Biography [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Now … you know how, on a few rare yet memorable moments in a lifetime, something so spectacular occurs, it gets your complete and undivided attention for that one pin point of a moment and then leaves you awestruck and breathless for what seems like an eternity, but is only in fact a few seconds … well … this was one of those moments.

Unfortunately, it was not the clear reverberation of a single Fender Stratocaster note ringing through the air, to announce the dawning of a new era.

It was … initially a flash of lightning emanating from the tobacco tin under the guitar strings, followed by a crack and bang and then, to usher in the awestruck breathless stage of the proceedings, the sight, through the clearing smoke, of the six knobs sliding off the front of the beast in slow formation, the smell of the melting paint dripping off the pink monster and the deep, deep silence that informs you that you've fused every electrical appliance in the house, probably the street.

Neither boy spoke for some considerable time. They could hear the ticking of the clock on the kitchen sideboard coming out of the house and they gazed in horror at the melted debris. The first of many dreams to go up in smoke. Now for the first time they could see the results of their labours all around them. The fused house, a mountain of broken tools and spilled paint, and worst of all, the coffee table with the shape of a Fender Guitar missing from its surface. Tracks needed to be covered. They both knew that retribution was likely to be both swift and painful.

One of them picked up the remains of the coffee table and inspected it closely, wondering if invisible repair was a possibility, but surveying the fruits of their handywork so far, realised a miracle was their only hope.

"Fuck me …" he finally gasped. "What are we going to do?"

The other boy thought for a long time, and after some careful evaluation of all the facts, and all the possibilities, took the coffee table from his friend and headed out across the fields.

"We'd better go and find "Wood", he said.

[The End]