Our group of Creative Writers met on Wednesday 03 April 2024 to offer their contributions to the group, as usual.

There were several topics on offer including “If only …” – the unanswerable question. Given that, for the moment, travel in time is not possible, we cannot answer the question “What would have happened if …?” Our authors had several stories prepared which they read out to the enthusiastic listeners.

One story dealt with an arranged romance and marriage which failed, leading to difficult decisions but as it turned out in the end was a successful second marriage. What would have happened if the narrator in the story had said no to the arranged marriage? Would the second marriage have ever occurred?

We then heard about the extravagant life style of an American heiress who travelled to the United Kingdom between the two World Wars, and became addicted to gambling. Fortunately, her secret activities for the UK Government during WW2 managed to put her finances back on track, and after several unsuccessful suitors she ended up happy with her own company. What would have happened if she had accepted one of the many suitors?

We also had a story about the closure of an office, and an individual having to decide whether to accept an offer of early redundancy or to stay until the bitter end. That too asked the same unanswerable question.

Our next meeting on 17 April 2024 will look at more on the “If only ..” line and also take in Addiction, Magical Realism, and possible justifications for the derivation of the expression “The world is your oyster!”