Tarryn Richardson
Bio
Welcome to Thoughts in Intervals. A collection of short stories and flash fiction by Tarryn Richardson.
Thank you @sophaba_art on Instagram for my wonderful Icon!
Stories (13/0)
Becoming a Freelance Tutor #tips
I get a lot of questions surrounding how I started my freelance educator business. Whilst completing my Masters, I asked tutors I knew from my BA if I could sit in and lurk on their lectures. Some of these lecturers allowed me to be an active part in their sessions, allowing me to gain experience standing in front of a group of people and tell them what to do and how to do it. This can be scary, especially if you are not a confident public speaker (believe it or not, I am very shy).
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Education
Proofreading Tips from a Writer and Tutor #Affiliate
If you are new here, my name is Tarryn and I am a writer, private tutor and academic support worker. I primarily work with dissertation students and students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in a range of subjects, focusing on literacy in academic and creative writing. In other words – I do A LOT of proofreading – in both in my work and for others. As an example, I often work with university students writing dissertations. I might not know much about the subject itself, but I can help with structure, clarity and the overall ‘shape’ of the project. More often than not – students will write something in a first draft and then ask ‘what now’?
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Education
Anne
Joanie lived in a village in the middle of nowhere. It was the sort of village where everyone knew everyone and everyone's business. When she was 11 she was given a watch and a chunky secondhand Nokia with a pay-as-you-go sim. This was the beginning of Joanie's independence. Since Joanie was going to secondary school in the next village over, her mum felt it was important to have a way to contact home if there were any school bus problems and Joanie would need a lift. It was also safer, Joanie's mum said if she wanted to meet a friend after school.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Horror
Old Aches and Pains
You could definitely say that my Nan is off her rocker. I think my whole family would agree. Today my Nan is literally off her rocker. She fell off her rocker, actually. Now, here I am, sitting with her in a sterile paper room on a squeaky clean chair with a cup of incredibly bitter coffee. Nan is leaning back into her brown cardigan on a hospital issued wheelchair with her left arm wrapped up in a strange muslin material. It has been around thirty minutes since she was offered codeine for the pain and it is starting to send her doolally. Despite the situation, she is complaining that she is missing Strictly.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Families
Lemons
Lemons Jessie sits on her bed, legs swinging, singing a loose rendition of Oranges and Lemons. Mummy is brushing her hair, dragging the brush through her smooth, dark curls, preparing them to be French plaited for school. Jessie has always favoured plaits over ponytails due to the sheer weight of her thick hair. Mummy, being a hairdresser, says it ‘distributes the weight evenly' so that she doesn’t get ‘hair-aches’.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Families
Sarah’s Interrogation
I am gazing out at the water. My heart is pumping hard through my chest. The water rushing below me, digging away at the earth beneath my feet. Perhaps I should move from this decaying overhang; maybe I would like to be washed by the heavy current. The sky is fading, as if preparing for the credits to roll. Birds are singing, otters are sleeping; holding hands as to not get lost. Lost. There is a deer grazing nearby. The water is rushing under the overhang. The water is dark. It collects the dirt, prizing it from the land, pulling it into the seaweed growing meters beneath the murky surface. I am stepping back suddenly.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Psyche
Grandpa Gave me the Moon
When I was 8 I watched the moon landing. I wasn’t actually alive for the real moon landing but my grandpa had a video and an old player for it in his shed. He was ‘saving it for a rainy day’. I was one of the few kids in my class who knew what a video was and wasn’t accustomed to DVDs and (soon) Bluray. It has occurred to me, since then, that my younger family members may only remember Netflix as a source of on-demand entertainment.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Families
Twenty-Something
It’s far too easy to assume that I would be just another twenty-something with a chip on my shoulder. But, you see, you would be right to assume that. Obviously, the world has ‘done me wrong’ and all that stuff that millennials say all the time. It doesn’t help us (by the way).
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Viva
Shannons' Scar
Shannons’ mum used to work in an aquarium. That’s why she loves fish and crabs and dolphins, but mostly, sharks. This kid at school calls Shannon ‘Shannon the shark girl’ and it used to make her cry, but now that she’s all grown up at age 11, she knows that he was just upset because he doesn’t get to see the sharks after closing time.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Families
Miscellaneous
Matty never really fitted in. Apart from fitting in his closet when his Mum came to ask him to clean his room; Matty didn’t mould to the kids at school. He was too rigid to fit into all the tiny gaps the other boys seemed to fill. One gap for Saturday football matches, a nook for PS4 games that his mum said were inappropriate and another bump for the fact that Matty doesn’t mind not playing Call of Duty anyway because war is not a game.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Humans
Relieved
Arabella, Eric and Ida sit around a creaking table, waiting expectantly for their breakfast. Arabella, the eldest of the three Wood children, has already managed to spill cold milk, freshly delivered, down her ill-fitting floral dress. She sobs, pink cheeks flushing to a dark red, filling with the salty liquid that escapes from her tear ducts.
By Tarryn Richardson4 years ago in Families
