{"id":1060,"date":"2019-11-02T16:02:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-02T16:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/?page_id=1060"},"modified":"2020-12-27T10:37:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T10:37:22","slug":"the-test","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/?page_id=1060","title":{"rendered":"The Texan, The Hoarder, The Test (three pieces)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Texan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Published in Ellipsis Zine, 2020<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"48d9JYxRJG\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ellipsiszine.com\/eight\/\">Ellipsis Zine, Eight: You, Me, and Emmylou<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Ellipsis Zine, Eight: You, Me, and Emmylou&#8221; &#8212; Ellipsis Zine\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ellipsiszine.com\/eight\/embed\/#?secret=48d9JYxRJG\" data-secret=\"48d9JYxRJG\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Hoarder<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Both these flash pieces were published in Worthing Flash<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/worthingflash.blogspot.com\/2019\/09\/the-hoarder.html\">http:\/\/worthingflash.blogspot.com\/2019\/09\/the-hoarder.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pastry-croisant-with-chocolate-crumbs-on-the-stone-tray.jpeg\" rel=\"lightbox[1060]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1073\" src=\"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pastry-croisant-with-chocolate-crumbs-on-the-stone-tray-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pastry-croisant-with-chocolate-crumbs-on-the-stone-tray-300x200.jpeg 300w, http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pastry-croisant-with-chocolate-crumbs-on-the-stone-tray-768x512.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pastry-croisant-with-chocolate-crumbs-on-the-stone-tray.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The kitchen is stuffy, the window so crusted with finger-marks, grease and dust that it makes the trees outside look like photocopies of themselves.<\/p>\n<p>The floor is scattered with debris &#8211; breadcrumbs and fragments of crisps, tea leaves, curled up rocket, maybe a seed here and there \u2013 a forensic free-for-all.<\/p>\n<p>He hoards food. The table is piled high with bread, some recently bought &#8211; others, encased in plastic, bloom with green spots of mould. There are rolls, flatbreads, pittas, cut loaves and pastries. Cookies, cheese biscuits, gluten-free biscuits, chocolate chip biscuits. Gingerbread stars in a large red plastic tin. Two tubs of butter. Tabasco sauce. A large packet of sugar. A toothbrush. A jar of pickles. A honeydew melon. A mug containing cold tea.<\/p>\n<p>Do not dare not look inside the fridge. It is taped closed and dirty whirls mark its edges.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;I do not judge. I only wish for rubber gloves, cleaning fluids and rubbish bags. As for what he wishes \u2013 I know he wishes for his country back, for the war never to have started, for his mother and sister, for a past that was different.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Test <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A small room, over-heated. The sky outside grey like the man\u2019s hair. A desk. Not quite grey, not quite white. A young man. Hair, black and slightly woolly. Eyebrows also black.<\/p>\n<p>Grey-haired man. \u2018What is the purpose of your visit?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;Young man. \u2018I have been invited to speak at the Festival of Words.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; \u2018Words?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;\u2018Yes, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;\u2018On what topic?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;\u2018Words, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;A pause. A raindrop sliding down the window.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;\u2018Words does not describe the topic Mr\u2026?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;\u2018Mr. Abias, sir.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; \u2018Mr. Abias please describe the topic you will be speaking on.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;A pause. The click of a radiator. \u2018The title of my piece is the impact of the Colonial Mind on the literature of Angola in the late 20<sup>th<\/sup> century.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The grey-haired man taps his pen on the desk that is neither white nor grey. \u2018The Colonial mind. Is that how you see us, Mr. Abias?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018It depends, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018On what Mr. Abias?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018On who is speaking, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018Why do you persist in calling me sir?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; \u2018Because I do not know your name.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018I see.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Is this a test?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The click of a fingernail on the desk that is neither grey nor white.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018Indeed it is, Mr. Abias. We deem it necessary for visitors such as yourself to explain. Do you understand?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018But I have a proper invitation, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018An invitation is insufficient.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I do not intend to stay here if this is what concerns you. When my visit is over, I will be returning to Angola. It is my home.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;The grey-haired man clears his throat. \u2018There are other issues.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018What other issues?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018That, Mr. Abias is for you to work out.\u2019 The grey-haired man smiles and sits back in his chair. Click, click.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Firsr published in Worthing Flash, October 2019<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/worthingflash.blogspot.com\/2019\/10\/the-test.html\">http:\/\/worthingflash.blogspot.com\/2019\/10\/the-test.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Texan Published in Ellipsis Zine, 2020 Ellipsis Zine, Eight: You, Me, and Emmylou The Hoarder Both these flash pieces were published in Worthing Flash http:\/\/worthingflash.blogspot.com\/2019\/09\/the-hoarder.html The kitchen is stuffy, the window so crusted with finger-marks, grease and dust that it makes the trees outside look like photocopies of themselves. The floor is scattered with &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/?page_id=1060\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Texan, The Hoarder, The Test (three pieces)<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":726,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1060"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1060"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1249,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1060\/revisions\/1249"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}