The Drumbeat Years (girlxgirl)

20

20

7th. June 2019

For ten days, in the Summer, an entire village became the centre of literature for the whole country. Perhaps the world. For ten days, some of the greatest creators, the up-and-comers, the celebrities and the readers came together to show their love and appreciation of books and their authors. It was a magnificent celebration of the written word.

On the last day, however, Tina had begun to flag. She hadn't arrived at the start, unwilling to become caught up in the opening furore, but the week she had spent there had taken its toll. She had attended signings, personal talks, from herself and others. Participated in writing challenges and spent the nights exhausted in the little room of a resident's house, opened for guests only during the festival.

She only had one more event to attend and then she could, finally, wend her way back home to her sanctuary in the Lake District. Her castle. Her gleaming tower of solitude and contemplation. It wouldn't work out that easily, of course. Since arriving at the festival, away from her writing desk and the computer that felt as though it held some kind of animosity towards her, she had started overflowing with ideas. That was a good thing.

Since she had completed the original 'Fragments' trilogy, it was as though all those years of struggling to put down on the page what she had envisioned for so long had released a valve. Opened a floodgate. As though completing that first trilogy had broken the back of her ideas. She had a sense of freedom.

The second, and then the third trilogy almost flowed from her mind and they each saw print at regular intervals. She would no longer consider herself a 'one hit wonder'. She had fought through the drag, come out the other side and had become the success so many others said she would be. And all before she reached the big one. Her fiftieth birthday.

Still only forty-nine, she could sit back and rest, if she wanted to. A steady flow of money kept her comfortable. She had her own home, free of a crippling mortgage. Her best friend lived only moments away. She had, in the end, found a place in her life where she could feel unburdened. Alone, but unburdened.

She had met, loved and lived with, several people over the years. Good people. Yet, she had never felt comfortable with them. Never felt settled. After some time, she decided to lay all that aside. She had tried and failed to find a lasting love, but nothing, no-one, could compare. No-one gave her that sense of absolute contentment. Every other woman had an uphill struggle before they even met Tina and she couldn't put people through that any more.

"Alright, SuperStar, the organisers are tearing their collective hair out looking for you." Russell, older, wiser, larger, popped his head around the door. "Mel's placating them, but if you don't arrive ten minutes before the event, I think someone might have a cardiac arrest."

"Fine. I'm coming." Finishing the mug of tea, the landlady of the guest house had made, she rolled back her sleeve, checking her watch. "I'm on my way. Right now. Look, I'm standing. I'm walking."

Russell laughed, shaking his head. Since that night he had made a pass at her, he had never tried anything again. Not with her or anyone else, as far as she knew. She liked to think she had a hand in curtailing any thoughts of philandering he may have had, but she suspected that that time was an aberration after all. He loved Mel. It was obvious in his every action and Tina felt a little sad that she didn't have that.

Held in a large, white gazebo tent, on the edge of the village, the event was, perhaps, her favourite. Along with a panel of writers known for their immersive world-building, Tina would sit upon a small stage, fielding questions and giving a talk about her own experiences. It came at an opportune time, too, what with all the budding ideas running through her mind.