Sunday Besties

Hello, dear reader!

And it’s back to me.

Yes, after my always amazing wife, Tina took the writing reins last week (see here), this week. you have the dubious pleasure of Mr. Rankin’s rantings and ravings to ‘enjoy’—and, this week, there’s actually quite a lot to discuss.

So, shall we?
Places To Go
There are weeks that I bemoan (with the emphasis on moan) the lack of things to write about. This may have been mentioned quite recently, and is, perhaps, something I should be wary of.

But, this is not one of those weeks.

No, this week, I have both been there and done that. ‘There’ being my native Leeds for an overnight stay, and ‘that’ being meeting up with some good friends.

The day in question was Sunday just gone, and, giddy as the proverbial smoked fish, I woke far too early to prepare myself for the day’s activity, breakfasted well (for beer-soaking purposes), and was ready and raring to go for the hour-long bus journey that took us to that fair(ish) city.

Say No More
We were due to meet two other couples, the male(ish) halves of which I have been friends with for getting on for half my life (which is an increasingly long time). Their (much, much, much) better halves I’ve known for less years, but the boys have chosen well, and as I myself identify as one half of a married couple these days, we settled in for an afternoon of booze and banter made passably dignified by the ladies’ presence.

Please note, when it comes to the lads, I’m marking on a definite curve.

However, with that note of respectability in place, the afternoon soon fell into a familiar pattern of good natured abuse and recollections of some of our high points, a lot of our low points, and the purchasing of a pink drink for yours truly, accompanied by wink-wink-nudge-nudge references to my masculinity. The very heart and soul of witty repartee.

It was all very familiar, and all very enjoyable.

There's Been A Murder
As we transitioned into the early evening, Mikesh and Hayley headed back home. A completely understandable move fuelled by it being a school-night and two young children, an early start and a substantial hangover not being all that mixy. In the past such a move might have raised a rousing rendition of ‘Shandy’s going home’, but, given the circumstances, we forebore.

As for the rest of the night, well that was mainly taken up with a curry, some of which I managed to get in my mouth, and a couple more drinks, before a trek back to the hotel. It was an earlier finish to the day than I’d envisaged, but, as I might have mentioned, we’re all getting just a little on the middle-aged side these days, and those heady days of an eleven o’clock start and a three A.M. finish are fittingly in the past. We said goodnight to the remaining couple, Dez and Lucy, and Tina and I settled into our room with some chocolate and the most recent adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express (which was fitting, as Agatha Christie had cropped up as a subject of discussion, alongside Formula One, Cruises, Penis Straws, and exactly which part of which pub had once seen me be sick on my legs.

It was, all in all, a hugely enjoyable day, one built on friendships old and slightly newer, but which was informed by a joint history and knowledge you can’t buy. I’m not, at heart, all that sociable. I need prodding to make an effort and, as I get older, making new friends becomes something of a statistical improbability. It makes days like Sunday precious.

Which leads me to something of a tangent.

A Friend Indeed

There is another old friend, you see. One who turns seventy five years old, today. An ally that has seen me through some of the worst times of my life, and without which I would, no doubt, not be here to enjoy days like Sunday. I’m talking, of course, of the NHS, that poem to human dignity. An offer of help given without even needing to be asked for and available to each and every one of us regardless of age, race, class, or wealth. It may have fallen on hard times in the last decade or so, but it is a friend we should all cherish, and one we should do our best to support in these harsher, colder, days.

To old friends and new.

Until next time…


Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think

New Tales Of Old: Volume 2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09TMVTX9H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Death Ship

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9198684140/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_TWEMTA3KWK7T89QEZPF6?fbclid=IwAR322Fx5nfgVUQAA62ZZ6CUsNnBm8pbSxPanzz6Qkjg3vAv4ESipq7iKKhs

https://www.waterstones.com/book/death-ship/david-green/s-o-green/9789198684148?fbclid=IwAR2gP4CXHSG7wTccO39wOqXFtI81k0259Ep8DUM48Ki6kTUdlKoF3yafojA

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9198684140/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A2XZ7JICGUQ1CX&psc=1&fbclid=IwAR2Wa6sGxb82_VCsC7l1CGXwHjsSwTheqba6jDX_G8EDsywZoGpC93nXr2w

Reaperman

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reaperman-Drabbles-3-Legends-Night-ebook/dp/B099NNPTQ1A

Pestilence

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pestilence-Revelations-Black-Ink-Fiction/dp/B09MDLZGHY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VP38WZDWJVAF&keywords=black+ink+fiction&qid=1654090896&sprefix=black+ink+fiction%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-1

The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Musketeers-Cthulhu-Court-King-Louis-ebook/dp/B09YQKQQB7/ref=sr_1_18?crid=2VP38WZDWJVAF&keywords=black+ink+fiction&qid=1654091002&sprefix=black+ink+fiction%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-18