War

War
What do we do it for?
The same lies sold us before
Still drip with treachery.
None of this making sense to me,
The eyes of my soul bleed sore
For nuclear babies,
Sci-fi monsters seeking only love in futility
At last put down like diseased dogs;
We wouldn’t want to look at them -
Their ugly mutilation on our box.
And their families, fearing the shame,
Once again receiving the blame
For what we westerners think,
Spitting into flames
Of danger, fear, intimidation -
Apparently the quest of this nation
To destroy -
Selling ‘freedom’ like a toy
Picture postcard with a cheesy grin,
Except nobody’s in.
They’re off playing golf with their lover:
‘Socially acceptable’ sin
Just like the other -
Murder -
As more children seek cover
From yet another bomb,
Setting everything wrong and out of shape again.
And I feel
So much guilt, so disgusted
As much by my own finger pointing
As the evilness of one, the ignorance of another.
Because these people are my brothers
And I
Might well sigh, cry, get angry for a while
Before crossing the street, remembering to smile
And get on complaining about my own
Sickly sweet concerns,
A life where war is on tele
And only oil burns.

Wedding Photograph

Wedding photograph
Hidden from me these 29 years
I carry it around with me
Feel somehow there is a significance
It seeks to impart
To my sore, empty heart
Wondering why it was a secret
For so long

Her face
Already so much younger than mine
Pure
Despite the hard times
She’d spent growing up in that house
And these longer years since
Did little
To change that face
Protected by angels, while kept ‘in her place’

His face – in contrast – so changed
Disillusioned by time gone by
Youth robbed
Opportunities whispering as they passed
Through startled, stretched fingers
Like the confetti
Thrown so cheerfully on that day

Jubilant
In spite of how tricky the world had made it
For both of them
Love growing bigger
As it battled against the expected
Respecting her potential
Her caged brokenness
He forgot his chance to fly
Choosing instead another nest
Choosing to try, for now, together
To prove their families wrong
Then seize life’s promises later on

How innocent, how idiotic
Believing what was promised would wait
Impatient prospects that lied to you
Said he could have his cake
That day
And save it too
Now rotten, lingering only to sting his eyes
Anew
In this photograph
Hidden from me these 29 years

Learning to Laugh

LEARNING TO LAUGH


by


Becky Allenby
(1) EXT. PARK - DAY.

Soundtrack: ‘Prangin out’ by The Streets.

Faded colours, a dull and lifeless environment. A worn grass area surrounded by rows of identical terraced houses, stretching as far back as the eye can see, blending into mist. There are no trees, a swing frame with only one remaining swing, and a stump where a roundabout used to be. This is a predominantly white housing estate in mid-1990s Britain; racist graffiti abounds. Pale, skinny white women stand in doorways in dressing gowns, talking to each other. Rats scurry about.

Three seven-year-olds chop off remaining swing chains with anvil loppers, while four ten-year-olds ride double on mopeds across centre of park. Other KIDS watch and shout. In a side road two ten-year olds hot-wire a car, and six more kids of similar age pile in. They drive (wheel-spinning, skidding; out of control in low gear) across the park.

These estate scenes are spliced with pictures of a small, suited, stern man in his late seventies, looking out of the window from his SITTING ROOM. This is STAN; a hard past is written in his eyes, and resentment in his demeanour. He’s imagining the estate as it used to be in the 1940s.

FX: Contemporary estate scenes blend into Stan’s vision (in sepia) of how things were, at least in his memory: no rubbish or graffiti, two push-bikes the only vehicles, well-kept houses and front yards, a park filled with flowers and trees, children playing playground games, and adults conversing in ‘community’.


(2) INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT.

Soundtrack: ‘Among my souvenirs’ by Vera Lynn.

Front room of Stan’s terraced house, looking onto park. Mustard-coloured furniture and dark patterned carpet. Net curtains. Mantelpiece with framed black-and-white photograph of beautiful woman in her thirties (ELLA); two further frames lean facing the wall. Stan is polishing his grandfather clock. It chimes 6pm, and on last chime there is a terrific crashing sound. Music stops abruptly. Walking to the window, Stan pulls curtain back to reveal a car, crashed into the front of the house; it has flattened his little wooden fence. In the car, kids’ laughing faces become surreal (FX), with the exception of SPECIAL KID (small - age 8); he is not laughing and looks scared. Car screams into reverse and zooms backwards onto park.

Soundtrack: ‘Brown Paper Bag’ by Roni Size.

Camera follows Stan out into his dark hallway. He leaves chain on but opens door enough to shout at the kids and wave his walking stick through the gap.

STAN
I’ll ‘ave you! Bloody parasites!

Stan walks down hallway and picks up telephone receiver.

CUT.


(3) EXT. STREETS - NIGHT.

Soundtrack continues (Roni Size).

Sound of police SIRENS as three cars arrive; police officers get out and bang on the doors of several houses. Officers talk to the women as kids stare out of windows above. Stan is looking out of his window on opposite side of park. His POV zooms in on the kids’ eyes staring back into his. After a moment he shakes his head, as though to rid it of something, and turns away from window.


(4) INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT.

No music; quiet. Grandfather clock shows 8.05pm. Stan sits at table, looking at black-and-white photos: himself as a young man in uniform, with wife ELLA and two small children, caravanning. His face softens. He opens a folded card which reads ‘Daddy, thank you for a wonderful holiday. I love you! from Lily xx’.

CUT to memory of hearse outside house, coffin, flowers, and Stan's black-clothed family moving about. He hears LILY’s shrill, distressed voice over the scene.

LILY
I hate you! Like you were ever a
father to us – let alone a husband!
Just piss right off you old man!
Just piss off and leave us alone!

This last line echoes as the woman in memory scene turns to face camera. Image switches to her face as a child, then back to adult face. Her words become increasingly loud and terrifying:

LILY
(screaming; repeating)
JUST PISS OFF AND LEAVE US ALONE!

