extract from a conversation with isabelle ashton (1996)

“okay, so you want to start by following this road, maybe 200 yards, until you get to a convenience store, ‘rick’s', on the right. then take a right onto wheatcroft. carry on along wheatcroft for another couple of minutes, follow the road round left and you’ll see a group of elm trees. head down the road that runs through them. it’s called….’jones street’, but it’s not signposted anyway. but once you get past the elms you’re going to see signs for ‘falston’ and then you just have to follow them and you’ll get where you’re going. so it’s real easy, trust me.”

extract from a conversation between regina abdullah and jonathan aga (1909)

regina “it’s a blessing that we’re both hideous. can you imagine if one of us were a photogenic case and the other one were a case for eugenics? yes, i think that this is truly the best of all possible worlds…..[silence]…..you and i should go out tonight. there’s a dance hall i’ve been dying to criticise and it would be better with company. a critic without an audience is too easily dismissed as jaded and jealous. a critic with an audience could grow up to be pope.”

extract from a conversation with lou walters (2007)

lou:

“all i expect from you is your undying love. is it really so much for me to ask for your clinical and unshakable devotion, dear?……yes, yes, i know. you have an answer for everything. well i have a question for everything. that alone surely makes us soulmates, does it not?……..well, when you put it that way……yes, i do believe that love is absolutely contagious. i believe that love shares all the characteristics of a flesh-eating virus, minus the positives ones, of course. and in the end, isn’t that all we ask of others – that one day they may eat our flesh?”