THE GAPS

There’s an alley in Glasgow and a small gap between two hedges in Wiltshire and a dip near a hill top in Armagh and the third cubicle along in a rarely-visited public toilets in Rhyl where if you pay attention, you may see the air itself move, as if it were water. It’s easy to dismiss it as a trick of the light, or tired eyes, but if you pay attention, real attention, you may see the faint tracing of light, a sparkle almost beyond our seeing, a shimmer of static. It will only be there at certain times and it will only be there for moments, but it will be there, because these are places where the fabric of the world sometimes stretches thin and in those places magic is possible. You might be able to step through, from where you are to somewhere else, or you may be able to reach out and move your hands through the glistening air and make things happen that you could not anywhere else, if you know the right signs to make. Or you might look closely into this space, use your fingers to gently part it like a curtain, and be shown wonders in this world or another. be quick though, it will not last for long. These places exist in many parts of the country, and indeed, many parts of the world, but so few know how to find them, or if they have found them, to notice the magic in the air. When you are out, be aware. Be open. You may yet find your own.