Then there’s Monica Mason n Patricia Lewis. Patricia left n started afresh somewhere else, but she wis just continuin hur life here wae new faces. Patricia helped me take that first step over the door, rightly or wrongly, n fur that A’m grateful. If an opportunity comes up in life yi ought tae take it, so wit it didnae work oot. It’s huvin the baws tae try that’s important, both small step n giant leap. That paved the way fur this adventure. Monica Mason is hur complete opposite. She wid make a few real friends wherever she went, treat herself n others well. Hur life wid be a success cos it wis borne oot ae struggle. A contented soul, far more than me, n deservin ae aw the good things in life that ir comin tae hur. Yir character is defined by the choices yi make and the life yi huv is often the result ae them. Plenty cunts wid sit aboot here n be bitter aboot the success ae plenty who deserve it. The pubs ir full ae philosophers who will tell yi over another pint that they know the way things ir aboot here, long as you’re buyin.

Aw the other lassies huv faded away, almost forgotten. They didnae bother wae any this shite. A heard Amanda is engaged tae a guy fae London she met in Ibiza. She’s aff doon there livin n no one hus seen hide nor hair ae hur. Big Rose hud been a cleaner n noo she works in the supermarket wae hur maw. Hur maw works on the deli counter n Big Rose in the warehoose. She drank in the local pubs n hud started livin the life ae an eld wuman too young. A heard she’s goin wae a cunt aboot thirty-five n they’re movin over tae Viewpark, intae a council hoose. That’s literally aw A’ve heard aboot them. Lassies just git hitched n disappeared. Or stayed n suffered like Wee Toni. Stories like hers, part n parcel ae why A cannae accept the place, like Tam. A cannae find peace here when that kind ae thing happens so regularly. Hur story hus changed the woods fur me, once a space ae our first childhood adventures n teenage transgression, tae a darker place A barely recognise.

Someday, maybe dream ae them again – that first time we wandered doon, wae the log n the wee campfire burnin, bottles ae wine n tunes on n the great Mansion rebuilt tae its former glory n aw ae us there the-gither wae nobody missin.

The day’s light hus started tae fade. A’m oot the front ae ma maw’s door smokin n lookin at a big sun set slowly behind the eld red roof tiles as Big Kenzie pulls up in his eld Golf GTI tae pick me up. Ma maw’s at the door noo n she’s greetin n kissin me n tellin me tae be careful. A’m doon the steps, the first ae many on this great journey called life. Big Kenzie is oot the motor n grabbin ma bag aff ma back. We both gee ma maw a wee wave n she watches us go fae the doorstep.