{"id":51,"date":"2024-03-11T11:17:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T08:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflexfiction.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2024-03-11T11:17:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T08:17:36","slug":"i-was-never-in-the-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/reflexfiction.com\/i-was-never-in-the-fall-flash-fiction-by-mark-colbourne\/","title":{"rendered":"I Was Never in The Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WINTER 2020 THIRD PLACE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My milkman was in The Fall. He played on Hex Enduction Hour<\/em>. If you catch him on a quiet morning, he\u2019ll reminisce about recording \u2018Hip Priest\u2019. The postman was also in The Fall, around the time of Cerebral Caustic<\/em>. The guy who runs the local shop was in The Fall. The crossing lady at the primary school was in The Fall. Everyone in the pub was in The Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was never in The Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of my colleagues in the office were on Live at the Witch Trials. <\/em>The pizza delivery man was in the touring band for Bend Sinister.<\/em> The gang who lurk around the park were involved in some of the Peel Sessions. The girl on the supermarket checkout co-wrote \u2018Kurious Oranj\u2019. Everywhere I go, all I ever hear is people talking about their time in The Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I was never in The Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1998, Mark E Smith boasted that The Fall would be The Fall even if it was just him singing and your granny on bongos. My grandmother was, of course, in The Fall. She played the bongos. Before she died, she would tell a delightful anecdote about meeting Iggy Pop in New York. I wish I\u2019d gone to New York. I wish I\u2019d met Iggy Pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I was never in The Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife finds me crying in our bedroom. I\u2019m sat on the edge of the bed, my head in my hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What\u2019s wrong?\u2019 she asks, kneeling down before me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wipe a tear from my eye. \u2018I was never in The Fall,\u2019 I sob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife smiles. The smile is patient, indulgent; it is the way she would smile at our children when they were younger. \u2018Of course<\/em> you were in The Fall,\u2019 she says, stroking my sides. \u2018You\u2019ve just forgotten, you big silly. All of us were in The Fall.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sigh and prop my chin on her shoulder. On the opposite wall is a framed picture of my wife with Brix Smith. They are grinning with their arms wrapped around each other, triumphant after a show in Berlin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINTER 2020 THIRD PLACE My milkman was in The Fall. He played on Hex Enduction Hour. If you catch him on a quiet morning, he\u2019ll reminisce about recording \u2018Hip Priest\u2019. The postman was also in The Fall, around the time of Cerebral Caustic. The guy who runs the local shop was in The Fall. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nI Was Never in The Fall - reflexfiction.com - Betting Odds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My milkman was in The Fall. He played on Hex Enduction Hour. If you catch him on a quiet morning, he\u2019ll reminisce about recording \u2018Hip Priest\u2019. The postman was also in The Fall, around the time of Cerebral Caustic. 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