Free Short Story For You

This is a story I wrote more than two years ago which previously appeared in print in a women’s magazine. The title and elements within the story relate to Strictly Come Dancing, a TV dancing programme that remains very popular! I brought in a location I knew about from my travels up the north of Scotland and I hope you enjoy the mash-up!

13-year-old Chloe lived a strange life that her grand-mother, Isabel, found hard

to recognise. Like some old sage, Chloe rose from bed early. What teenager ever

did that?. She stretched out on the decking, then took Boodle, the golden doodle,

for a walk along the shore. Isabel’s ancient dog wasn’t about to look a gift-horse

in the mouth and willingly went on explorations with Chloe everywhere.

“You should exercise more, gran.” Chloe said on her return.

What was she, some kind of teenage guru?

“I’ve had plenty exercise all my life, thanks. I’ll stick to dancing.”

“Oh! I have an idea! You can do a dance with me, and we’ll send it to Liam.

He’ll love that.”

Chloe instantly looked crestfallen, “But he’s probably too busy to look at it,

now he’s working in London.” She pronounced it Lahndan, like a strange

cockney comedian.

Isabel hugged her granddaughter to her side, “You miss your brother.”

“I do not!” Chloe shouted, “Well, maybe just a bit.”

The sigh that followed was long. Something in it alerted Isabel.

“It must be strange being at home without him, especially since Oliver and your

mum got married?” she tried.

“Liam was away at Uni for years, so, not really, but I guess it does feel different

knowing he’s away down there. London. Doing the most exciting job.”

Chloe looked forlornly out of the panoramic caravan window, over the golf

course, sand dunes and out to the Dornoch Firth.

They’d been coming on holiday to the north-east coast of Scotland since Chloe was

little, when the whole family would gather on the beach with a windbreak, tartan rug, colourful

spades and pails, and kites that entertained for hours in this windy spot beyond

the golf course. Now it was just the two of them. Chloe’s mum, Nadia, had

recently qualified as a nurse, having gone to university herself when Chloe and

Liam were in High School. Now Liam was working in marketing down in

London and living a young person’s dream. At least that’s what Chloe seemed

to think.

“She spends all day on her phone. I’m worried about her.” Chloe’s mum, Nadia,

had said just the other week. “You should take her up to Scotland with you for

some fresh air and walks. I’ve got so many shifts this summer covering for

friends who have young family who are off school.”

Isabel had thought it a grand idea to travel north for some me-time with Chloe

her youngest grandchild, now nearly grown up, who reminded her so much of

her dear son, David. Since retiring early from teaching art, Isabel had kept

herself busy helping Nadia with the children through their secondary school

year activities and managed to volunteer at an after-school art club too.

Isabel was pulled out of her revelry by cheerful music coming from the veranda.

“Come on gran! I’ve set it all up.”

Out there on the wooden decking, Chloe was all legs and arms, her hair flying

around her as she spun and laughed.

Isabel clapped but Chloe beckoned her on.

“Come on! I’m going to teach you the moves, gran!”

Isabel was always up for a challenge, and she enjoyed Zumba classes at the

local community centre, so she soon got the hang of the moves Chloe was

performing to a modern take on a western tune.

Over and over, they did it, side by side, chuckling each time Isabel mucked up a

turn.

“Wait a minute, gran. I know what’ll help.”

Chloe ran barefoot through the caravan and came back out with a cowboy hat

each for them.

“My Taylor Swift souvenirs gran! I’ve got my cowboy boots too, but only one

pair!”

Isabel remembered the concert Chloe had attended along with a couple of

friends with one of the mums acting as driver and chaperone. It was only after a

few renditions, when Isabel was sat in the patio chair fanning her face, that she

noticed the man on the decking of the caravan next door watching them. He

tapped his hand to his head and called over.

“Howdie, young lady!”

Isabel bowed to him, stifling a laugh at his attempt at an American cowboy

accent.

“I’m Isabel and this is my grand-daughter Chloe.” She called back. Isabel now

recognised him as a member of the family who’d used the caravan next door

over the years. Like Isabel, he’d had three generations enjoying holidays here.

She seemed to recall, like her, he’d been a teacher.

