Stragglers

A pretty strange idea for a date

Stragglers

The gorilla trudged along the road, each step agony, barely able to keep moving. People watched, a few recording it with their phones. One person clapped, and it sounded hollow and sarcastic. Roger and Lydia could hear the man panting as he passed, his discomfort obvious. The costume’s left arm had fallen off somewhere along the way, exposing the runner’s arm below.

“The end of a marathon is the best bit,” said Lydia.

Roger grinned. “It’s certainly an interesting choice for a date.”

They were leaning on some fencing, but now someone came to remove that. Roger was surprised at how many runners were still coming in, even as the finish line was packed away. He followed Lydia to a bench. The crowds were so sparse that they could still see the runners clearly.

“The proper athletes are boring. One two-hours-and-fifteen-minutes’ run is pretty much the same as any other. This is something else. These people have a story to tell.”

They watched injured people who were determined to finish. One man, limping in pain, had a woman supporting him, hissing that she’d looked after the kids while he was training, and he was damn well going to finish. He wouldn’t waste her work. “I rubbed your bloody feet.”

Roger wanted to grab Lydia’s hand, to go in for that vital first kiss. If he didn’t manage it on a third date, it would be too late, but he couldn’t see an opportunity. Instead, he watched the runners, anxiety rising in his throat.

The runners struggled—they had all been on their feet for almost seven hours. One crumbled to the floor and sat there, resting in sight of the finish line.

“Come on,” said Lydia. “Let’s get coffee.”

They walked towards town. They passed small groups of people, sometimes with one or two of them wearing the medals given to all finishers. A few had given the medals to their children to wear. Roger thought of that runner in the gorilla costume, who kept going. They’d been sore and overheated but kept going—and they had a story to tell.

Roger reached out his hand for Lydia’s.

Some Background

This story was originally published in Flash Fiction Magazine in November 2022. I spent a lot of time in 2022 submitting flash fiction to online magazines. It was hard work, with long waits for responses and many cursory rejections. I had a fairly decent success rate, but found the stories I loved most could not find a home. And even when I did get something published there was little response to them. I get a better response to this newsletter than I did to some of the stories that I got published.

I used to love long distance running until a hip injury got the better of me. I’m currently undergoing physio for this, and hope I can start running again. The miserable runner in a gorilla suit was based on the stories of one of the charity entrants in an early Brighton marathon.

Lydia was mentioned in Ghost Particles as the woman who had an affair with Hugo the MP. Roger was the main character in Lucid Waking and By London Road Station I Sat Down and Wept.

Recommendations

A lot of my writing was inspired by Vertigo Comics from the 90s. Among my favourite characters is John Constantine, a working class magician invented by Alan Moore. He was originally used as foil to superheroes, with his battered raincoat undermining the flashy capes. His solo series Hellblazer series ran for 300 issues. Since then, there have been several attempts at revivals. Only one of these was successful, which was Si Spurrier’s run, collected in two volumes, Marks of Woe and The Best Version of You.

Spurrier’s Hellblazer series was canceled in 2020, and Spurrier wrote that he was not willing to let this go. What has since emerged is Damn Them All, a series about Ellie, a young women who learned magic from her uncle, who has some minor, entirely coincidental, similarities to John Constantine.

Damn Them All has the energy of the best Hellblazer stories, but without being coupled to almost forty years of continuity. The story is smart and well-written, and Ellie has all of Constantine’s danger and charm. The book makes great use of the fashionable info-boxes, but these prove to be fun to read. The story in the first collection is self-contained, but sets up a universe where Spurrier can tell more stories. Highly recommended.

What Else?

I’m sending this from Alton Towers, where I spent yesterday riding roller-coasters. I’ll be going back today for a little more. Something to talk about next week.