This is an extract from my book. It’s a bit of a spoiler, but nothing major! I felt this piece was very appropriate of my life right now – I’ve started a summer course in prep for going back to uni! Anyway enjoy:

I was so focused on achieving my end goals that I had lost all enjoyment in life. It all flies passed me in a monotonous string. 

Then one day stands out differently from the rest:

I’m sitting in class. The book in front of me says ‘Neuropsychology’. We are learning about the brain this semester. I turn to look around the lecture hall. It was one of the smaller halls on campus. Medicine was such a difficult and specialised course that the amount of students was not large. I focus back on the professor and take notes.

After class, my friends want to go for lunch, but I say that I have too much studying to do. They smile and wave goodbye.

I get into my car and drive home. I make myself a sandwich and take it back to my room. Sitting at my desk, I look around my room. I still live at home with my parents. All of my friends had lived in dorms and then moved into apartments together. I had decided to stay at home a little while longer. My room, like the rest of the house, was old. Everything had been renovated except the structure. I was just about to swing back to my desk and start working, when something catches my eye.

In the corner of the room, along the skirting board, there is a drawing of some kind that had not been there before. I crouch down and took a closer look. It is a fairy etched into the wood. I feel around the edges to see if I can take it off to look at it better. It comes out quite easily. But instead of the wall behind it, there is a hole. I look inside and see a leather-bound notebook about the size of my hand.

I pull it out. The pages are thick and look very old. I get up and sit at my desk. I open it carefully. There is a loose page at the beginning; it’s a letter, written in very elegant, old fashioned writing.