A Visit to York Station

£1.49

Two young boys agree to skive off school, but events overtake them as the narrator spies his father on the station kissing a woman he doesn’t recognise. They follow the couple out of the station, witnessing more amorous behaviour. The narrator cannot come to terms with what he is witnessing, but his friend has seen this sort of thing before and has experienced his parents’ divorce. He takes hold of the situation and distracts the narrator with childish pranks and a promise that he will reveal the naughtiest word in the world.

“Full of good description and effective use of a familiar locale, this story gives a nicely understated rending of a timeless childhood day. This evolves into something much darker, which is almost unseen by the protagonists. Well written and involving.”
Third Prize in the Shorter Short Story Competition, Winchester Writers’ Festival 2013.

“I thought this very touching story had the edge for the subtle handling of the dynamic between the two boys – the one innocently observing his father’s betrayal of his mother, but teetering on the edge of understanding and his friend, who has already been through the experience of a broken home, protecting him from the same potential outcome. With its undertow of loyalty and friendship and what divorce can mean to a child, I think it really was a worthy winner. Many many congratulations on a lovely piece of writing – it touched my heart and was impeccably controlled.”
First Prize in the Short Story Competition, Yeovil Literary Prize 2014.

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Description

Sample…

It was Wednesday and Wednesdays are for sports and games. On Wednesdays, there would be kids running around school and off all over the place going to the gym, going to the football and netball pitches. On Wednesdays, there would kids running around outside to get on buses to go to the swimming baths or to play other school teams. The chaos meant that the register was not usually taken on Wednesdays.

I was pleased to see William’s freckly face grinning at me through the greasy windows of the Fulford bus. I’d been here ten minutes already and his bus was late. I was beginning to worry that he wouldn’t go through with it even if it had been his idea. He was always suggesting brilliant and daring things. It was his idea to play truant from school today and hide out at York station. For a moment, I felt bad because I shouldn’t have doubted him. After all, he had a pet grass snake, he brought stink bombs to school and he had kissed Mary Sidebottom. We smirked together every time her name was read out in Assembly.
When he leapt off the bus and ran over to me, we didn’t say anything we just winked at each other and made our secret handshake. Just like agents do. Then we snuck off down Rougier Street, round the General Assurance Building and under the Bar Walls to the station entrance. As we went along, we flicked our heels to scrape our Blakeys on the paving trying to make sparks. To our delight, the high pitched shrieks of metal scraping on concrete seemed to be annoying everyone around us. It was nearly eight o’clock. The office workers pushed by us rudely on their way to work, but we didn’t care less nor did we make it any easier for them to get by us. I could hear William muttering under his breath.
“Buggers!” he said, each time one of the tall suits bumped into him.

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Additional information

Type

Short Story
Genre

Childhood, Innocence, Nostalgia

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