Image CUTS back to Stan looking down at card. He rips it up, screws up pieces tight in hands, then lets them fall; picks up portrait photo of wife Ella and holds to chest as his head slowly falls into his hands on the table.


(5) INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY.

Soundtrack: ‘We’ll meet again’ by Vera Lynn (fades in from quiet at end of Scene 4).

Stan eats breakfast (boiled egg and soldiers) at table. Reads The Daily Mail. Door bell RINGS. Music lowers as Stan turns down volume on stereo. Taking stick, he walks to doorway, removes chain and opens door. Half a dozen kids run away, laughing and shouting insults at him.

KID
Nasty old fucker!

OLDER KID
Decrepit bastard! Get back to the
war, will ya!

The kids flee across park. They’ve smashed milk bottles on Stan’s doorstep, and placed there a sad face made from elastic-bands (see picture in commentary appendices). As Stan looks at it, it laughs viciously. Sound of SURREAL LAUGHTER: crescendo to end of scene. Stan picks the face up and hurls it after the kids. He kicks a couple of syringes and needles out of his yard, looks to boarded-up house next door, and turns back to notice special kid crouched down holding bleeding hand, cut by glass. Special kid looks up at Stan with large pleading eyes. FX: Special kid’s eyes start to bleed and picture blends into sepia memory of Stan left looking at near-dead friend on front-line in World War 2 as other soldiers run away. CUT back to reality: Stan kicks grit towards special kid.

STAN
(screaming)
Ruddy sewer rats!

He returns inside, slamming door.


(6) EXT. STREETS - DAY.

Soundtrack: ‘If you got the money’ by Jamie T.

Stan walks down road with carrier bag, newspaper, and a very grumpy expression. Two kids (aged 11 and 8) across road throw bricks at each other from a fallen-down wall of an abandoned building. Stan starts to open his mouth but then sees in their eyes a look of hopelessness; they stare through him again as before in scene 3. He faces away and keeps walking.

Kids whisper to each other. They take the bricks and hurl them at Stan, who trips, drops his shopping, and lands hard onto his shins, cutting himself on a broken ‘elderly people crossing’ sign. Older of two kids scoops up dog shit in his hands and smacks it in Stan’s face.

OLDER KID
You’re fulla shit, old man!

Both kids laugh and run away, still shouting.

PENSIONER watches Stan from behind curtain while calling for ambulance on mobile phone. Stan clutches his leg and screams out in pain for help but no-one comes. FX: Camera follows a trail of blood oozing out from his leg, down the road towards the park. It becomes a river in which his shopping: brown bread, milk, eggs, cheese, tomatoes, Horlicks and The Daily Mail float along. The paper’s headline reads: ‘Terrorizing the streets: Police powerless to prevent joyriding gangs as young as 9’.

Camera zooms out to view park and surrounding streets. Ambulance crosses the river of blood and carries Stan off to hospital.


(7) INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY.

RADIO news - reports of violent attacks on OAPS. Stan in wheelchair, gazing out of window. Door bell RINGS; STAN does not move. It sounds again, then the door is knocked several times.

SANDRA
(calling)
Mr Harris? It Sandra Graham,
your home-based carer. Social
Services will’ve notified...

STAN
(shouting, looking away)
No thank you, Lady! I ain’t
needing no help, thanks.

Through the window Stan watches SANDRA - a slim, Caribbean nurse in her 50s - eventually walk away across the park. Kids storm her and hang around, clearly tormenting her. They throw discarded metal swing links at her and laugh. Stan pulls curtain across briskly and turns away.

FADE to darkness.


(8) EXT. STREETS - DAY.

Soundtrack: ‘Bullet proof soul’ by Sade.
Sandra walks through the estate, hassled by kids but somehow oblivious, lost in thoughts. They drop away, disappointed by her lack of reaction, but in huddled groups point back at her. Sandra reaches for a locket on a chain under her uniform; she opens it to reveal a picture of an attractive black woman in her twenties. Holding it to her chest, she looks up at the sky and walks on.


(9) INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY.

Clock TICKS loudly over soundtrack: ‘Bullet proof soul’ by Sade.
Stan in wheelchair at table, looking through photos again. Through the net curtain he sees Sandra. Door bell RINGS, but he doesn’t move. Sandra takes out a mobile phone from her shoulder bag and dials a number. Stan’s telephone RINGS. He reluctantly wheels himself to telephone in hall way and picks up the receiver, saying nothing.

SANDRA
Please, Mr Harris. I know you
there.
(becoming more desperate as
kids nudge each other and
start walking towards her...)
I’m here to help you! Now please
let me in!

Stan hesitates, but hears the kids shouting racist and sexist comments, throwing things against the house. Putting the receiver down, he wheels himself to the door, takes off the chain and opens it. Sandra enters and closes door quickly behind her, the abuse about her and Stan continuing.

Turning away with a grunt, Stan returns to the sitting room. With shaking hands he hurriedly packs away his photos.

Sandra glances at Stan and the photographs, around the room, and out onto the park.

SANDRA
Thank you.

Stan looks around at her awkwardly and she smiles a beautiful smile. He stares at her, drinking it in.

FADE.


(10) INT. SITTING ROOM – DAY.

No music. FADE IN to same setting, but the day is brighter - sunlight streaks through the net curtains. Stan sits again with his photographs. Outside the kids are JEERING. Stan looks out the window just as Sandra starts to sing to them, from ‘She’s gone’ by Bob Marley:

SANDRA
Oh, my children, if you see me
cryin’: my woman is gone. If you
see me - if you see me – if you
see me -if you see me cryin’...

The kids stop their taunting, confused. As Stan opens the door, a little bewildered himself, they run away whispering to one another. Stan stares at Sandra, impressed.

Soundtrack: ‘Among my souvenirs’ instrumental.

SANDRA
(beaming)
So. How are you Stan?

STAN
Nought a cuppa won’t fix, Miss
Graham. You?

