I am about to write a scene for my current book in which six
people are gathered around a dinner table in extraordinary circumstances. The
reader will by now be very familiar with each one of the six, and of course others
are missing from the table. The story is building to a climax and these
characters have recently undergone experiences which have tested them to their
limits. In such circumstances the ‘calm before the storm’ will prompt a
diversity of reactions.
How hard is it to enjoy yourself in heartbreaking, difficult
or frightening situations? As someone recently bereaved and in a year of losing
many members of our close and extended family, and friends too, I find myself
comparing my situation to living through a war. My parents’ generation did just
this, and my grandmother had three sons caught up in the war overseas. I cannot
imagine everyday life for those left at home to worry – or to mourn – and to
try living out that worn-out motto: ‘keep calm and carry on’.
Human beings have a wonderful capacity for coping with grief
and worry, but I believe they are helped by finding others in similar
situations. Moving back to my ‘dinner table’, the six have been drawn into a
web of sinister events without choice. This dining experience will be
unexpected and tranquil with candlelight and spectacular food. But can two
people who disliked each other on sight become reconciled? Will two troubled
and fearful souls be fortified enough to draw strength for the forthcoming
hiatus? Might one couple passionately in love find a solution to their enforced
separation? I’m beginning to sound like the back cover of a trashy novel!
As I begin to plan our annual Christmas lunch, the elephant
in the room is the missing person from the gathering this year. Then I begin to
consider how much the table has shrunk over the years as other late lamented
guests have departed too soon, and a list begins to form.
Enough gloom. I leave you with a question: in Fantasyland, you may host
a dinner table for six. Around the table will be you and five others who you
would rather dine with than anyone else. They may be living or dead, real or
imaginary (fiction). They must be people who will make you laugh, who will
stimulate you or simply add quiet support. Who would they be? I know who mine
are… but then again, maybe I need to host more than one of these fantasy meals.
Enjoy!
