Tag: disability

Festive Updates: My Creative Projects in Progress

Hi everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the festive spirit. Personally, I love this time of year and having some time off. It’s great to catch up with people, also.

I like giving these updates every six months or so on all my projects. Occasionally, these posts prove really popular. Other times, I’d be lucky if anyone apart from myself reads it at all. Such is life, I guess. First, an update on my longer-term projects.

Wheelchair Wars

This has now been fully critiqued. I am about to employ a successful author to read through it to see how it could be improved. I’m aiming for the stars.

Romance Short Stories

Critiqued, but I need to work through the suggestions and rewrite as appropriate. Hopefully, this will be significantly improved over the holidays

Pegasus

The first draft is complete; the next needs to go through the critique process.

Distant Love

First draft being written.

The blog itself is going quite well. Last year, it received 1,746 views. It’s looking like this year will be more like 2,746. Still, quite a way to go to become profitable, but moving in the right direction.

I have 2,700 followers on Bluesky. Hoping to get that up to the 5k range by next year.

Plenty of things planned for next year, and hopefully, see you there!

Distant Love (Part 51)

He now continues down a long ramp to the underground corridor that leads to the nearest lunar train station. He is more or less alone, except for some stragglers that he powers past.

The corridor is bright and white. Ten minutes pass, and he hears the bustling of a crowd in the distance. For a split second, he worries there will be no space for him. Fortunately, an echo has made it sound far busier than it is.

There is a group of six teenagers to his right. A mixture of girls and boys is laughing hysterically. He put them at around fifteen years of age.

To his left, a woman close to his age with short, jet black hair and tattoos on her arm.

I wonder if any of them are going to the fair.

He asks the AI on his wheelchair, Sarah, what time it is? He has time to spare.

Three minutes pass, and the lunar train arrives. Its doors automatically open, and he drives inside to the area reserved for wheelchairs. The wheelchair is then clamped in place by a robotic arm.

A smile broke out across his face as his excitement built.

There were numerous stops along the way. Each time, the crowd on the train grew.

Distant Love (Part 45)

The ship finally stops rattling, and a blue sky appears with white puffy shapes below.

Maeve shouted back to him. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” That’s clouds below us.”

“Wow, much more beautiful than the moon.”

She looks back and smiles. “You haven’t seen anything yet!”

There is a crackling sound over the communications array –

“You are about to enter His Majesty’s airspace. This is an unscheduled flight. You have sixty seconds to identify yourself. Otherwise, the aerial defence system will be activated.”

Derek’s heart sinks. “What do we do now?”

Maeve twitches her fingers. “I have an idea.”

She then replies, “This is the vessel 4573 requesting permission to enter. Code Alpha Beta Two niner omega tr34”

The voice replies, “You are cleared to land.”

The thought crosses Dereks’ mind – How did she know what to say?

Seconds pass, and the ship descends below the clouds. A blue sea is revealed. Derek’s eyes open wide with wonder. It is one of the most beautiful things he has ever seen.

“Incredible, isn’t it?” Maeve says in a hushed tone.

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

“The island will shortly come into view. It will be unlike anything you have seen before. Let’s hope you like it.”

Distant Love (Part 44)

Hours pass, and the magnificent habitats come clearly into view. They are cylindrical in shape, with a constant stream of small vessels travelling in between them.

“Looks incredible, doesn’t it, Derek?” Maeve says, both of their eyes transfixed.

“It is. I read somewhere that we’re reaching the tipping point where more people will be living off Earth than on it. Crazy, really, and there’s a huge universe out there for us to colonize.” Derek’s eyes were wide with wonder.

“Incredible, we’d better dock you in place again. We’ll soon start to feel the effect of the Earth’s gravity.”

Derek began to sweat in nervous anticipation. This would be unlike anything he had experienced before.

Their ship descended between the habitats.

The ship shook. It was almost imperceptible.

Derek thought – It is beginning.

Then another shake.

“Don’t worry, Derek. The ship’s onboard navigation system won’t have any difficulties taking us in. Landing on Earth is routine, not like landing on the moon.”

Maeve smirked, and Derek found it odd how reassuring he found it to be.

The rattling increases with each passing moment. The viewport edges turn red.

“We’re going to the top of the second large island off that landmass. You can’t see the small island itself, yet.” Maeve shouted over the sound of the spaceship crashing through the atmosphere.

Distant Love (Part 43)

Hours pass, and the Earth now looms large in the viewport. Derek stares in fascination at the multitude of space habitats now visible in orbit. “Which one is the New Yorker habitat?”

Maeve smiles and holds her hands out in front of him. “There it is. It has a blue hue. See it?”

“Wow, it looks so small, hard to imagine one hundred million people living there. Did you ever visit?”

Maeve stays silent for a moment, then responds, “Yes, I have. It looks small from here, but it actually has a huge living space. There are huge areas with no one. Of course, it’s very crowded in places too. It’s crazy, though, looking up and seeing people living their lives above you.”

Derek drives forward, “Is it true that it is the wealthiest place in the solar system?”

“Oh, yes, no poor people allowed. If you can no longer afford the fees, off back to Earth with you. It’s supposed to be very cutthroat. All smiles to your face, but get lost if you have nothing. I guess that’s why they left Earth.”

Derek nods his head in agreement. Do you know any of the others?”