“I’m Howie. Howard, but that’s a bit, well. Just Howie is what everyone calls

me. I used to come here with the whole family when the grandkids were young.

Thinking about buying this one for myself but thought I should see if I like

being here on my own first.”

“That’s a good idea.” Isabel said and noticed that Chloe had disappeared inside

with her phone and tripod. “There’s just me and Chloe now as everyone else is

doing their own thing.”

“You know if you and your grand-daughter like dancing, there’s a special line-

dancing thing that happens in the car park next to the beach. It has a lovely view

nearer to sunset when the dancing finishes.”

“Really?” Isabel couldn’t think of anything stranger than a load of people doing

line dancing in a car park.

“No obligation to dance with me. I do watch a bit of Strictly and am light on my

feet!” he said, twirling around on his decking, coming back around to face her

again and holding out an arm. “What do you think?”

“An eight. Room for improvement.” Isabel chuckled.

“There’s a pipe band in the town tonight too, and Highland dancers on the

stage.” He said with a smile.

Isabel watched him carefully as he turned to look out towards the sea. A head of

salt and pepper hair and a well-trimmed beard. In his checked short-sleeved shirt

and fine cotton trousers, he was in fine shape. She’d seen him here over the

years, but they’d all been busy with their own family activities. It had been a

long time since a man had turned her head as she’d been committed to helping

with Liam and Chloe, and she’d gotten used to life on her own.

*

Chloe was deep in her laptop and mobile phone.

“How can you use that all at one time?” Isabel asked, flabbergasted by Chloe’s

concentration.

“I’m putting together a little video. I don’t have the editing programmes that

Liam has, but I can still put together a little film on Instagram.”

“Oh, don’t you be putting me on social media Miss!” Isabel warned. She’d

heard about how things went viral, especially the embarrassing things.

“I’m just playing about with it, gran.”

“I can do without social media!” Isabel answered, although she did have her

own accounts these days, as a way of staying in touch with Liam and Chloe

although she rarely commented on their posts, preferring to direct message

them. She knew how embarrassing the olds could be and she didn’t want to

get banned by her grandchildren.

“Do you fancy going to see the pipe band march through the town tonight?

There’s line dancing afterwards at the beach car park.” Isabel said nonchalantly

as she made a cup of tea.

Chloe didn’t answer immediately, scrolling through something online. Then she

sat to attention.

“Line-dancing? That’s a great idea, gran. The Instagram shots from up there in

the evening are amazing! I’ve seen it online!”

Isabel shook her head.

“There’s more to life than social media you know! It’s not real!”

“Gran, it is real. If I’m not on social media, well, I…cease to exist as far as

things are concerned.”

“Oh, Chloe! You can’t mean that! That’s awful.”

“I’m making it work for me, gran.” She said sagely, “Don’t worry about it! It’s

how I stay in touch with Liam, too. Yes, to the line-dancing thing. Let’s do it!

I’ll take the Swiftie hats with us, and wear something colourful, gran!”

Isabel smiled. She liked it when Chloe was animated like this. It reminded her

of when her grand-daughter was small and they’d painted on the veranda or

splashed through puddles making up adventures. Chloe was arty like her gran,

and Isabel was ever so grateful Chloe had held on to that part of herself as she’d

reached her teenage years. If social media, her phone and laptop kept her

connected to art, then it couldn’t be so bad, could it?

*

“How do I look?” Chloe asked later, standing in a pink fringed top, denim shorts

and cowboy boots. She popped a pink cowboy hat on to her head, the fluffy dog

danced excitedly around her feet.

“You absolutely look the part!” Isabel beamed.

The sunshine of the last few days on the beach had given Chloe a glow and it

seemed that her melancholy had left her for now.

“What about me?” Isabel twirled in her cropped jeans and red checkered top.

“For you!” Chloe chimed as she placed a white cowboy hat on top of Isabel’s

silver hair. She had trouble fitting it on as Isabel’s hair was pinned loosely on

top of her head. “Let your hair down, gran. You have lovely waves.”

When Isabel looked in the mirror, she thought her hair did look good against her

red top.

“I don’t think we can take Boodle …the pipe band might be a bit loud for him

and we don’t want him tripping people up at the dancing. He can have a nice

sleep…can’t you Boodle?”

