Dispatches from the Void. V. VI

Poe Issues Statement on Border Control and Chicken Rights.

Akela Accepts Sausage Bribe, With Conditions.

Mowgli Explores Concept of Love Ceiling; Finds Only Sunbeam.

This Week in Underland:

• Cuddles, Catcalls, and Catastrophes: A boat trip turned Return of the Semi-Forgiven: The prodigal mothers have returned — and the cats were not impressed. Sausage bribes and strategic chicken offerings may have helped mend fences. Slightly.
• Customs, Culture, and Cold Stares: Three layers of airport security tested everyone’s patience. Lesson learned: in Thailand, smile and don’t swear. Western egos, beware.
• Vows, Voting, and Vibes: Garden’s thriving. So is the relationship. Also — Celia got nominated for Spillwords Author of the Month. Voting’s over, but the story’s still up if you’re curious.

We’re back in our quiet basement flat. Turkey was gorgeous, but we’re definitely grateful to be back with the paws. They were not happy with us and we got quite the talking to when we walked in the door. We think they have forgiven us, which is good. I think the bribes of sausage and chicken helped as well as apologies. 

Back to Turkey (only briefly because I think we’d both like to move on) we had an interesting experience in the airport. Three different levels of physical security as well as customs and passport checks. It was intimidating, intentionally so. We went through x-ray and bag check when we got in, after customs, and they were randomly pulling people off the line to get on the plane to do actual open your bag checks. 

We got the information on Thailand, SMILE, and don’t lose your temper. We’re starting to learn a bit about the culture, it seems to be a much slower much more conservative way of life. The big difference is that Thai culture focuses on the community while most western cultures focus on individualism. We’re very excited about Thailand, even the inevitable missteps that will come from being in a new country. I’m still looking for work, hoping to find something sooner rather than later. It’s intimidating but very exciting. 

Yesterday, Celia re-created some of the dishes we had in Turkey, I’m very much of the opinion that my wife’s cooking is above all else so I’m always excited when she decides to experiment in the kitchen. We had a barbeque and laughed and unwound a bit from the frankly stressful days of travel. We are lucky to have each other. We keep wondering if there’s a ceiling on this love thing, so far we have not found one.

Anyway that’s all for now, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us of quietly working on projects and chilling in the garden. 

R x

Well. Turkey was a week.

Mostly, I just feel sad. Sad that such a rich and beautiful culture has been pushed aside by British influence. Grotty bars slinging pub grub, and the grease-slick shadow of a “full English” replacing the freshly rolled dolmades and slow-cooked wonder of Turkish cuisine.

Sad, too, that a culture built on the tenets of Islam has been eclipsed by loud, drunken tourism and the worst of British export: arrogance, ignorance, and self-indulgence. I suppose what I feel most is a strange soup of sadness, embarrassment, and quiet fury. It’s a heavy thing, realising you were born into a culture that devours others rather than risk tasting something unfamiliar.

Still, we’re home again now. The humdrum peace of daily life feels like a relief. I’m looking ahead to Thailand with even more hope than before. The search for security, for serenity, for something rooted and meaningful, is still unfolding.

A few more months, and we’ll be on our way.

I’m so grateful for my wife, our cats, and this tender life we’re building. Like a garden, we promised to care for it—and for each other—every day. We’ve kept that promise. And I’m quietly excited for the life yet to come

C x

River back! Celia was nominated for Spillword’s Author of the Month and I’m here to brag about it. Voting has finished, but check out her story here.

Thanks love 🤯😁😻

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We’re still open for submission to our new zine , so send u what you’ve got (or you can just email us at riverandceliainunderland@gmail.com). We’ve also launched a discord server for chatting about writing art and life (https://discord.gg/hZ9KmMFa) join us there if you fancy a chat.  

Art, cheeky clothing, and a tiered membership! Check out our Fourthwall site.

Dispatches from the Void: Volume I →

If this resonated, share it on Bluesky (or anywhere folks still have an attention span longer than a moth after a sleepless night), leave us a comment, or check out our latest anthologies

Poetry Collection, ‘Is this all we get?’

Prose Collection, ‘ Fifth Avenue Pizza’