{"id":1840,"date":"2023-11-13T17:48:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T17:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1840"},"modified":"2023-11-13T17:48:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T17:48:17","slug":"i-am-lucy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/i-am-lucy\/1840\/","title":{"rendered":"I Am Lucy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A new message flashes. The little icon with her photo, all Bambi-eyes and dimples, sets his heart racing. And then there\u2019s that other feeling. The one he shouldn\u2019t have for someone her age. The one that twists his stomach and clamps his jaw tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The curtains are drawn, as always. His secrets fester like bacteria in the stale air, seeping into the furniture. They clutter every surface, filthy as the plates that litter his room. He cannot risk them spreading beyond the confines of this house. Not like they did in the old neighbourhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These new neighbours seem friendly. They posted that \u2018Welcome\u2019 note through his door, with the link to the community Facebook group. That\u2019s where the fireworks display was advertised. And where he found the laughably easy to access local youth chatroom. Honestly, this lot could do with some internet safety training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

His fingers, slick with sweat, begin typing a response. They\u2019re moving almost automatically, as though fate is steering him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi Lucy,\u201d it makes him write. \u201cStill going to the fireworks on Sunday?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He clicks \u2018send\u2019, a fifteen-year-old boy beaming from his profile. It bears a striking resemblance to him thirty years ago. He was chuffed when he\u2019d found it on a friend\u2019s Instagram account. \u2018Guy\u2019 was exactly who Lucy was looking for. She\u2019d messaged him immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes! You coming?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He bites his lip. \u201cI\u2019ll come if you\u2019ll meet me first. Just you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCool! The woods by the park? I\u2019ll be wearing a red hat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOk.\u201d He adds a blush-face emoji. No, maybe not. His niece said only old people use emojis. He deletes it. Presses send.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She replies with a blush-face emoji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                          *<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The twilight air is smoky as he approaches the clearing. It casts a romantic filter over the evening that he hopes will soften his harsh adult edges. In the distance, a firework screams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There she is. Leaning against a tree, the light from her phone illuminating her red hat like a beacon. This is his last chance to change his mind. He tells himself that if she doesn\u2019t look up in the next five seconds, he\u2019ll turn and walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her head raises on the count of three. It\u2019s kismet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLucy?\u201d He tries to shrink his voice and body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her eyes widen. In shock or excitement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn\u2019t have time to decide. Out of the shadows steps a man. Taller than him. Bulkier, too. In a red hat. He stands in front of the girl and folds his arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am Lucy,\u201d he says. His voice is violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am Lucy.\u201d More gravelly words launch at him from behind a tree. A second man, also wearing a red hat, stands beside the first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They emerge from all directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am Lucy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am Lucy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spins, looking for an escape route. But the red hats have formed a ring as tight and angry as fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve found our Guy,\u201d he hears one of them say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind him, someone strikes a match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
These new neighbours seem friendly. They posted that \u2018Welcome\u2019 note through his door, with the link to the community Facebook group. That\u2019s where the fireworks display was advertised. And where he found the laughably easy to access local youth chatroom. Honestly, this lot could do with some internet safety training.<\/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":[695,1029],"tags":[1052,8,7,122,20,116,119,704,126,902,14,191,118,11,253],"class_list":["post-1840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-695","category-november-2023-fireworks","tag-air","tag-he","tag-her","tag-him","tag-his","tag-like","tag-ll","tag-lucy","tag-new","tag-old","tag-she","tag-there","tag-they","tag-was","tag-where"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-tG","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\/1840","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=1840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1842,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840\/revisions\/1842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}