The dog sighed contentedly as Isabel scratched behind his ears.

“Let’s go dancing!” Chloe said, placing a friendship bracelet on her gran’s wrist.

“From the Taylor Swift concert, gran. You’re my best friend, so you should

have this one.”

Isabel felt she might cry with emotion as she felt Chloe’s arms around her waist.

Her grandchildren were both growing into independent young adults, but it was

lovely to know Chloe still appreciated her.

“Thanks, darling. Let’s go and have some fun.”

*

Although they’d seen the pipe band perform in the High Street in previous

years, tonight felt special. The drums and bagpipes made Isabel’s heartbeat skip

along and they smiled as they watched two young girls demonstrate their

Highland dancing, Chloe taking photos and videos of their kilted skirts

whirling. Dornoch might be where Madonna chose to get married, and where

shops sold goods by royal appointment, but this, the whirl and the noise of the

Scottish bagpipes, the energetic dancing, this was the true heart of it all, where

the community and visitors came together.

Afterwards, they walked towards the long sandy beach. The car park was

mainly empty of cars… because it was full of lines of dancers. There was a

string of multi coloured lights between two large vehicles and speakers up on

stands. Already people were moving to and fro, hands tapping hats, then heels,

turning around, rows all moving as one to jaunty country and western music.

Chloe brought out her mobile which she always seemed to be using for filming.

“Oh, be careful, love. People may not want to be on camera!”

“That’s ok, gran. I’ll time it perfectly for when they turn. I know what I’m

doing!”

Howie was standing tall in front of them, taking in a deep breath.

“Think we should join them?”

He looked the part in an open necked checked shirt and cream chinos. He

proffered his arm to Isabel, and with a nod from Chloe who was moving around

photographing peoples’ feet, off they went to join the fun.

Between musical numbers, they had a good chat about Howie’s recent retiral

from teaching English, his screen-writing successes and his interest in design.

Hearing about his volunteering with a local theatre assisting with set design left

Isabel appreciative of all the unnoticed work that went into theatre shows. Like

herself, he’d lived alone for years, and he’d found himself a good community in

the volunteer theatre group.

The evening went by quickly as one musical number merged into another and

Isabel danced alongside Howie, and even Chloe at one point, and it was then

that Isabel noticed how golden Chloe looked in the evening light.

“Do you mind if I sit this one out, darling?” Isabel said over the music as Chloe

and Howie stomped their feet to a particularly energetic, more modern tune.

Isabel held Chloe’s phone for her and took the opportunity to take some snaps

of Chloe twirling as golden hour reached them.

The multi-coloured lights reflected onto the dancing crowd in the car park, but

the colours could never compete with the sunset reds, pinks and purples that

were streaking over the waters of the Dornoch Firth.

“Told you it would be spectacular!” Howie said into Isabel’s ear, his beard

tickling her.

“It really is.” Isabel replied but she was looking into the soft blue eyes of this

gentleman who had somehow recognised just the right opportunity to bring

them all together to make the most memorable moment of their holiday.

“What do you think?” he bowed and twirled.

“A Ten!” She replied as if she was a judge from Strictly Come Dancing, one of

her favourite shows.

*

It was no surprise to Isabel to hear Chloe up and about in the morning, the doors

to the patio opening.

Howie waved from his veranda.

“Still recovering from last night?” he raised his coffee cup.

“I was just telling Howie, we’re an overnight internet sensation.” Chloe clapped

her hands together and twirled.

What on earth was Chloe on about? She better not have posted that video of

them dancing on the veranda to Taylor Swift songs.

“Look gran! It’s you and Howie!”

Chloe held her phone aloft and there was a most magical sight. In the darkening

twilight, warmed by the sun-streaked purple shades, were dancers twirling,

touching their hats, Isabel and Howie twirling arm in arm, broad smiles lit by

nature, and perhaps from within too.

The next shots were peoples’ feet adorned by all sorts: sandals, trainers, cowboy

boots of many colours and then some stills: the snaps Isabel had taken of Chloe

dancing in her Taylor Swift outfit, the sun illuminating her cheeks, her hair

shining with natural sun-streaked highlights. It was all playing to a lovely tune.