Sandra smiles.

FADE to Sandra bringing in tea. She sits down at table with Stan and his photos; he makes no attempt to pack them away, instead handing her a picture of Ella, himself and small children on a beach.

SANDRA
(taking photograph)
My! What a lady! Your wife,
Stan?

STAN
(nodding)
My Ella.

SANDRA
(sincerely)
She’s beautiful!

Stan smiles. FX: Photograph becomes colourful. Stan is amazed, looks to Sandra and back to the photo, before shaking his head again. FADE.


(11) INT. SITTING ROOM – DAY.

Sounds of BIRDS SINGING; sounds of SPRING. Another day, even brighter and sunnier. The net curtains are open. Stan sits at table reading paper while Sandra brings in tea and biscuits on a tray. Behind her we see the dusty piano, on top of which sits a picture of Ella playing.

SANDRA
(uncharacteristically
cautious)
Stan? I mean, you’d not mind,
would you?

STAN
You play?

SANDRA
My Nanna taught me when I was a
girl. Not been near piano in years.
If you...

STAN
(interrupting, briskly)
Go ahead. Ain’t been played in ions
mind.
(more reluctantly; turns away)
Go ahead.

Sandra negotiates the stool with the awe of a small child, and sits for a while before beginning to play. Growing gradually in confidence, she plays Nina Simone’s ‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’.

Stan turns back in recognition of the song. Flash back in sepia shows Lily smiling dropping the needle onto a new record. He wheels over to behind Sandra and starts to cry, tears of joy and sadness at once; Sandra is unaware, lost in her playing. FX: Stan looks up at the old photo of Ella to see her beam at him in radiant colour. He glances at Sandra. Her eyes are closed and she has a few tears escaping as well.

CUT.

Soundtrack: ‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’ by Nina Simone.

FADE IN to Stan and Sandra, now sat on the sofa together, sharing other photos from a box and talking. FX: The pictures are all colourful now, and the characters move around continuously to the music.

Shuffling several photos, Stan picks one out of himself as a young man in uniform, holding a baby awkwardly. Music FADES.

STAN
Me and our Lily. Never saw her
next til she were walking and
talking...

He gently places the photograph down in front of him, before selecting another: a beach scene featuring YOUNG STAN in bathing suit, posing with a child under each arm.

STAN
Oh and this were after the war.
Jubilant ain’t we? Family holiday.
Never catch me in bathers neither
before nor since, but I guess
after all that fighting, dying...

Stan stops because the picture starts to move. FX: The young Stan places children down, runs to the water, and faces back to the camera, tripping over a sandcastle. Sandra smiles and Stan, though reluctantly at first, is able to laugh at himself. His eyes SHINE younger and stronger as he picks up one more photo.

STAN
And this be me and Ella dancing.
Loved dancing, did Ella.

Ella smiles out at him from the photo, and blows him a kiss.

STAN
(looking down at his feet)
Done made her give all that up,
course. Wasn’t proper for a
married woman.

Sandra takes the photo and looks at it meditatively. She eventually smiles and looks at Stan, who is visibly remorseful.
SANDRA
Stan, you not the only one
wishin’ to ‘right’ the past,
you know.

STAN
(looking up at her)
I’m not saying...

SANDRA
We all got regrets. Things we’d
’ve done different.

Stan moves away from Sandra to look out of the window.

SANDRA
I’m trying to ‘make difference’
round here, Stan. Meanwhile you
busy shutting yourself off.

Sandra looks again at the photograph of Ella and young Stan dancing. Young Stan is still, holding Ella’s hand tightly, a determined expression on his face. FX: Ella struggles to get away.

SANDRA
(to herself as much as Stan)
I think what we sometime
need to do, you know, is let go.


(12) INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT.

Cruel, condemning LAUGHTER comes and goes continuously. Stan lies in bed, tossing and turning, dreaming. Images of next-door neighbour injecting; a skinny woman with dark eyes getting slapped in the face; two suited men hiding suitcases under floorboards. These are spliced with scenes from the war: bombings, and Stan bending over friends shot dead. Their eyes are bleeding.

Laughing stops. Clock TICKS. Waking with a start, Stan looks around room and out of the window: there’s nothing, except rats scuttling around in the yard. He squirts them with fluid container by his bed, shuts window, and settles back down again.

Images of kids laughing. FX: Kids’ faces become distorted and the LAUGHTER becomes psychotic - louder and louder, unrelenting. Stan opens eyes: stillness and silence except for clock ticking. He closes them and the same happens again. He picks up telephone by bed and phones police.

STAN
Police.
(pause)
Drug-dealings up Rider Road...

FADE to end of call; Stan replaces handset. As he settles back down to sleep he sees Ella in his mind’s eye. He cries out to her:

STAN
Ella! Princess!

But Ella is shaking her head sadly.


(13) EXT. STREETS – NIGHT.

Soundtrack: ‘Prangin Out’ by The Streets.

Police arrive. Drugs seizures and women taken away screaming from three different houses.

Across the park Stan can see the kids standing on their doorsteps, looking out at nothing. He turns around and attempts to settle into bed. FX: The kids are all he sees in his mind: larger than life, surreal, vulnerable. They stare blankly at Stan, then bullets fire from their eyes and slowly reach his own. He covers his eyes and screams.

STAN
STOP!

CUT.


(14) INT. BEDROOM - DAY.

No music. Curtains closed on bright day outside. Stan sits up in bed, staring into nothingness. Door bell RINGS a few times, then there’s the sound of keys turning in a lock. Sandra calls out to Stan and eventually knocks and enters bedroom. Stan still hasn’t spoken and remains motionless.

SANDRA
Stan? What happened? You alright?
(she sits on the bed next to
him and takes his hand)
Stan?

STAN
(after long pause)
I done terrible things, Sandra. So
many terrible things. My Ella, she
were better than me, with not a
selfish bone in that lovely body. I
kept her caged up like. Else I
feared she could’ve flied for
miles... Why didn’t she, Sandra?

