The Ned Wood Archive

I got my friends
And I love my friends,
yeah got my friends right to the end

Kula Shaker, 1996

Ellie

Ellie and Phoebe and Abi and Lauren all head up to the Stone Circle. They’ve heard that the Stone Circle is the place to be on the Wednesday evening. They go early so they don’t miss anything. They’ve been there before, but not on the Wednesday night. First time they came, they didn’t arrive til Thursday. Second time, what happened? Ellie can’t remember. Maybe they just weren’t clued up about what was going on. Tonight, though, they’ve made sure. There’s already a fair crowd, mostly hanging around the stones themselves. There’s been a fine misty rain since about 6, but it’s starting to clear now. There’s enough room near the stones for them to sit and feel some warmth from the fire. The ground’s damp so they sit on their waterproofs. A dude is sat on one of the stones playing a guitar. Most of the crowd are sitting or standing in groups of four, five, or six drinking, smoking, talking. Someone not far off has a portable stereo playing some form of electronica. Not too loud, but you still have to talk fairly loudly yourself to be heard above everyone else’s general chatter.

They talk and wait. They talk about boys, mostly Lauren’s latest ex-boyfriend and Phoebe’s new boyfriend. They talk about renting and landlords, mostly how bad landlords are and how things never get fixed. They talk about Abi’s new flat mate and how many she interviewed and whether she made the right choice. They talk about the campsite and those people in the group next to them and what they said and which one Lauren fancies, even though she denies it. They talk about the toilets and getting a shower in the morning, although Ellie is the only one organised enough to get up in time. They talk about work and whether any of them are in the right job. Ellie thinks she is and they all agree, especially with her getting to go to Italy with it. They talk some more about Ellie’s trip and when they’ll all go out and see her and the fun they’ll have. She has to tell them again that it’s work, it isn’t a sabbatical.

And they talk about football. That’s what got them together as a group at Uni. A shared love of the beautiful game. Well, Ellie and Phoebe were at the same school, but they met Abi and Lauren at Uni. Ellie and Phoebe played at school. Ellie tried rugby too, but it didn’t agree with her. Just a bit too violent. They all played at Uni, but Abi is the only one who’s got any real talent. She still plays most weekends. The others meet up to watch down the pub or sometimes go down the Spurs, which is actually, down the Orient. Leyton Orient. Just up the road from Ellie’s. And they talk about Spurs and they talk about Arsenal. They can never agree about. Arsenal, cos Lauren was brought up by her Dad not to like the gooners. She even calls them boring boring Arsenal which everybody from their generation thinks is about the 2020s and set pieces rather from the days way back before Wenger. But you can’t really hate Arsenal can you? Cos isn’t Less Russo like just the best centre forward ever? And everyone loves Chloe Kelly, right?

And, yes, they do talk about what happened to Ellie when they arrived at the Park. They try to get Ellie to tell them everything and gradually she does. She tells them about his long hair and his beard again, even though she doesn’t think those are the most important things to tell. She tells them about what he was wearing again which is important to her because she thinks that sometimes the shirt can be the window to the soul. Or at least part of it. She tells them how he was smiling and how his smile got bigger when he knew she’d seen his shirt. And she tells them about his eyes. How warm they were. How they watched her and how they made her feel. How no-one else really looks at her the same way.

The fire at the centre of the stone circle flames and flashes. The smoke blurs the air as the mixed smells from the one large fire and the many smaller ones sweeten the breeze. They all feel, Ellie more than any of them, that on an evening like this, in a place like this, dreams can come true.

Slowly it gets dark. Eventually, there’s some action at the top of the field near the wooden phoenix or whatever it is that’s been sat there behind the fence. They move towards the top of the field with most of the other people who’ve been waiting. They strain to see what’s happening, standing on tip toes and weaving their heads left and right to catch a glimpse, but Abi’s the only one tall enough to see very much.