Then Chapter 6. Second from last page, first paragraph:

Well, whatever the story Charles is living now about this situation –

Poltergeist?

– it is 99.9 per cent unlikely that his story (creative as he undoubtedly is, inventive as he undoubtedly is) involves a fiercely intelligent, immaculately attired, twenty-three-year-old Ethiopian professional carer called Gyasi ‘Chance’ Ebo riffling furiously though his teddy bear collection.

Now changed to:

Well, whatever the story Charles is living now about this situation –

Poltergeist?

– it is 99.9 per cent unlikely that his story (creative as he undoubtedly is, inventive as he undoubtedly is) involves an incredibly persistent, highly intelligent, terrifyingly indignant, partially sighted seventy-eight-year-old man of diminutive stature called Denny Neale (wearing filthy, green dungarees with a neatly plaited Robert Crumb’s Mr Natural-style beard and a giant magnifying glass) riffling furiously though his teddy bear collection.

Actually, I think this works better.

Overcompensating with too many descriptive words, though.

Screw Gyasi ‘Chance’ Ebo.

Need to bring Denny Neale completely TO LIFE!

Ka-pow!

7. (revised)

IF YOU BELIEVE IN TELEKINESIS, PLEASE RAISE MY HAND

While Denny Neale is extremely intelligent, he has no way of knowing that Charles is running scared of the bailiffs. Lucky for Denny, though, Charles announces this fact as soon as he discovers him (up to his knees in kapok and rifling carelessly through large piles of teddy-related detritus) in his sewing room.

Charles all but bellows: ‘This is forced entry! Which creditor are you here for? What have you taken control of? I demand to see documentation!’

‘The door was open,’ Denny responds with a shrug, waving his giant magnifying glass at Charles, almost airily. ‘This is peaceful access.’

Denny has a rare, inherited vision disorder called Achromatopsia which means that he cannot see colour and is unbelievably sensitive to bright light (in certain circumstances this often renders him all but blind).

The sewing room is very small – it’s really just a large cupboard which an optimist trying to sell Charles’s house might call ‘an office’. Charles is a tall man but he is extremely good at compressing himself into small spaces when needs must. He is also highly attuned to the idea of work/life balance and therefore refuses to let his work take up too much space (literally or metaphorically).

Charles has no intention of becoming a workaholic. He’s way too complacent and savvy for that.

Bear making is ‘just a job’. It’s not ‘a calling’. It’s not ‘a drive’. It’s not ‘a passion’.

Charles continues to charge forward as Denny speaks and is now standing in the sewing room alongside Denny. He is towering above Denny. There is very little room in the sewing room, so ‘normal’ ideas connected to ‘acceptable notions of personal space’ cannot apply here. Charles is quickly joined in the sewing room by Avigail who feels a (possibly excessive) sense of responsibility with regard to people currently occupying/inhabiting Charles’s home (even Charles himself is included in this schema. Certainly Morpheus).

‘What’s going on?’ she demands. Avigail also towers over Denny Neale who stands at four feet seven inches in his socks (he is currently wearing a pair of plain black plimsolls with thin rubber soles – the kind you’d wear in school PE classes. He treasures the notion of pliability).