“But we didn’t dance to that tune, did we?” Isabel asked, slightly baffled.

“No, gran! When you do an Instagram Reel, you can put it to any music you

want. And that’s the best bit!” she jumped up and down, “It’s one of Liam’s

tunes, gran. One of his very own compositions. You remember it?”

She turned the sound up and now, without the distraction of the energetic line

dancers, Isabel recognised the song Liam had played on his guitar for his mum’s

marriage to Oliver just the year before. Liam had played it solo as his mum

walked down the aisle at the historic castle just down the road from here. This

version though was more jazzy, a studio sound, perhaps even a proper

recording.

“It’s very good!” Isabel smiled, aware that her grandson’s talent always had

been music and how grateful she was that he was still connected to music via

the creative videoing he did in his marketing job. Maybe some of that was

rubbing off on Chloe too, given the video she’d produced on her phone.

“Good?” Chloe screeched, “It’s gone viral, gran! And I linked it to Liam’s

account. His DMs have gone bonkers, gran!”

By this, Isabel took it to mean he’d had a lot of enquiries on direct messaging

which was surely a good thing.

The video was paused on the part where Howie was holding Isabel out at arm’s

length, ready to twirl her back towards him again and they were both in rapt eye

contact.

Isabel smiled warmly and beckoned Howie over to join them for toast and

coffee on the veranda.

“I told you social media was life, gran!” Chloe said.

“Are you sure it is Liam who is the creative director?” Isabel joked.

“He says I can go into his office to see how things all work if I can go down to

London before the end of the holidays. Would you take me gran?”

Isabel felt relieved that Chloe was doing better than they all might’ve imagined.

The children had lost their dad to illness when they were very young, and Isabel

still missed her son, David, every day. When Oliver came on the scene years

later, they’d all taken to him and his kind nature, welcoming the wedding. Still,

Chloe’s mum, Nadia, had worried when her eldest, Liam, moved away from

home changing the dynamic at home.

“London, eh?” Howie winked, sitting down. “Can’t beat a bit of a West End

show and some sightseeing. I have some friends down in London. Theatre

types. We haven’t seen each other for an age.”

“Sounds…. doable.” Isabel said deep in thought. “I’ll check with Liam to see if

he can fit us all in.”

Howie looked deep in thought for a moment.

“I’d be happy to share costs with you if it helps.”

Howie’s eyes sparkled as he talked about the friends he’d worked with in

theatre design. Although it had been screen writing that introduced him to the

theatre group, it seemed Howie had a real talent for stage design and was

willing to turn his hand to any job that needed doing. Isabel was thankful for the

way he’d recognised how the Car Park Line Dancing would put a sparkle in her

eye. Now she might put a sparkle in his.

“You’re welcome to join us, Howie. We haven’t seen Liam since Christmas. I’m

sure we can work something out if Chloe’s mum agrees.”

“Oh, mum will be happy enough. She’s got work. And Oliver.” Chloe said.

Chloe had been so grown-up about all the changes over the last year.

“You are ok, love?” Isabel said into Chloe’s ear.

“Oh yes, gran. I’m just…you know…working things out. I’ve got choices ahead

of me at school…thinking about what I might like to go and study afterwards.”

Chloe popped her headphones on, no doubt to listen to Taylor Swift again and

she pointed to the crashing sea, her voice rather loud due to the headphones.

“I’m off to film the waves. I’ve got an idea.” She popped an earphone off to the

side and smiled, “You’re right you know gran! Social media isn’t life – life is

highlighted on social media!” and she stuck her thumb up.

“She’s something, isn’t she?” Isabel smiled contently as Chloe jumped down the

steps to the sand dunes. “Very talented.”

“Not the only one!” Howie said as he twirled Isabel at arm’s length, pulling her

towards him. “Now, about this trip… I thought we might go to one of the

Strictly shows. What do you think? My treat.”

“That sounds great. Maybe the theatre too?” Isabel smiled.

“That sounds like a ten out of ten to me.” Howie laughed.

And, Isabel

Howie might turn out to be a perfect ten too.

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Thanks for reading and please do restack to anyone who might enjoy!

Love from Jackie in the Little Writing Corner in Scotland x x x

Another post that has a link to Dornoch!