Love Will Always Follow You Around

Julia walked. Ever since the split, she walked. She walked for hours every day, until her feet bled and her body ached and throbbed with pain.

But still she couldn't shake the memory of him.

Although it had been her idea to break up, she regretted it. She saw the updates he posted on Facebook: he was having the time of his life. Whereas she was skulking around a dodgy part of the city in the middle of the night, trying to forget about him. He didn't have to rub it in, but she couldn't blame him for it.

He was all she thought about.

She'd thought she wasn't in love with him any more. This was what she had told him and she had watched his heart break. It was true, at the time at least. But now she wanted him back.

Julia was surprised to see the dim light of a bar on the street corner. It was late. She went in. She drank too much these days.

She took a seat at the bar. To her right was a handsome man with long dark hair who looked as bad as she felt. His face was cut and bruised, his shirt was ripped, he was in a terrible state.

"You look as bad as I feel," Julia said, gesturing for the barman to bring over two beers.

He gave her a weak smile and she felt hopeful.

This story is inspired by the song 'Love Will Always Follow You Around' by Paintings of Ships.

The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future

It was Sunday. And as on most Sundays at this time of year, Will was on the beach. He didn't come during the summer. Instead, Will waited until the tourists had fled and he had the place to himself. Nobody would usually go to the beach in such a grey and miserable town in November, but it suited Will.

Will had his favourite spot on the beach, the spot he had picked out many years ago. He sat in it every Sunday that he could and just thought. He thought about how he was wasting his life. He thought about how he missed his dad. He thought about how he was wasting his life pining over Louise when she had moved on.

Sometimes he took a sketch pad and drew. He never drew what he could see, for he found it too frustrating that he couldn't capture reality just right on the page. Instead, he drew monsters. He drew the insides of people. He drew feelings.

Will usually left his drawings behind. His sister would only throw them away out of spite if she found them around the house and he didn't have anyone he wanted to show them to anyway. He liked that someone might find them and take some pleasure from them.

He often sat on the beach and imagined a happier life for himself. He imagined he came to the beach to think of ideas for his award-winning best-selling series of novels. He imagined he brought his baby daughter here to give his wife a break. He imagined he was happy.

Will left the other Wills on the beach and went home, pledging to return in a week.

This story was inspired by the song 'The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future' by Los Campesinos!