I remember Mum saying how quiet I was in the car, as we drove back from Tom’s house. I think she knew that I was feeling sad, because I wouldn’t be seeing him again for a long time. At least I had his address and I could write. So I did write to Tom. I told him how much I’d enjoyed our times together, and how much I was looking forward to seeing him again. I shared my innermost thoughts with him, my hopes and dreams. There was nothing I felt I couldn’t tell him about.
I was so excited when I received letters back from him. His handwriting was a bit scrawly, but I could read it easily enough. He wrote in the same way as he spoke – in a deeply personal and confidential way. He made me feel as if I was the most important person in the world and that the things he told me about were secrets that only we could share. He asked me about so many different things: how I was getting on in my chess competitions; whether Kate and Megan were doing all right at school; when I’d be seeing my dad again. He was interested in the ordinary everyday things that made up my life.
I sent him a Christmas card that year, but I was disappointed when I didn’t get one back. In fact, the last letter I received from Old Tom was just before Christmas. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the postman delivering it in the snow. As he came along our path the snow was almost up to the top of his wellington boots. We often had deep snowdrifts where I lived, in those days.
After a few weeks with no word from Tom, I asked my mum to take me to his house. I wanted to make sure he was all right. She said she was happy to take me and I could tell that she was concerned too. I had been knocking on the door for a while, when one of his neighbors came out and said that he hadn’t been well. He told us that one of his sons had taken him to stay with him and his family over Christmas, till he got better. I knew it must have been Harry, since Charlie lived alone. I remember being disappointed because I didn’t have his address.
TOM’S TALES is a short novel comprising a collection of tales of the unexpected, mysteries which have no easy or rational explanation. The story unfolds in the context of a relationship between a somewhat strange character called Old Tom and a young boy called Len, who goes to Greenbank Meadow looking for conkers. Len is so fascinated by the unusual tale the old man tells him during that first encounter that he returns, week after week, hoping to hear a new story each time he returns.
Each of Tom’s tales has a surprising ending. But there are also some twists and turns in store for the reader as the book comes to its conclusion. Len develops a love of stories and books from the old man, and over time this transforms his life. Life is certainly full of surprises.
TOM’S TALES is Colin Albin’s first novel. Following a cardiac arrest at a football match, in March 3013, he gave up his business in order to devote his time to writing
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