The Idea Factory

 

Cliché #42: Every cloud has a silver lining.

 

Jay has had an argument with a good friend. It's theme concerned recollection and as he cycles he plays the incident out again and again in his head. But can he even trust his memory of the disagreement itself? Was the original event a delusion, a forewarning of mental issues, a worrying indication that all might not be right with him?

Or is it his friend that has the problem?

He looks at the sky. Clouds curl and expand, grey and purple, and the low November sunlight strikes the pylons, turning them into bright silver. He breathes in deeply and sighs. The exertion he is experiencing clears away the debris and clutter in his head. 

The idea he had before getting on his bike had come as a piece of wilful sarcasm, prompted by being angry and confused at the disagreement, but the joyful character that is Jay cannot sustain such bad thinking for long – especially when cycling – and the sarcastic suggestion that he wanted to make to his friend that one of them is somehow living in an alternative universe, becomes an idea he passes on to his author-friend, Jon George.

Jon himself thinks it has the potential to be the basis of a terrifying, psychological SF story, which leaves him with the dilemma of whether to spend time – the better part of a year – writing something that would skirt the abyss that is madness, while possibly producing great work. Is he willing to take that risk?

Jay doesn't worry, he discovered the silver lining of a rare confrontation and that makes The Little Animal happy.

Jay cannot be sad for long. Life is too short. Go Jay!

 

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