2002-03 Summer break Late July Thursday By the end of July, Ren and Wren have become coosters: worn-out libertines. So they take a few days break from their debauches to give their livers and their sore edea a rest. … Continue reading →
2002-03 Summer break Early July Friday Ren doesn’t come in to work until Friday afternoon. He goes to the departmental office to check his mail. The statue of George is still there, under a layer of clothes. ‘I thought … Continue reading →
2002-03 Summer break Late June Saturday Ren’s brain no longer fits in his skull. It must be monstrously swollen – he can feel it bursting against the side of his skull. If the skull doesn’t break soon and release … Continue reading →
‘Why’s he calling me Blythe again?’ mutters Zack, flustered and confused, to no-one in particular. Walter always calls Zack ‘Blythe’ because there used to be an exactly similar pinguedinous American postgrad in the department before Zack arrived called Blythe Tubshaw, … Continue reading →
2002-03 Summer break Late June Friday Derek watches as the last group of undergraduates, including Wren English, leaves the party. Then he yells across the room, ‘Fugg you, Compdon, you fugging liggspiddle.’ He staggers towards Compton while holding his … Continue reading →
2001-02 Summer break Early June Thursday Compton knocks on Ren’s door. ‘Er… you might want to go to the office right now.’ ‘What is it?’ says Ren. ‘A little present from Murnesia.’ ‘What?’ ‘It’s best if you take a … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 2 Week 9 Wednesday (continued) Ren heads towards the side of the stage. He knows there’s a door there at the back behind a curtain, which leads to a toilet and a small, hidden-away office. Even if … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 2 Week 9 Wednesday (continued) They go into the Terminal Building and head for Bear Hall, the largest and grandest hall on campus, used only for the finest occasions (and certainly not for student graduations). It had … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 2 Week 9 Wednesday ‘Well, they’ve got a lot to protest about,’ says Ren to George. Ren and George are attending a reception being thrown by the University for the visiting Murnesian Head of State. They nervously … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 2 Week 8 Monday Miles has e-mailed Ren to come to a non-descript, out-of-the way pub on a Monday night. Ren assumes this is to do with Lucius – he told Miles on Friday his discoveries about … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 2 Week 7 Thursday I should have taken my car, Ren thinks. I took the train because I wanted to work on a paper on the way to the conference. Which didn’t happen, because even though he … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 2 Week 6 Wednesday ‘I’m just anxious all the time,’ says the student, a stick-thin, unattractive girl whose name is Violet Wells. She’s wringing her hands together as she speaks. Getting her just to come in to … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 2 Week 3 Monday Ren has brought a coffee from the cafeteria and is looking for a place to sit when he sees Miles at a table, so he goes over and plonks himself down next to … Continue reading →
2001-02 Semester 1 Week 8 Wednesday For some reason Ren can’t get onto campus in his car today. There are witches’ hats blocking off all the entrances. He finally finds a parking spot off-campus and walks from there to … Continue reading →