SANDRA
Stan, what you done?

STAN
I’ve gone snitched again ain’t I.
Just feeling scared I was. Scares
me all these evil goings on. But
it’s the kids... When I does these
things. They look at me. And I
feels dirty.

SANDRA
(distantly)
We all dirty.

STAN
No! Not you. You ain’t. You the
princess breed like my Ella.
Different. Me, I’m so dirty, ain’t
never gonna wipe clean.

Sandra looks at Stan for a moment. She gets up and walks to the window.

SANDRA
Stan, you no idea, not really.
They kids make you feel dirty
‘cause deep in your heart you know it:
you just like them.
(pause)
And so am I. We want some purpose
in life and sometime we get lost
finding it.

Sandra opens curtains and gazes outside.

SANDRA
You think I this guardian angel,
showed up to make you smile? Ever
wondered how I got here? Well I’ll
tell you - my mum kill herself
when I nine years old. I could’ve
helped her, stopped her, done
something, but I too busy out
robbin’ someone else’s kitchen.
(pause; turns to face Stan)
Always blamed myself.
(pause)
Only now I see your hang-ups too
Stan, and I wonder what the hell
good our guilt do anyone?

Sandra returns to sit on bed. Stan stares at her, transfixed.

STAN
I...

SANDRA
All I’m saying is, sometimes it
too late - like with your Ella
and my mum - too late, you know?
But what about things it not too
late to fix?

CUT.


(15) INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY.

Soundtrack: ‘Brown Paper Bag’ by Roni Size.

Angry kids smash Stan’s windows and leap into his front room. One picks up a picture of Lily that was facing away on mantelpiece and smashes it against the wall. Stan wheels in as he hears the noise. Kids go off jeering and shouting:

KIDS
That’s for our ma!

Special kid is trapped under fallen table, with cut hand. After a frozen moment Stan experiences flash back to soldier lying for dead calling out to him, ‘Stan, Stan’ as he turns and walks away. Image CUTS back to special kid.

STAN
(soldierly, efficient)
Hey now. Let’s get you cleaned up.

Stan helps him up and, opening military first-aid tin from dresser, begins to care for his injury.


(16) EXT. PARK - DAY.

BIRDS SINGING, over Sandra’s piano playing (‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’) softly in background. Sandra pushes Stan back from shops, and through the park.

STAN
You know, I ain’t set foot on this
fer years. Nor wheel you mind!

SANDRA
Why that Stan?

STAN
Young ‘uns’ territory ain’t it.

Wherever Stan and Sandra go, the colour becomes brighter; flowers grow and bloom. Stan laughs more.

VARIOUS KIDS
(shouting)
Git yerself outa our ‘hood!
Oi, dead man! Piss off and die!
Go back to hell you sad bastard!

Stan and Sandra ignore them and smile, and as they do, the colour spreads.

Special kid (with bandaged arm) is smoking a cigarette with a FRIEND, both sat on the broken roundabout. He and Stan share look of acknowledgment; Stan takes off his hat to them both. Friend, shocked, looks around at special kid, who smiles. He becomes brightly coloured, and as friend smiles too, so does he.

The colour touches the tips of other kids, elsewhere in the park. They stare at it, confused, stunned. In the end they shrug and walk away, leaving Sandra and Stan in the increasingly vibrant park, laughing.


(17) INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY.

Soundtrack: ‘Bullet Proof Soul’ by Sade.

Stan wears a jumper in place of shirt and tie, and his hair is combed differently. He sits at the table and writes a letter beginning, ‘Dear Lily’. On the mantelpiece behind we see the photographs have been replaced and turned around to face us: his family, now including SON, with stern expression, dressed in air-force uniform, and Lily.

Excited voices are heard outside and the door bell RINGS. Stan looks briefly out of the window and grins.

STAN
Come in!

CUT to front door in hallway. The chain is not on and Sandra and a group of kids (including special kid) burst in.

SANDRA
We’re ‘bout to have a sing-song!

Sandra and the kids all pause when they reach the piano. They all look at Stan pleadingly.

SANDRA
May we?

Stan looks confused but agrees and follows the group as they push the piano outside and onto the park.


(18) EXT. PARK - DAY.

Sandra plays chords over which the kids rap in turn, a line or so each about themselves and their lives. Gradually mothers emerge from houses and view Stan suspiciously. They stand around and listen. Kids look to Stan.

OLDER KID
Hey mate. It’s your turn.

STAN
OK, boy. But I ain’t rappin’! I
got one thing to say, and I
ain’t got no clever way of
saying it neither. Truth is I
ain’t ‘ad way of saying it these
ten years gone by.
(pauses, visibly struggling
to get his words out)
I’m sorry.

Stunned pause all round. Then special kid starts clapping and all join in one at a time. Stan is gazing tearfully at Sandra; he moves towards her.

STAN
And you, Princess... thanks for
learnin’ us to laugh.

Stan winks at Sandra and she smiles, looking around at everyone gathered on the streets and in the park. She starts to play ‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’ and the mothers’ guarded looks gradually soften. They smile, shake Stan and Sandra’s hands, pat Stan’s back, and join in.

Stan whispers to a kid, who runs into the house and returns with a letter, stamped and addressed to Lily. Beckoning special kid to push him, Stan heads across the park to the post-box, as the singing continues. He closes his eyes as he posts the letter, then turns to special kid and gives him a ‘high-five’.

FADE OUT.

‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’ mixes with drum and bass backing, and the kids rap over it to credits.

Hotel Eden

link to wiki: http://ballenby.pbwiki.com

Hotel Eden

Translated into the English language by Becky Allenby


(year *CD~#, seven years after The Contamination.)

Adele arrived back at the room before Evan that afternoon, and indulged in a rare lie-down on the bunk. It had been seven years today since they moved to this place, since life as she had known it went underground.

