Tall And True Short Reads
Back to School – Chapter Five
Episode 22 (1 May 2021)
Hamilton leaned back, tapping the tips of his fingers together in contemplation. “An interesting dream, Edwards. What do you make of it?” Charlie shifted nervously from leg to leg. “Well, sir, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought since last night, and I think it was a premonition.”
Back to School – Chapter Five
Show Notes
Season One: Episode 22 (1 May 2021)
Back to School is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead. The podcast version of the story is presented in six instalments, one per chapter.
Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/young-adult/back-to-school
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
If you’ve listened to my insights in the earlier chapters of Back to School, you’ll know I wrote the first draft of the short story in 1992, based on a dream I’d had about my school days. Initially titled A Second Chance, the story became Another Chance in subsequent drafts. And when I shared it on Tall And True in 2017, I renamed it again to Back to School.
In Chapter Five, Charlie is sixteen again and still attempting to convince his headmaster, Heavy Handed Hamilton, that the dream of his adult self, and his house and family, and his being unemployed again was a premonition. “It was a warning of how my life will be if I don’t finish high school and sit my exams next year.”
Hamilton has school reports to sign and a pile of paperwork but indulges the boy. “If it was a premonition, as you say, Edwards, do you believe you can alter your future, your destiny?” Because the headmaster had a dream or premonition back in his army days. And acting on it saved the lives of his patrol and his own.
Unlike Charlie and Hamilton, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a dream that’s come true, a premonition. But I’ve had vivid dreams and experienced déjà vu many times.
Thanks for listening to this podcast. I hope you enjoyed Chapter Five of Back to School. You can read this and all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com.
The final instalment, Chapter Six, Another Chance, will be released shortly. In the meantime, check your podcast feed for earlier chapters and other self-contained short story episodes from Tall And True Short Reads. And follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app.
And please tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.
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:
- Creaky chair: https://freesound.org/people/gmarchisio/sounds/167878/
- Gunfire: https://freesound.org/people/C-V/sounds/523404/
- Helicopter: https://freesound.org/people/metrostock99/sounds/345084/
- School bell: https://freesound.org/people/13FPanska_Stranska_Michaela/sounds/378394/
Production Notes
Tall And True Short Reads 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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