ignore the fact their only child, Jimmy, was fighting the seemingly never ending war against Germany. It was taking it's toll on their marriage, just as much as it was on them individually. They lo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2133491/ As (eventually) will become clear that the majority of my stories are war related, but this one explores the lives of the people at home, listening to the news and dodging air raids. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2133459/ http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2129632/ I had underestimated how difficult this was going to become. Greta was becoming slow, and uncomfortable. We were struggling to find her somewhere comfortable to stay, and when we did, we had to stay a few nights at a time. I know I hadn't made a mistake, but things had gotten way too intense. No mat.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2129628/ I woke up first, sun beaming through a missing plank in the roof of the barn, sunlight washing me from head to toe. It was wonderful. I went out the back for a cigarette, looking down the hill at the destruction below, but also the beauty of the countryside surrounding it. The German invasion w.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2129040/ It was like seeing her flushed all the drugs out of my system. I put on my brave stage face, wide away and ready, stormed the stage like I did all those years ago. The boys all looked shocked and confused, until they looked out into the audience and saw Viv stood where she always did, but this time .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2108466/ I never knew what day it was, let alone what month. I didn't check. Time went slow enough as it is. I hoped and prayed that I just wouldn't wake up one day, I wanted an end to all the heart ache, but God wouldn't let me die. I had overdosed several times but I unfortunately always ended up coming ri.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2108318/ The 80's was quite possibly the worse decade of my whole life. The band continued to thrive, but I went downhill in a way I couldn't have foreseen. I was just as much of a junkie as my mother, only difference was that I could afford it. I had been living out of the bus even when we weren't touring. .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2107320/ It was like a whirlwind. I felt like I couldn't breathe or think and I was feeling so sorry for myself. And it's true, how one decision, one action in one moment can change your life forever. For better or for worse, it can determine you're lifelong happiness in a way you really do not consider at t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2107282/ We had been staying in a hotel for about a month following the final show of the last tour, it was the only break we had before going back to America for a few dates in New York and Los Angeles. Me and Viv had been inseparable. The boys had a room downstairs and we had our own above theirs. They wer.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2107184/ We were just excited to be home. Home without the dread of poverty and misery, we could stay in a nice hotel or even just on our tour bus and we didn't have to set foot in any place that made us unhappy. That was exactly what I had always dreamed of. We were due to play at Shepherd's Bush Empire and.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2107075/ It was amazing. Being at the heart of a revolution, a genuine revolution. One that changed all of our lives forever. I was 17 when it began and it was like a release. I lived in a flat with a mum who was addicted heroin and a deadbeat dad who only came to 'visit', (when he's out of a shag and he kno.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2106980/ http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/SJHBks/2106964/