IWACA SPOTLIGHT AUTHOR
with its adjustable tilt so I can avoid the glare of light on the puzzle pieces, I can't help running over the how.
I collect jigsaws. It's just me and Spilsbury (he's my cat) in my flat, which I bought with the money Great Grandmama left me. Unfortunately, Great Uncle William sold all her puzzle collection before I could save more than the one I was currently working on, but that one began my own collection and I use my spare room to house it. Sometimes I like to go in there and just take out the pieces, play with them in my hands, feel the sharp corners and straight sides of a well made puzzle against my fingers. And since this feels like confession time, I even smell them sometimes, that scent of old wood is so enlivening.
Anyway, I digress. It's not easy sourcing old puzzles. I can't afford to order lots of news ones, although I do treat myself at Christmas and on birthdays, so I go hunting for them in junk shops. I walk home, which takes me through a wonderful area of town with junk shops galore. All the owners know me, and some of the nice ones even hold back puzzles for me, but the prices at each shop always start going up little by little as they realise my addiction, so it's nice to find a new shop.
That chilly winter's evening, I found one. I almost missed it to be honest. There was an awful wind blowing and, after an unsuccessful visit to Mr Khatoum's place on Gardener Street, I had my head down and my scarf right up to just below my eyes. But, for some reason, as I passed a little alley on my left, I looked that way, and I saw the sign lit by the light from a grimy window, 'Antiques Bought & Sold'. 'Antiques', in these parts, is a euphemism for 'junk', and my heart leapt at the find. I turned smartly down the alley and I was inside the shop, the bell tinkling behind me, before I breathed again. I gasped and looked around, my nose filling with the familiar scent of old things. I smiled as I took in the mess of wonky tables, chairs missing uprights and bookcases holding dull and chipped ornaments, all the time, my eyes searching out a
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