Evan had responded well - he’d always had quite a fondness for the dark in any case - but for Adele each day was a struggle. Life devoid of sunlight and fresh air made her miserable. Every lunchtime her eyes wandered hungrily through the canteen skylight; it would never be enough. She was made for life above ground, and this claustrophobia was slowly shrinking her to a shadow of the person she knew she was created to be. Surely this subterranean commune held the true reasons for why she and Evan couldn’t conceive, regardless of all the drugs this underworld could provide.

But hey. Tonight was lottery night, and Evan had woken up that morning screaming that today was their day. On this seven year anniversary of hell it would be their turn to be transported in the golden space capsule to the place they’d always dreamed about: Hotel Eden. Adele knew she needed to have more faith in her husband, but the trouble was almost every month, around about this time, he would wake up in the same prophetic ecstasy. Like an excitable small child he was gradually wearing her out. She rolled over and sighed; well, at least today she had a chance to lie out and stretch and think for herself, before the onslaught of the evening and its robotic compulsions began. Just for a few moments she could have a slice of internal freedom. She must have dozed off.

She awoke to soft whispering: 'Angel, Angel...' Evan came into focus, his energy mixed with the fuzzy light of the sleeping zone. She realised it was late; she must have been dreaming a while. But what a dream! She reached out her arms, heavy with sleep, and wrapped them around Evan’s neck, pulling herself to sit up on the bunk.

‘I heard the same message!’ she said, ‘in a dream!’ Her eyes were shining with a delirium Evan didn’t remember seeing since before the Contamination. ‘You’re right, Evan’, she said, knowing that such words were daylight to his ears, ‘We’re the chosen ones – and our time is coming soon.’

Evan hugged her, pulling her away from the bed, and twirling her around. Together they prepared for the new beginning, the event that would turn the world spinning on another axis. They donned the rainbow gowns they had meticulously dusted and cared for all these years and, taking one another’s hand tightly, made their way to the lottery, feeling as certain as they dared that this would be the last time they would ever go.

Adele remembered the joy and elation she had sometimes felt in the old world, as a child before a celebration. Some of this forgotten sense of hope now welled up in her tired muscles and limbs; it warmed her again, pumping desire around her body, her blood rushing with expectation.

An hour and three quarters later, all packed up and full of intrigue, Adele and Evan sat squished into the capsule awaiting transportation. The Prophecy had come to pass. They looked around at a thousand reverent faces in awe of their departure, their bunkmates, both happy and sad to see their friends leave them for the return of their free will.

After some fireworks and a bit of a bumpy ride, the capsule arrived at its destination, pulling into the underside of Hotel Eden’s ground floor. Adele and Evan stepped out through the kaleidoscope roof while stewards, porters and chambermaids rushed to greet them. Adele was unable to listen to them, or even to move at first; she was transfixed by the gigantic windows stretching around the hotel. Though they might never step out into this nothingness, what a relief at last to be above ground, to see the light of day fading away into night. They had arrived in Paradise.

* * *
It was like an all-inclusive holiday in the old world, but one from which they would never go home. A captivating woman called Kami took Adele by the hand and guided her into the Relaxation Suite. Evan’s hand had been similarly grabbed by a man with a kind face named Shangdi. One of the porters, Bog, followed behind with their few belongings, refusing to let them help.

They entered the suite through a glittering white tunnel, which opened up into a vast space, white like snow, but warm like a glove. Soft ambient music played and the air smelled of lavender. There were windows and mirrors on every vertical surface, flooding the place with light. Many different species and sizes of trees grew behind the pathways, and fragrant flowers climbed up against the mirrors, somehow planted into the very earth of the crystal floor. It was a large maze-like area, divided into many sections. A maze, thought Adele, in which she would relish becoming lost. There were two large pools - one calm and tranquil with tropical fish swimming in it, and another with waves like the sea. There was also a sandy area between the two, with a pile of buckets and spades and an ice-cream van.

'Here is one of our steam areas', said Kami, turning right into a particularly green and luscious part of the maze. 'You can select whatever music or sound sequence you like - see, here.' She pulled on a vine above their heads and a tree trunk opened to reveal a large screen. As Kami pressed it, a library menu was displayed. Adele realised she would spend hours here, relishing the gift of music after these seven years of silence.

Shangdi showed them how when you picked the fruit from the trees, new fruit would grow in its place. There were spa pools of varying temperatures and colours, even one full of chocolate! 'Nothing will get dirty here; there is no such thing as infection or disease', explained Shangdi, 'you have no need to worry - you may drink this chocolate' - and with that he knelt to sip from the pool - 'but you may bathe in it also.'

A glance at Evan confirmed to Adele how much this meant to him. After all the illness and infection of recent times, how amazing to be in a place where these evils just didn't exist! He adored the chocolate pool in particular. Flashing her a wink, he said, ‘Now that’s what I call paradise!'

Adele was in awe of the fun they would have here together; they were alive again. 'Where do we sleep?' she asked.

'Oh, Jumala is just preparing your rooms', said Shangdi. 'We will show you to them soon, after we have explored the Games Zone!’

Kami smiled. 'There's just one thing I need to tell you’, she said to Adele, ‘come with me'. Adele blew Evan a kiss as he bent down to sup some chocolate from the pool. Kami took a little bridge over the calm pool and, ushered graciously by Bog, Adele followed her.

They passed through a beaded door and arrived in a central atrium that appeared to be Hotel Eden’s reception area. Rooms stretched up into the sky, with a range of staircases, lifts and overhead walkways joining the landings together. There were manned desks all around, and in the centre there was a gigantic aquarium reaching the entire height of the hotel.

'Here’s where you sign up for your work activities and projects’, said Kami, pointing towards the smiling receptionists. But Adele's attention was stolen by the aquarium. 'It is about this aquarium I must tell you', said Kami, reading her mind. 'Anything you want, anything you need in this hotel, it is yours. And we, your co-workers, are here to pass the time with you, to get to know you. You mustn't worry about anything, just enjoy the place - it's very difficult to go wrong! However there is just one rule. There is an entrance from this floor that will take you inside the aquarium - it is how we are able to feed the creatures inside - but you must never take it. Please do not ever try to swim in this aquarium.'

