Page Title

Synopsis

Freddie Bryatt is shot by firing squad for desertion on June 9th 1917. The battle is Ypres, and British bombs have exploded beneath the German trenches.

The year is 1999 and William Cook starts to hallucinate and see images of W.W.1. These images take the form of soldiers fighting battles scenes, in the trenches. The scenes are horrific and deeply disturbing.

Tanya works in Romford as a waitress for All Bar One. She is obsessed with violence, which has developed from organised football hooliganism.

Freddie explains to William the injustice of his desertion charge and blames two people as being responsible. They meet regularly on a daily basis. Williams finds a purpose to his life by taking on Freddie Bryatt's desire for justice

William makes a decision to go back on Night Nurse and Prozac. William knows that he could be damaging himself by taking such a move, but feels the risk is worth taking.

Tanya is with friends on a Friday 'night-out' in London's West End. Spirits are high as they plan for tomorrow's London Derby between West Ham and Arsenal.

On Saturday morning, Tanya prepares herself for the match at Liverpool Street station. Tension and adrenaline course through her body. She has travelled through a wormhole that manifested itself opposite WH Smith

William gains further knowledge about his own problems, through association with the life of Freddie

William visits one of the two men guilty for Freddie's desertion charge, after getting in touch with him the previous day on telephone.

Tanya is still back in 1889 and finds out that she is living as her great, great grandmother.

William continues to read through the letters that Charlie had kept since WW1.

William leaves the house with much on his mind and a death to explain.

Tanya, in total despair, is contemplating suicide, as the enormity of her crime becomes reality, at least in her own mind.

William is in the mass of humanity that has invaded London for the New Millennium celebrations. His mission is to find Emily and save her from the horror that she is about to create

Tanya decides that she is going to end her life in the most spectacular fashion with a swallow dive from the top of the London Eye, into the Thames, on the stroke of midnight. As she stands on one of the pods three hundred feet into the sky, she looks down onto the climbers below. The time is 11.55 and the cameras of the World are firmly placed onto her and the climbers below.

Sample Chapter

The hallucinations had been going on for a few weeks. At first, William thought they were just something that happened to everyone at some stage in their life. They were probably just a sign of stress or some other bewildering mental condition, as a result of long hours, in front of a PC and doing a job that was 10 on the Richter Scale for tediousness. It didn't seem right to make a big deal out of them, and anyway, William was not someone who would run to the Doctor because he had blister on his foot.

The images were like something from those early footages of Queen Victoria; black and white, with a lot of grain in the picture, and people running around as if they were on Amphetamines and Red Bull. The images were small, covering about ten percent of his vision, and behind them, life went on as normal in full technicolour. Initially, they were disturbing, insofar as William felt he was going to bump into people hidden by the black and white images. But, he never did, for some reason. The images lasted for about two minutes before completely disappearing. There was no announcement of their coming or going. They could happen at any time or in any venue, though William was relieved, they had not occurred whilst driving.

The most popular venue for the hallucinations was outside W.H. Smith, opposite Platform 16, on Liverpool Street Station. William put it down to the stress of travelling on a Railway system, operating under the trauma of speed restrictions, apathy and under investment. At least, they didn't seem to be appearing more frequently or for longer periods. They had settled into the pattern of William's daily existence, and hadn't done anything yet, to disturb the natural equilibrium of his day. He just accepted them, as you would the cramp and stiffness that came from sitting on seats, made for twelve year old underweight midgets on the 6.18 out of Liverpool Street every evening.

William reasoned that the hallucinations were just another test in the course of a day's work. He worked, with just about, what seemed 90% of the population in the Financial Services Sector. Nobody these days seemed to make anything or do other jobs. That was, unless of course, they worked for the Railways with the life long aim of turning Commuters from sane and sensible humans into dysfunctional, salivating psychopaths. Great Britain had evolved into the first Post-Industrial state, which seemed exclusive, elitist and very cool; But, in reality, was some sort of metaphor for failure. Long Hours, more people moving to the crowded South East, the Bluewater shopping development and seventeen restaurants along every High Street offering food for every taste seemed to resemble success. However, it didn't for William.

Slowly, over the years, William found himself becoming more disenchanted with the grind of commuting. Again this seemed normal, as just about every other passenger, had the same complaints. However, everyone else all appeared different . It was impossible for William to feel some kind of collective kinship with his fellow Commuters. They all seemed to enjo y the normal stuff of life, like putting up new kitchen cupboards or wanting to know if GAP was going to extend their opening hours. Not even Sport could raise his enthusiasm these days. His local football team, were enjoying their best season for years. William wanted desperately to rejoice in their success, to share the warm feeling and loyalty, that exists between fans whose team are doing well. But, he couldn't. Once he had, or it seemed as if he had, but those feelings had gone. Was it age or increasing cynicism? Maybe, it was more sinister and indicative of a far reaching malaise or illness. William thought so, but couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.

For about an hour each day, William worried about mental illness. His obsession worried him for about the rest of his waking hours. He couldn't watch medical programmes of any kind, especially those dealing with the mind, with any comfort. He forced himself to watch them from a mixture of morbid fascination, adult responsibility and doom about life, in general. At a push, he could stomach open-heart surgery, but not whilst enjoying food. The Medical Dictionary, and discourses on subjects, such as passive and impassive schizophrenia were bedtime reading material. William was convinced that he suffered from some type of Schizophrenia. A selection of Schizophrenia self-help groups was on his Internet favourites. As a natural gambler, William imagined the odds on him becoming sectioned, at some stage during his life, as something in the region of evens or 4/5 on.

William worked as a Pension Fund Administrator for a leading American Investment Bank close to Holborn Tube Station. He had been with the company for nearly twenty years. He was institutionalised, as he couldn't imagine working for anyone else, even if offered another 10K to his annual package. As a Taurean he disliked change, even if he didn't enjoy what he was presently doing. He continually quoted 'better the devil you know' and 'life isn't always greener on the other side'. These comments annoyed those people who worked with him. The love of order, routine and systems were seen as William's strongest traits. Indeed, they were the prerequisite for any budding Pension Fund Administrator...