Audenshaw

By Sadie Fisher

Location: Audenshaw Reservoir

Audenshaw

‘And by the time we’ve walked around it, you will have your answer,’ she said.

The thing seemed insurmountable. It looked like it would take a good hour or two, maybe more. But she was adamant. Well, if that’s what it would take, so be it. It was typical of her unreasonable demands that she would elevate the conversation into some sort of unseemly contest, some test of strength. I looked down at my muddy Converse. They’d be a lot dirtier before this afternoon was finished, that’s for sure.

‘Alright,’ I sighed.

As one we turned and began walking up the short gravelly track. The sky was a light feathery blue now, denying the fact of the muddy puddles around us and the height of the water in the reservoir.  Even on Sundays the M60 that girdled the reservoir was busy with families visiting families visiting families. But the hiss of the traffic had long ago ceased to register in my mind and I wondered how to proceed with the conversation. Looking down I noticed that Rachel had come prepared for this hike, her stout red leather walking boots looking like veterans of the Lakes.

‘Why are you wearing trainers?’ asked Rachel suddenly, our minds as always thinking about the same thing whether we liked it or not.

‘I always wear trainers,’ I replied, somewhat indignantly.

‘Didn’t you notice it’d been raining?’

What she actually meant was ‘didn’t you notice our relationship was going off the rails?’ but I didn’t rise to it. After all, it was a long way round this reservoir.

‘I didn’t anticipate traipsing through the mud,’ I defended myself. ‘What’s wrong with the Arndale?’

‘I wanted to break our routine,’ said Rachel. ‘We never do anything different.’

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7 Responses to “Audenshaw”

  1. July 01, 2010 at 10:35 am, Anthony Parker said:

    Beautiful little snapshot of a relationship, Sadie. And love the bit about the reservoir being shaped like a pair of Y fronts!

    x

  2. July 04, 2010 at 4:15 pm, Audenshaw « Soxie said:

    […] soxysadie I am pleased to say that my short story ‘Audenshaw’ has been published on Rainy City Stories, as well as one of my pictures.  The website publishes short stories set in and around Manchester […]

  3. July 06, 2010 at 11:14 am, Bob Crewe said:

    I live in Audenshaw. I have walked the reservoirs. I could see the events happening.

  4. July 06, 2010 at 4:00 pm, Soxie said:

    Thank you Ant and Bob!

    x

  5. July 07, 2010 at 8:47 pm, Belinda said:

    Hello,

    I really liked this piece. Your descriptions of the lake and the people in the story are very well written and I was transported to the place and the moment.

    I think that we’ve all been in that place with someone. I walked around Chorlton Water Park once with an ex-boyfriend, we’d been dating for over a year and this piece reminded me of that walk :)

    Thank your for sharing

    Belinda

  6. July 08, 2010 at 4:16 pm, Soxie said:

    Thank you very much Belinda. We certainly have all been in that place!

    Soxie

  7. July 19, 2010 at 3:27 pm, John said:

    Enjoyed the read about a romance in Audenshaw.

 

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