“Of course, there is New Ireland, that’s Gallois, there’s Quantus. I could go on for a good half day, I’d say, there are so many.”

Distant Love (Part 42)

After some time, Derek asks, “So, tell me about this aunt of yours. You never mentioned her previously.”

“Well, no, I haven’t. But I don’t see her often, so it wouldn’t just crop up. As I mentioned, she resides on the island of Haroldswick in the Shetland Islands. Ever heard of them?” Her eyes opened wide.

Derek nods his head, “No, should I?”

Maeve smiles, “I thought not, they are islands that are part of an ancient country called the United Kingdom. And to be honest, I’d say most people in the UK would have no idea where they are. They are far from the mainland, and all of Shetland has a population of only twenty-five thousand people. And in Haroldwick, only a couple of hundred at best.”

Derek winks, “Should be easy to stay out of the limelight, so!”

“That’s what I’m thinking. I was there, just the once before. Looking out at the sea, and watching the crashing of the waves against the cliffs. It looked unending. And the quaint little houses and streets. The people are really friendly. Nervous of outsiders, but it will be fine once they know about Aunty.”

“Should be fun. I just hope it’s wheelchair-friendly to some degree.”

Distant Love (Part 41)

Derek’s heart misses a beat with the anguish in her voice. “I’m sorry, Nathalie. I couldn’t tell you what I was about to do. It would only get you in trouble. You were the best friend I ever had.”

“Don’t be a fool, she’s not….” The message cackles before it stops altogether.

Maeve glances at him, but he looks ahead.

“Where’re now, Maeve? Any ideas? We can’t stay here.”

There is a moment of silence, then she says, “Why not Earth? My aunt lives somewhere in Haroldswick in the Shetland Islands. It’s remote, and we can trust her. We’ll never be found.”

Derek smiles, “Never heard of it but that’s probably a good thing. I’ll put in the coordinates for Earth. It’s going to take a couple of hours.”

An hour later, the ship has stopped its acceleration. The harness automatically removes from Derek’s wheelchair, and Maeve unstraps her belt.

A moment later, she throws her arms around Derek’s neck and presses her lips against his. “You saved me. Nobody has done something like that for me before. You’re a hero.”

Derek gazes into her eyes, “Anything for you, love. You have the rest of our lives to make it up to me.”

They laughed and began to kiss once more.

Distant Love (Part 40)

Derek drives his wheelchair into position in the middle of the deck. Clamps lock onto the wheelchair as a belt closes around his torso.

There is a large computer monitor in front of him showing the grey hangar door blocking their exit. The rest of the deck is full of red leather seats and various computers that combine into an AI hive mind known as “The Ship”.

He looks to see that Maeve is strapped in, then issues the command to the ship’s computer to initiate take-off.

The ship replies, “Good to see you, Derek. And I see you have a guest. Initializing the thrusters.”

Derek feels the ship rattling. Then it stops dead.

“What happened?” Maeve yelps.

“The station has given a counter order,” the station replies matter-of-factly.

Everything is going exactly as Derek foresaw, “Issuing Emergency Order 563.”

The thrusters ignite one more, and the hangar door opens to reveal the lunar landscape.

Then, they lift off. Earth comes into view, a blue dot in the vastness of space. The orbiting space habitats are invisible at this distance.

A buzzing sound comes over the communications array.

Then Derek hears Nathalie’s voice. “What are you doing, Derek? This is crazy. You need to come back right now!”

Distant Love (Part 38)

The lift door opens. Derek is sitting in his electric wheelchair and pointing a Swazi hand laser at one of the guards. Its sleek design is unmistakable; it has the power to disintegrate those in front of it. “I’m here for you Maeve.”

His hand motions for the two guards to get out. They look at each other in disbelief before raising their hands and exiting. A guard tosses the keys of the handcuffs to Maeve, who takes them off.

Derek reverses into the lift, all the time keeping them in his sights, “It’s nothing personal. Now run!”

They turn and sprint away as the lift door closes.

Maeve hugs him, “What now?”

“Press Floor 7, we don’t have much time.”

An alarm blares as the lift rises. The lift door opens, revealing a long, white corridor. “Maeve, you need to sprint. The wheelchair will keep up with you. Now, run.”

Sure enough, he kept by her side. The sound of people shouting comes from behind.

“I’m putting the wheelchair on auto. Keep going as fast as you can, Maeve.”

She looks over to see his seat turning around to the other side of the direction he is travelling in. He opens fire.

Distant Love (Part 37)

Maeve wakes up to the sound of other prisoners shouting for their breakfast. They arrived the previous night and insisted on making their presence felt.

Her thoughts turned to Derek, and she wished she could see him once more. Checking on his location, she smiles. He is back on the base.

There is a knock on her cell door.

“Yes?”

The door opens, the knock merely allowing a few seconds to get ready.

They need not have worried. She slept ready. All she needed was a comb for her long hair.

Today, she was to be brought before the lunar judge to plead, either “guilty” or “not guilty.” Her lawyer had strongly advised against fighting it: “You could be free in as little as ten years.”

So, in her mind, there was little. Ten years it would be.

Two nervous officers entered – a male and a female. They both stern.

The woman spoke, “Maeve, please come with us.”

Maeve nods and follows them out. It is a path she has become familiar with.

The other prisoners screech at them through the bars. Tears roll down Maeve’s face as they enter a long corridor with an escalator that brings them up a level.