{"id":1471,"date":"2023-01-14T10:22:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T10:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1471"},"modified":"2023-01-14T10:22:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T10:22:06","slug":"wintry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wintry\/1471\/","title":{"rendered":"Wintry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his mother\u2019s bedroom, Christmas Day. He puts the cup of tea and mince pie by her. She stirs. \u2018Thank you, son. You look after me, don\u2019t you?\u2019 Then she\u2019s asleep again. Worn out, she lays there like an old sack, split, on the verge of falling apart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            His mind shifts. Boxing Day races tomorrow, eleven venues, seven races at each. Kempton, 2.30pm, Energy Supply. That boy\u2019s a flyer. He opens the top drawer of the dresser, takes out the credit card, hesitates. Guilt like a barbed wire suit pricks him. He hates these tricky moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

            Another mental timeslip to a bygone winter when the heavens are tipping snow on the town, and he\u2019s imagining the flakes are betting slips, a skyful of dead certs. He places his first bet soon after, Blue Shoe, ten to one. It romps home. He avoids the bookies for a decade until the break with Stella. \u2018You won\u2019t let me get close to you.\u2019 Her words drum again like galloping hoofs. \u2018You\u2019re all ice inside, you need to thaw out, Jim.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            A regular betting habit thereafter until his involvement with Molly pauses it. At work she\u2019s been making eyes at him so hard, she\u2019s practically boring into his forehead. A couple of years of on and off, another woman, but it\u2019s the same old tune: \u2018I can\u2019t reach you, you\u2019re so distant.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Back to the betting, and some runs of moderate success. This last year though his luck has deserted him, he can\u2019t pick a winner to save his life. He stands gloomily at the window. Snow is imminent, a blast of cold air is coming across the bay from Port Talbot. He takes out his smartphone, puts on his bet, \u00a3100, using the card. He\u2019s not sure when precisely he started dipping into her bank account. Just a little now and then. He\u2019ll pay it all back when he gets on a winning streak. He knows he ought to stop, but he\u2019s trapped, somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The next day, Boxing Day, his sister comes with her daughter, and she\u2019s straight upstairs to see her bed-ridden mother. When she returns, she\u2019s holding the card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018I just checked her internet bank account. A hundred pounds is being taken out every couple of days. What-have-you-done, Jimmy?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The race is due to start. \u2018Mum will soon be dead; does it really matter?\u2019 he mutters, his attention on the outcome at Kempton. Why don\u2019t they go, so he can follow the horses and will his horse into first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018You sicken me,\u2019 Christine says. \u2018Her account\u2019s empty. At least you won\u2019t be able to steal any more to fuel your addiction.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018Don\u2019t expect anybody at your<\/em> deathbed,\u2019 her adult daughter barks, as they leave. \u2018Tosser!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Outside snow is falling. A white fur is covering the town, the hills beyond, and is heaping upon the roofs. He turns on his smartphone. Energy Supply finishes fifth. He thinks of discarded betting slips on a bookmaker\u2019s floor. Yes, his luck is right out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his mother\u2019s bedroom, Christmas Day. He puts the cup of tea and mince pie by her. She stirs. \u2018Thank you, son. You look after me, don\u2019t you?\u2019 Then she\u2019s asleep again. Worn out, she lays there like an old sack, split, on the verge of falling apart.\u00a0\u00a0             His mind shifts. Boxing Day races […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[695,697],"tags":[8,20,14],"class_list":["post-1471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-695","category-january-2023-infatuation","tag-he","tag-his","tag-she"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sbrNJE-wintry","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1473,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions\/1473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}