Adele realised Kami was completely serious. There was a solemnity about her pretty little face that Adele had not been aware of up until this moment. 'Okay – of course’, she said, ‘I don't think anyone would ever – ’

'It is our only rule', said Kami, nodding gravely. Feeling uncomfortable, Adele sought to change the subject.

'So, onto the Games Zone then?' she asked, beaming from ear to ear.

* * *

Their rooms were incredible. Had they not been shown around the beauty and splendour of the rest of Eden beforehand, there would have seemed little need in venturing outside. They had their own whirlpool and flower garden - the gift of living things after all those years underground was unreal. There was a sparkly kitchenette that replenished itself whenever you used its supplies. ‘Magical Abundancing’, Bog told them, and Adele thought this might be where she would begin her work in Eden. It was apparently one of the most complicated departments, but after the boredom of conveyor-belt production, she felt more than ready for a challenge.

Light streamed in from the bay windows and above from a domed skylight. They had been given the penthouse, and even a Helper to guard it! Darel, who lived with the other Helpers in the atmosphere surrounding the hotel, entered briefly to introduce himself.

'I'll just be hanging around outside to make sure you're getting enough light in here', he said, smiling with eyes like emerald jewels, 'Be seeing you!' And with that he became dust and glitter, floating through the glass and back into the sky.

'Wow!' said Adele; Evan remained speechless. He pulled at a glowing hook on the wall and a spiral ladder emerged so they could climb up and look at the skies. Adele clambered up, Evan following swiftly behind, and for a while they just held each other there, closer that ever in their disbelief that this could really be happening.

The luxurious king-size bed was a godsend after the regulation bunks they had endured. Everything here seemed designed to encourage their intimacy, and their sensual life flourished together with their rekindled affection. Adele rediscovered her joy of sex and the couple both found that unselfish loving came naturally in Eden.

Naked, soft and satisfied on this first afternoon Adele arose from their dozing first, and beckoned Evan to come and join her on the balcony. It looked out over the reception courtyard where people were gathering, she supposed organising their activities for the day. She and Evan would begin tomorrow and she could hardly wait to be part of it all.

'Too good to be true, eh sweetheart?' said Evan, entwining his fingers in Adele's and gazing fondly down into her gleaming face.

'The co-workers here have thought of everything so perfectly', she said, 'I suppose we should hardly be surprised at that.'

A shimmering sound indicated the arrival of someone in the entrance compartment of their rooms. Adele and Evan helped each other into the colourful silk dressing gowns that hung on reeds near the balcony. Hand-in-hand they wandered to see who their first visitor might be. Adonai, another co-worker who had greeted them on their arrival, smiled warmly.

'I'm sorry to bother you when you're settling in', he said. Adele blushed and avoided Evan's eyes because she knew she would laugh. 'I think the others forgot to tell you - there will be a banquet tonight in the Moon Garden in your honour!'

'The moon - ' began Evan.

'Yes, I am aware that you have not been shown there yet', said Adonai, kindly. 'The boundaries of Hotel Eden are just too wide and long and high and deep for you to take in at first, but gradually you will explore everything, and we are confident that you will be very happy.'

'Oh - we're already very happy!' gushed Adele.

* * *

In the days that followed Adele and Evan became accustomed to their new roles within Eden. They could work and rest whenever they chose, and they generally lost track of time in enjoyment of their labour. They never worked on 'Sky Days' though, the first day in every seven on which the co-workers had insisted they must rest and spend time with them and one another. There was always a big feast on Sky Day, prepared by the catering specialists the evening before and magically preserved with dew nets. Then there was music and dancing, games, swimming, relaxation... it was fantastic!

On the second Sky Day over an ice-cream in Evan's favourite chocolate spa, Adele shared with him the changes she was beginning to experience in her body. They were both much healthier and fitter, but Adele suspected cautiously that it might be more than that. Evan could see himself reflected in her warm eyes and he knew at once that her hopeful suspicions were true: she was pregnant! Sinking underneath the milky chocolate and blowing bubbles together they were like two children about to fly to the moon. They almost didn't dare believe what they knew in their heart to be reality - it was the reason they had been sent here after all.

The following day, Adele and Evan paid a visit to Deviyo - another co-worker who was a herbalist. Their shy wishes were confirmed. Clearly sterility no longer haunted them here; it looked likely that they had conceived on that very first enchanting day in the hotel.

Deviyo was overjoyed, rushing out into the Relaxation Suite, screaming out the news at the top of her voice, 'It's happening! The Prophecy has come to pass! Adele carries the Keychild!' Other women might have loathed the attention, but Adele basked in it; she grew taller with pride and excitement at being the chosen one to repopulate the earth! As new friends came bounding towards her she thought she remembered how it felt to be part of a big family once upon a time.

Everyone was desperate to do their bit towards this promised miracle. While joyful, Adele remained solemnly aware of her intense responsibility; she was determined to carry the future of Paradise as well as she possibly could.

It was during this time that rumour reached Adele and Evan's ears of the manageress visiting Eden. Her name was Abaddon and, according to Evan's co-workers, she had been spotted lurking in the Games Zone at night. She was also suspected to be spying on Magical Abundancing sessions during the day. Adele's colleagues told her not to worry too much; Abaddon thought she was in control but actually had no real power since a big fall out with the co-workers, further back than anyone could remember.

'All she wants to do is upset the harmony here', said Jumala, 'she's jealous of the way we live here. Envy makes people do terrible things...'

'But why wouldn't she just enjoy it like the rest of us?' asked Adele, 'It just doesn't make sense.'

