Tall And True Short Reads
A Jittery Journey
Episode 6 (9 November 2020)
JITTERY. 16-down, “Nervous or unable to relax (7 letters)”. Loud voices in the street drown out the TV. I put down my crossword, walk to the front window and part the curtains. They’re at it again, the neighbours across the way. I can see them pointing and shouting at each other under the pale street lights.
A Jittery Journey/h2>
Show Notes
Season One: Episode 6 (9 November 2020)
A Jittery Journey is a short story from TallAndTrue.com, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.
Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/a-jittery-journey
Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com
Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads
Buy Robert’s short story collections online:
- Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
- Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
- Rakuten Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead
Story Insight
I wrote A Jittery Journey for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s monthly 500-word short story competition, Furious Fiction, in June 2020. The FIRST and LAST WORDS of the story had to begin with a “J”, and it had to include a GAME BEING PLAYED, and the phrase MISSED THE BOAT.
A crossword puzzle provided me with the perfect device for my first and last words and the game. And I used our jittery COVID-times to tell the journey of an older person living alone under lockdown, while the neighbours argue. As for missing the boat, who wouldn’t wish they’d missed boarding a “COVID Princess” cruise ship?
Once again, I didn’t win or make the short or long lists for Furious Fiction. But I enjoyed the challenge of writing my short story in the 55-hour deadline. And I took great comfort in the knowledge June’s winning entry also featured a crossword.
I hope you enjoyed A Jittery Journey. Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True website.
The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, The Dark Web, will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed to make sure you haven’t missed any of the earlier episodes, Five Meet On Zoom, A Moving Sculpture, Too Late Lenny, A Song on the Radio and The Cat in the Trunk.
Podcast Theme and Sound Effects
Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.
Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org.
- Background TV: https://freesound.org/people/o_ciz/sounds/475477/
- Quarrelling in street and slammed door: https://freesound.org/people/therover/sounds/463804/
- Angry man: https://freesound.org/people/rachyray/sounds/273710/
- Pouring brandy: https://freesound.org/people/FillSoko/sounds/257957/
- Glass bottle: https://freesound.org/people/LampEight/sounds/259671/
- Sips: https://freesound.org/people/Sheyvan/sounds/471078/
Production Notes
Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.
Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.
Acast Podcast Supporter Page
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