Extract: Not All There

From the Cover:

Claude’s mother is dead. Except she won’t stay that way. She’s back with her family and none of them know what to do about it.

Is there a name for someone who is only sort of dead? And why does Claude feel like he’s the only one celebrating her return?

‘Not All There’ is a character study of grief and the people who experience it, told through the eyes of a bewildered child who struggles to make sense of the death of his mother, Mary and her re-emergence as a ghost.

Familial relationships are tested as Claude, Patience and their father try to answer the question – ‘What do we do about Mary?’

Extract:

On the drive home from the hospital Claude’s father, tears splashing on to his hands as he bent over the steering wheel, clutching at it rolled the car to a stop, the set of traffic lights having only just turned amber. Horns behind them blared inconsiderate of any circumstances which may have led to the delay in their drive home. The driver’s car door clicked open, quickly followed by the passenger door. With unspoken agreement Patience and John exited the car, stepping on to the busy carriageway. The festival of traffic complete with its flickering orange lights, squealing pitch of tires, rhythm of a distant car radio and the smoke machine of exhaust fumes momentarily pierced the interior of smooth blackness. Then the doors clicked shut. The pulse of traffic reverberated against the windows, beating down, but the thick glass with it’s small manufacturer’s sticker kept it dimmed. Claude watched his father and sister as they rounded the front of the car. Lights were strewn over them, John’s greying hair was lit up orange and red burning as though it was on fire. Patience was cast completely in shadow, her dress fluttered as traffic swerved dangerously close. They embraced and John leaned heavily on his daughter.

​The car turned over slowly with a steady tick and Claude sat alone. Outside stood his whole family, what was left of it. He glanced at the handle on the car door, should he join them or wait for them to come back? They would after all come back, they were his family. Isn’t that what family can be relied upon to do, come back for you? The noise of the traffic dimmed, Claude pressed his ear against the car door but even the lights seemed further away. Patience did too, and so did his father.

​Claude reached for the handle, he wouldn’t be left behind.

​Then they were pulling apart, he could see Patience’s mouth moving, she was walking past his father, placing a hand on his shoulder as she steered him towards the passenger side door.

​The only other time Patience had driven home had been the second time she had failed her test. The family had been sure she would pass, they were standing waiting at the test centre ready to cut her L-plates in half. Instead, they placed them on the car and drove home, just like they are driving now, words left unspoken.