Reading the Ceiling

Dayo Forster

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you hadn't made this or that choice? In this bittersweet, three part story, we get to see how a cruel twist of fate or an impetuous youthful impulse can influence the path our lives take. We follow three different versions of a young girl's story and it is intriguing to guess which one turns out to be the best.

Extract

I look for some photographs, anything that will bring back the faces, that will slice the time between now and then .... School pictures. Home pictures. Party pictures. As I leave, I glance up at the ceiling. I see that it was painted with only one thin coat. I can make out the fuzzy edges of faded brown underneath the paint. Not enough to dream a whole future, but enough to imagine how the past could have been. The time that has passed between me lying on my bed, making my choices, and the now, with hardly any choices left to make.

Parallels