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Shy Feet : Short Stories Inspired by Travel; Preview

By Thompson, Frances, M

Book Id: WPLBN0002828838
Format Type: PDF (eBook)
File Size: 294.97 kb
Reproduction Date: 8/16/2013

Title:	Shy Feet : Short Stories Inspired by Travel; Preview
Author:	Thompson, Frances, M
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Fiction, Drama and Literature, Travel
Collections:	Short Stories, Ophthalmology, Authors Community, Geography, Marketing, Economy, Sociology, Literature, Favorites in India
Historic Publication Date:	2013
Publisher:	Frances M. Thompson

Member Page:	Frances M. Thompson
Citation APA MLA Chicago Thompson, F. M. (2013). Shy Feet : Short Stories Inspired by Travel; Preview. Retrieved from http://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
"This collection of stories is like a blanket woven from 100% wanderlust under which you can hide as Frances M. Thompson tucks you in with her words and keeps you warm with her descriptions of characters you'll love and places you can tell she knows by heart." Gesa Neitzel, www.bedouinwriter.com Shy Feet: Short Stories Inspired by Travel is a collection of twelve quirky, charismatic and touching tales of travel. The inquisitive Ruth tells the story of The Lost Children of Gatwick Airport and in Max's Holiday we learn what a seven-year-old boy considers a "proper holiday" to be. In The Flowers Sleep Tonight, we meet Thomas and Carly, two solo travellers whose paths keep crossing... because that's exactly what Thomas wants. A spontaneous plan to elope is revealed in The Runaways and Homes from Homes is about the lessons Patricia learns from the hotel bellboy she has a fling with. Oh, Henry is the story of how a dream holiday can mean two different things to two lovers and Katie's Maps is an offbeat love letter to a vast collection of maps. Extracts from a travel journal tell one woman's life story in All the Beaches are Made of Pebbles and find out what Australia and underpants have to do with Claudia wanting to leave her husband of forty years inThe Road is Long. Extracts from a travel journal tell a woman's life story in All the Beaches are Made of Pebbles and in The Road is Long you'll learn what Australia and underpants have to do with Claudia's plan to leave her husband. From the unforgiving Australian Outback to the jagged beauty of the Amalfi Coast, along the pebbled beaches of Brighton & Hove and down the busy streets of late night Barcelona, this collection of short stories highlights how travel intersects and enriches all of our lives, often without us realising it... "Shy Feet: Short Stories Inspired by Travel transports you to exotic locales without leaving your armchair and leaves you wanting more... Frances M. Thompson has a novel in her and I can't wait to read it." Nathalie Harris, www.acooknotmad.com

Summary
A collection of twelve fictional short stories inspired by travel, Shy Feet brings the quirks, beauty and charms of the world to you through twelve very different journeys.

Excerpt
SHY FEET Part One Thirty-seven years ago, I was born into debt. I arrived two weeks early, surprising both my mother and the woman whose hair she was cutting. Before I’d even entered the world, I owed my mother the price of her customer’s leather loafers. Thirty years ago, a teacher told my mother to keep an eye on me. I was “frighteningly astute" and “abnormally self-aware” for my age. In other words, I was going places. Twenty-eight years ago, I paid my mother back for those leather loafers with money I made from selling jars of jam to our neighbours. Every Sunday evening I would stand on a stool in front of our gas stove and stir a viscose pink liquid around a giant saucepan. Behind me, my mother would hold her breath as I poured the hot mixture into jars, never spilling a drop. Twenty-six years ago, I began secondary school. Within weeks I learnt that with very little effort I could get top marks in most subjects. I rarely studied more than I had to and I blitzed through my homework on the school bus home. While Mum finished work in the front room, I cooked dinner for us both, listening to her scissors snip through her comfortable conversations with clients. I spent the rest of my evenings with one of the seven books the library let me borrow each week. The day they increased my weekly allowance to ten books was a day I’ll never forget. Twenty-two years ago, I helped Mum expand her hairdressing business. I put adverts up in the local newsagents and my mother began training up a team of local girls, helping them to get clients for a percentage. I managed their diaries and their accounts for a small fee. Within four months she had enough money to buy the colour television she’d always wanted. Twenty-one years ago, Mum and I went abroad for the first time. We took the ferry to France and watched England disappear from the windy top deck. I spoke French to find our bus stop, the hotel and a cosy restaurant for our first night in St Malo. We ate moules-frites and Mum let me drink red wine that made my legs feel numb and fuzzy after the second glass. The shells of the mussels swam in a bright yellow juice and it took many days before my fingertips lost the smell of garlic. I remember feeling sad when we had to board our bus back to the port, like I’d only read the first page of a beautiful book.

Table of Contents
Shy Feet - Part One The Flowers Sleep Tonight The Lost Children Homes from Homes The Runaways Oh, Henry Katie's Maps Scorpion The Road is Long Max's Holiday See the Amalfi Coast All the Beaches are made of Pebbles Shy Feet - Part Two