She settled into her seat near the back of the bus, grateful that her dishevelled appearance would discourage the other passengers from sitting close to her. She had, in the last few weeks taken to dressing in dungarees, fleeces and wellies. Added to this were a few well chosen gardening titles from the library and a straw basket so that she just about passed for an organic farmer-type, the kind that would not look out of place on a bus bound for West Cork. As she peered out of the grimy bus window, she allowed the last glimpses of Cork to slip out of sight, pushing away any feelings of regret or fear. All is as it should be, she whispered under her breath...
The March 2015 edition of Long Story, Short Journal leads readers into the darker heart of spring with emerging writer Susan Burke-Trehy's 'Sheela-na-Gig'; photo by Alan McCord. Rose Hawthorn is on the verge of a new life, returning to her childhood home to settle an old debt in a tale that merges a contemporary narrative of estrangement with an undercurrent of Irish mythology. CLICK HERE TO READ 'SHEELA-NA-GIG'.