FOREWORD: A panoramic attempt at flash fiction with a dash of Virginia Woolf. I don't think this is an easy read (I've read it several times to make sure it makes sense!), so if you do read and have something to say about it, you know how to be heard.

DINNER WITH THE BLACKS

Flat slaps pace the parquet floor, sharing stridently, for the benefit of Mrs Black, the gratitude they feel towards Mr Townsend, a youth with the talent to stretch a woman’s intellect not (the footsteps emphasised) beyond her sphere, but to the point where she is neither stupid nor clever – appropriate, some might say – as the Modern Man does not expect his wife to be too clever or too stupid. (Below, a ladle tapped its pot.) Smoothing the velvet of her evening dress, Mrs Black mildly disagrees, as Catherine is clever enough as it is and too clever a daughter would make a poor wife – much to the embarrassment of Andrew who, while reading through a flawed assignment, comforts Miss Black with a tentative smile. For almost two months now the girl has been taught and Mr Black thinks Mr Townsend possesses a talent for teaching, though pursuing the medical profession is far more lucrative, don’t you think, sneers Grandfather Black, begrudging his son for his marriage to Mrs Black rustling out of the bedroom to find Andrew stood at the top of the stairs, his arm linked with Catherine’s. To dinner, spoke the graceful nod of Mrs Black’s chin and the gentle flow of the velvet hem slipping (saw Andrew) down a step at a time, a step at a time… Then he follows, leading Catherine to her place beside Mr Black, and taking the one close to Grandfather Black, overhears I will never ever leave her (nor the rest of you!) an inheritance in my will and her education is a complete waste of money, as Mildred brought in bowls of home-made soup, distracting him from Mr Black’s question – Yes, he hoped to be a qualified doctor soon – (Miss Black’s hand grasped his beneath the table) – freezing his smile at the sight of red soaking the white tablecloth – just some wine, it seems – tipped from the glass of Grandfather Black, reassures Mr Black with a chocolate mint, asking politely if he cared to help remove the body, and should he refuse (glancing at Mrs Black) it would upset us to question your ‘conduct’ with Catherine, who gives her bewildered tutor a pitying smile, suddenly intelligent.