Free chapters from ‘Addled: Adventures of a Reluctant Mystic’…
I walked carefully down the cobbled path under the giant archways of the Byker Bridge. I had started to think of them as Mindfulness Cobbles, since I always had to concentrate when walking on them. It was good practise, brought me right into the moment. My stomach lurched as I rounded the corner and the… Continue reading Chapter 11: Dionysus Wept
I walked back to the flat in a daze, mind on a loop trying to work out how I’d missed Adam and how fast you would have to walk to disappear that quickly, unless he was going round behind the farm along the river, perhaps that was it, I’d have to check, when I nearly… Continue reading Chapter 10: Metaphysical Flimflam
I sat in a pool of sunlight pouring through the long Velux, amplified and focused by the glass. Propped up on a cushion, struggling to keep my back straight, I fidgeted and rubbed my knees. I was supposed to be watching my breath. Adam said I could count them if it helped, but I kept… Continue reading Chapter 9: A Grand Prix of Cogitation – part 2
Adam wasn’t there when I arrived at the concrete seats. I leaned over the fence and watched the river tumble by, my breath condensing in the frigid air. A polite cough sounded behind me and I turned. Adam was sitting on one of the seats dressed in his usual exquisite tailored suit, having made no… Continue reading Chapter 9: A Grand Prix of Cogitation – part 1
I slammed the front door behind me, swept through to the living room, and flung myself on the sofa. Jonah was composing on his synth at his computer in the corner, headphones clamped to his ears. He slipped them off and spun his chair to face me. ‘What happened?’ he said, looking worried. ‘He’s a… Continue reading Chapter 8: The Ultimate Subversion – part 2
As soon as I walked through the supermarket doors I wanted to turn around and walk out again. I was still feeling jangled from my latest encounter with weirdness, like my skin had been pulled off. It was early, so Morrisons wasn’t too busy, but the light still hurt my eyes and the vacuous music… Continue reading Chapter 8: The Ultimate Subversion – part 1
Fragmented images flashed and swirled about me, none of them lasting long enough to decipher. It was the tail end of a convoluted dream that had confused me even while I was having it, and I wanted to wake up and get back to reliable, linear reality. At last, I struggled into consciousness and lay… Continue reading Chapter 7: Thumbprint of God