'Oh that's an ancient story you'll be told one of these days', said Jumula, staring quizzically into Adele's face. 'Suffice to say, she just doesn't like to be "one of us" like you and me, or like any of the unseen Helpers who keep this place spiritually balanced. Hence the "manageress" title. But you know as well as I do that there's no place for hierarchies in Eden.' Abaddon had been banished from the hotel and the force fields surrounding it; when she did sneak in, most people just tried to stay out of her way.

* * *

The seventh Sky Day of the new moon arrived, and Adele was growing bigger by the day; there was an undercurrent of anticipation all over Eden. Being the longest day in the year, Hotel Eden was to have one of its biggest parties. Dressed like angels and more in love than ever, Adele and Evan took the musical lift down to the courtyard. They had watched the preparations come together over the course of the afternoon as they'd worked from home, Adele mixing essences for a new spa therapy and Evan working on a virtual reality game called 'Escape from Contamination'. There were living streamers decking the walls and rainbow balconies stretching across the grand atrium structure. Disco balls hung suspended in mid-air and reeds divided the area into three sections in the primary colours, each with a different mood. From high above they could hear a bizarre yet beguiling mix of music as the themed areas combined. There was glitter and scent in the air, a waterfall in the blue section, a gigantic sand dune in the yellow, and a mini volcano in the red.

'Oh look, Evan!' said Adele, as they entered the blue area, trance music mixing with the sounds of the waterfall. She pointed across to a little model village made out of sweets, chocolates and pastries. But Evan had just caught the eye of one of the Games Helpers, invited inside the hotel tonight for this special event.

'You go for it, Angel', he said, 'I'll just go say “hi” to Duchiel, then I'll come join in.' The couple smiled at each other and parted with a kiss, Adele making her way over to the fairytale feast.

It was incredible! Every morsel even more delicious than it looked, and so light Adele felt she could just keep eating and never get sick. There were several co-workers picking away at the village too, plus a couple of Helpers. In between tastings they would talk to her about her special favour - ask how she was feeling, whether she was excited (of course she was!) and if she had been having any prophetic dreams about the life that lay ahead for the child. Chatting away, a good while had passed when Adele stopped to wonder where Evan had got to. He had a sweet tooth and adored this sort of thing. She looked around. Making excuses to her doting friends, she wandered off in search of him, a miniature liquorice tree in hand to surprise him with.

Heading into the volcano zone, Adele wondered how the Natural Disasters team were managing to control its eruptions. The music changed to the thick romance of tango and she became more desperate to find Evan. They loved to dance to this. Where was he? She passed to the side of the aquarium in order to cut around to the sand dune but stopped in her tracks when she heard a repeated thud against the thick glass. Looking around she saw Evan! He was inside the aquarium treading water, beckoning her to join him! But she had told him they were not allowed to swim in there – what had possessed him? He swam to the entrance and jumped out to grab her by the hand. He was rougher than usual, and though his eyes were filled with desire, there was a lack of respect in his approach. She wasn't sure she knew him.

'Evan?' she said, fighting against his determination to pull her back through the magical doorway. 'What are you doing? I told you we can't go in here!’

Evan pulled at her arm impatiently. ‘Abaddon told me how jealous they all are here, envious that we’re the new parents of the world!’

‘But Evan – ‘

‘This is the best place you can swim for the baby!’ Evan said. ‘I’ve broken the rules to prove my love for you and the kid. Now you prove your love for me!’ His eyes glowed a fierce red as he held out his hand in mounting desperation. Adele looked around her and back at Evan: Paradise and the man she’d promised to love forever. She spoke slowly.

‘Evan – remember the rumours. This Abaddon, she’ll try…‘ Adele spotted the manageress behind her husband, swimming around in the aquarium and beckoning her coquettishly. Evan looked sick, like a fish out of water gasping to breathe. The colour was seeping from his face, from his pleading hands.

‘I have to go back in’, he said, ‘with or without you Adele. If you loved me…’ Adele took his hand, leading him back into the forbidden waters. The co-workers would be first to agree; they had been made for one another.

As they clasped guilty hands in the warm murky water, Adele realised that Abaddon had vanished. She experienced a rush of adrenalin and Evan smiled conspiratorially. He pushed hard with his legs and they went soaring upwards, fish of all shapes, colours and sizes hurrying out of their way. They hastily embraced, and in uneasy pleasure began to undress one another.

Their excitement was interrupted by a bang unlike anything either of them had ever heard before. Adele opened the eyes she had closed in terror. They were being thrown about in a tornado of fish, water and glass; a ring of Helpers hovered above them, wailing painfully. Co-workers were screaming and rushing about, a mixture of anger, love and sadness on their faces. A second explosion blew the windows out of the apartments above the courtyard and thick, pink gas smelling of sewage and glue began to ooze into the chaos. Adele and Evan were ejected through the capsule dock and back out into the Contamination, hearing nothing but the knowing tears of their co-workers.




words: 3392
Hotel Eden Commentary

It is challenging in such a small space as this to justify every decision I have made in writing ‘Hotel Eden’. I sought to be faithful to my own understanding of the source text; hence the representations of the characters and settings of Eden reflect my own interpretation of the Garden of Eden story. I have used ideas and symbolism from the Bible as well as from Spiritualism and folklore mythology, but many of my choices were personal, in order to explore my own avenues of representation or to make something clearer or more captivating in the narrative.

I did not want to over-complicate my story with unnecessary characters, and so I wrestled initially with whether to include angels. In the end I kept only Darel (associated with a responsibility for light) and Duchiel (associated with keeping the body and mind young, hence his role in Games). Other angels were cut from the final draft including Ezgadi (associated with the successful completion of journeys) who had escorted the couple on their journey to Eden. The angels live in the atmosphere surrounding the hotel and are named ‘Helpers’. Only humans have the privilege of living alongside God in Eden.

