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The Bottom Drawer – Thursday, 16 October 2025 7-9pm

This week, our Bottom Drawer offers a beautifully balanced mix of story, reflection, and poetic pause. We wish all participants an enjoyable and stimulating evening.

The Bottom Drawer
Here are the synopses of the items currently held in Write-on’s Bottom Drawer — our active store of submitted manuscripts. From this collection, the weekly programme is carefully selected.

Gene Pool by Anne McManus
Set in a bustling French bar at lunchtime, Gene Pool explores a moment of quiet observation amid the clamour of conversation, clinking glasses and shouted orders. The unnamed narrator finds herself alone, surrounded by confident, talkative men who seem to belong — until a stranger sits beside her, setting off a conversation that shifts the tone from superficial to intimate. With sharp dialogue and a light but knowing touch, the story gradually reveals the vulnerabilities beneath outward bravado, touching on family, identity, and the traces of the past that shape us. A brief encounter becomes something more — a reflection on connection, coincidence, and the quiet ways in which lives intersect.

Foundling Girls – Chapter 1 by Mary Rose Tobin
Chapter 1 – I Know That My Redeemer Liveth  
Nine-year-old Lucy lies awake in the dormitory of London’s Foundling Hospital, surrounded by the restless breath and muffled coughs of fifty sleeping girls. Haunted by dreams of a lost foster home and drawn to mysterious music in the night, Lucy begins to sense that her voice may carry more than just sound—it may carry hope. As dawn breaks over a tightly regulated world of slates, chalk, and scripture recitation, we glimpse the fierce discipline and quiet tenderness that shape the girls’ daily lives. In the chapel, beneath the painted gaze of angels and saints, Lucy hears something that will echo long after the final bell has rung.  

Chapter 7 – The Boy in the Bed by Frank Fahy  
A silent girl arrives without warning, carrying only a small case and a parcel. Her name is Henrietta, and she’s here to help — or so Rita says. What follows is a day of unspoken observation: Christopher in his bed, the girl moving through the house like smoke, and a household not quite sure what to make of her. She speaks little, obeys quickly, and reveals almost nothing — but by nightfall, something shifts. A spark passes between the boy and the girl with the fire-lit hands. And though neither of them has words for it yet, everything begins to change.

The Weight of Small Things by Kathleen Phelan
Grief doesn’t always come crashing in — sometimes it lingers in the ordinary. A boiling kettle. The way someone washes fruit. A silence before a laugh. In this gentle, precise meditation, absence is felt through ritual, memory, and the quiet rituals that survive a loss. A poem about what remains — and how, slowly, almost imperceptibly, something like peace begins to grow.

There Comes a Time by Tom Doyle
This thoughtful reflection explores life’s turning points — those moments of transition that invite (or force) us to change course. With graceful insight and gentle wisdom, Doyle examines how personal crises, epiphanies, synchronicities, or tipping points can become opportunities for growth rather than defeat. Drawing inspiration from thinkers like David Brooks and Louis L’Amour, he reminds us that even in adversity, we can “suffer our way to wisdom.” A resonant and uplifting meditation for anyone standing at life’s crossroads.

Slopum Cum Dasum by Tom Doyle
A wry and warmly nostalgic memoir, Slopum Cum Dasum captures the clash between generational values through the lens of one painted door. Doyle recalls his father’s almost holy devotion to craftsmanship — a perfectionist whose painstaking three-month mission to paint the front door became the stuff of legend on their Phibsboro street. But when the narrator, now a bell-bottomed teenager, attempts to repaint that same door in a bold shade of green, the result is swift maternal outrage and the unravelling of what once gleamed with pride. Told with wit, affection, and a painter’s eye for detail, this essay is a tribute to both the art of doing things well — and the inevitability of messing them up.

Write-on Creative Writing Challenge: Scene and Reveal This week’s creative writing session features three short, imaginative prompts designed to spark storytelling from a single moment. Members are invited to write their own version of the scene, guided only by the setup. Afterwards, we’ll hear how a well-known published author tackled the same idea — and open up discussion on tone, voice, and storytelling choices.

The Write-on Story by Write-on Members
This living project is part history, part invitation. The Story of Write-on charts the journey of the group from its earliest days in Galway’s Westside to its vibrant, international membership today — a community united by creativity, encouragement, and shared achievement. But this isn’t just Frank Fahy’s account. It’s a collaborative, evolving ‘book’ — a living archive where every member is invited to add their voice. Whether you joined in person or online, last week or years ago, your story matters. This project gathers those experiences: first impressions, favourite moments, what Write-on has meant to you. The result will be a mosaic of memory and insight — and a welcoming window into Write-on for new and potential members. Published prominently on our website, The Story of Write-on is both a record and a beacon. All are invited to contribute.

MOTM (Mug of the Month) Keywords: WALK and EXERCISE Use one. Use both. Write a sonnet. Write a haiku. Write a single brilliant line on the back of a receipt. Just… write.   Closing Date: 26 October 2025   annemurraypost@yahoo.ie

Write-On now has a dedicated submissions email: bd.writeon@gmail.com
  The Bottom Drawer    
  Genre  Title  Author  
Short StoryGene PoolAnne McManus
PoemThe Weight of Small ThingsKathleen Phelan
Writing ChallengeScene and RevealAll Members
Novel ExtractChapter 7 – The Boy in the BedFrank Fahy
Novel ExtractChapter 1 – Foundling Girls in the ChapelMary Rose Tobin
WebsiteThe Story of Write-on (Living History & Reflections from our Members)All Members