How certain are you that everything you see or hear exists?
When Marcia kindly offered me a guest writer spot on The Write Stuff, it could not have come at a better time. Not only had I just published a second collection of my short stories and flash fiction, More Glimpses, but one of the characters from the book was questioning me as to its existence.
It sounds a rather strange question, doesn’t it? Someone or something from a book or story asking if it exists. Not to be outdone or disloyal to my character, I told it to write a blog post. What you are about to read is the result.
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I don’t have a name. Well, I did, but I’ve forgotten what it was. In fact, thinking about it, I could have had hundreds of titles.
Even though I don’t have a name, I appear as a character in the story ‘The Man In The Television’ in the new short story collection, More Glimpses’ by Hugh W. Roberts. Hugh gave me a satisfying role; one that definitely portrays who I am and what I can do.
But back to my question – Are you sure everything you see exists? How would you answer that question? Look around you and ask yourself if everything you do see is really there. Our brains and eyes play so many tricks on us, what’s the guarantee that everything you see or hear is actually there?
And about the things, you think, do not exist? They’re not real, are they?
Take Hugh, for example. Are you sure he exists? Have you ever met him? If you’ve never met him, how do you know he’s real? And if you have met him in real life, how do you know it was him you actually met?
Hugh’s had a few incidents in his life that he doesn’t fully understand. Was the ghostly figure he saw sat at the end of his bed really there? Where did the scratches he discovered under his bed come from? I’ve heard him ask himself many times if what he saw or heard were real, or if they were all figures of his imagination? He’s only told a few people about those incidents. Most of them waved them off as not being real. How wrong they are.
Have you ever witnessed something you can’t explain? A locked door that opens by itself, or the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs when you’re the only one in the house? How about that feeling that somebody has just walked over your grave? They may go unchallenged or not seem to matter after a few minutes, but something caused them, didn’t it?
The stories, characters and twists in Hugh’s book never existed until they were bought to life from an area of the brain not even you humans fully understand. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, does it?
Should you be wary of me? That depends on whether you think I’m real or not. Now you’ve read this post I’ve written, I exist, don’t I?
I look forward to meeting you.
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Story #19: The Man In The Television
Genre: Horror
Unaware of what is in the room with them, a family watching a popular Saturday evening television show have no idea what is really happening in front of them. Have you seen the man in the television?
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Whatever it was that wrote the above post can be found in the story ‘The Man In The Television’ from my latest short story collection, More Glimpses.
If you’d like to meet another character from More Glimpses, Jane Collins from the story The Jump, click here to read her blog post.
Click here to buy your copy of More Glimpses.
Also available – Glimpses, the first collection of short stories and flash fiction from Hugh W. Roberts.
Click here to buy your copy of Glimpses.
Thank you so much for allowing me to use your blog, today, to promote my new book, Marcia.
Now, back to the question I asked you all. Are you sure everything you see exists? Let me know by leaving me a comment.
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About Hugh W. Roberts
Hugh W. Roberts lives in Swansea, South Wales, in the United Kingdom.
Hugh gets his inspiration for writing from various avenues including writing prompts, photos, eavesdropping and while out walking his dogs, Toby and Austin. Although he was born in Wales, he has lived around various parts of the United Kingdom, including London where he lived and worked for 27 years.
Hugh suffers from a mild form of dyslexia but, after discovering blogging, decided not to allow the condition to stop his passion for writing. Since creating his blog ‘Hugh’s Views & News’ in February 2014, he has built up a strong following and now writes every day. Always keen to promote other bloggers, authors and writers, Hugh enjoys the interaction blogging brings and has built up a group of online friends he considers as an ‘everyday essential’.
His short stories have become well known for the unexpected twists they contain in taking the reader up a completely different path to one they think they are on. One of the best compliments a reader can give Hugh is “I never saw that ending coming.”
Having published his first book of short stories, Glimpses, in December 2016, his second collection of short stories, More Glimpses, was released in March 2019. Hugh is already working on the next volume.
A keen photographer, he also enjoys cycling, walking, reading, watching television, and enjoys relaxing most evenings with a glass of red wine. Hugh shares his life with John, his civil-partner, and Toby and Austin, their Cardigan Welsh Corgis.
Connect with Hugh
Blog: Hugh’s Views and News
Twitter: @HughRoberts05
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