I wanted Abaddon (my serpent) to come across somehow as a fallen angel. This is hinted at by Jumala, but ultimately it is up to the reader to decide who they think this woman is; I wanted to leave open the possibility that evil is potentially ‘one of us’. Her name, Abaddon, is taken from the book of Revelation in the Bible, where it is used to represent ‘the angel of the Abyss’; in Proverbs it refers to the place of destruction. The Greek version ‘Apollyon’ is associated with the underworld and many scholars consider Abaddon to represent the Anti-Christ. All this works together to make Abaddon my perfect snake character. She is manageress of Eden because I wanted to show how power could be the root of evil, and certainly the idea of hierarchy (as referred to by Jumala) is contrary to the spirit of God’s creation where he walks alongside the humans he made. Real hierarchies were the mark of the fallen world of the Contamination, to which Adele and Evan must now return.

God, meanwhile, is multi-culturally characterized through the infinite co-workers in Eden. In the Bible’s New Testament Paul claims that ‘we are God’s fellow-workers’, and in this representation I sought to portray the universality of God, as well as his willingness to get his hands dirty. According to Genesis, humans were created in the image of God; therefore it seemed only right that God should be male and female people of all nationalities and personalities in this allegory. The co-workers have names that mean ‘God’ in different languages and cultures, but I remained purposefully vague about each character’s appearance as I wanted them to be universally representative. It seemed to me fitting that God should be found in the hard-working, helpful and down-to-earth staff of the hotel, and I wanted to move away from the old-man-with-fluffy-white-beard-in-the-sky picture we see all too often in western Christian mythologies. The side of God to be feared is glimpsed in Kami as she warns Adele not to swim in the aquarium; Adele realises that even in the perfection of Paradise the co-workers (God) do need to be taken seriously. At the end of the story Adele and Evan can hear only ‘the knowing tears of their co-workers’, showing their sorrow at the ensuing separation between them and the humans. This must happen as a consequence of their actions, but, though angry, God is saddened by humankind’s fall from grace.

The aquarium symbolises the ‘forbidden fruit’ because in Hotel Eden there is an abundance of water to swim in, just as in the original Eden there was an abundance of fruit trees. It is hence strange that Evan should choose to swim in there, but Abaddon convinces him to break the rules by telling him it would be the best thing for Adele and the baby and suggesting that the co-workers (God) are envious of them. This is similar to the Serpent’s beguiling lies in the original story, and the trick works in the same way as both Evan and Eve are prepared to break the rules for the sake of their loved one.

I used capital letters to begin the names of places and holy processes (like Magical Abundancing) in Eden, so as to lend this text an air of grandeur among other religious texts. In order to combine this transformation with its roots, I also used a phrase from the Bible’s New Testament. Adonai refers to how ‘wide and long and high and deep’ Eden is, just as Paul uses the same expression to refer to ‘the love of Christ’. I aimed to tie together the Old and New Testament by hinting at the dual character of the Father and Son (of God).

There are two prophecies in my tale, firstly Evan’s prophecy that they would journey to Eden, then Eden’s own prophecy that a human child would be born. These invert the order of the larger Biblical narrative where prophecies are made after the Fall in order to predict the Second Coming. In Hotel Eden they instead predict the very beginning of time. The idea of rebirth (through Adele’s expected child) is highly important in this new beginning. Notably this is one way in which I have transformed the original text, where Eve does not become pregnant until after the Fall. In Hotel Eden, where there is no illness or pain, childbirth is not yet a curse.

I also sought to grapple with our understanding of what exactly ‘beginning’ constitutes. If we believe in creation myths that explain how life began, we may wonder what – if anything – existed even before this beginning. Perhaps the beginning of life as we understand it could have been something like Hotel Eden, sprung from world-on-edge-of-destruction chaos, or perhaps we would like to think God would give us a second chance like this when we eventually do destroy the planet. For this reason I changed the original date of the story (2046) to *CD~#, to indicate a way of measuring time and years that is impossible to locate within our conceptions of linearity.

The names Adele and Evan are an inversion of Adam and Eve. I wanted to keep these names simple and commonplace compared with the exotic names of the deities representing God. Adele and Evan are from a real place (though deliberately unnamed), whereas Paradise needed to signify somewhere beyond cultural and geographical boundaries. By inverting their names, their order changes with the female at the beginning of the alphabet, which reflects some of the changes in their characters. Evan is the one prone to hysterics with a penchant for chocolate, and it is Adele who is warned by God not to swim in the aquarium. Thus it is Evan who finally leads the couple into betrayal rather than the female as has been debated throughout history. In fact the manageress Abaddon picks on Evan because he is viewed as the ‘weaker sex’, just as the serpent picks out Eve in Paradise Lost. Although Adele has a strong sense of the co-workers favour, she follows Evan into disobedience because of her love for him.

I inverted the male/female characters in this way because I wanted to explore whether it would make a difference to how the tale comes across. I wondered if really there is any justifiable reason for liking or blaming one character more than the other. I strove to find the equality of the creation story, rather than to subvert it as Angela Carter does in The Passion of New Eve. Notably the story is written from a female perspective, maintaining Adele’s point of view throughout. Historically the majority of Garden of Eden translations and transformations have been written by men, using male language and interpreting the story in the light of their own belief in male supremacy. Inspired by Phyllis Trible’s rereading of Genesis 2-3, I sought to consider the original story through the eyes of a woman.

I consequently acknowledge that in my pursuit of ‘equality’ I have inevitably put my own spin on the Garden of Eden myth. Any retelling will unavoidably reflect the interpretations of its creator, and it could be argued that I have in fact ‘subverted’ the tale, contrary to my intentions. With the debated sources and implications of original manuscripts, it is questionable whether any text could claim to portray the ‘truth’; here I but hope to explore a version of it. By using phrases like ‘godsend’ and ‘what had possessed him?’ I aimed to highlight how much our every day language is strewn with reminders of these Biblical narratives, whether we believe in them or not. Hotel Eden makes use of a contemporary fantasy mindset in which to open up old, forgotten questions once again.


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