{"id":3859,"date":"2018-09-20T15:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/translatingpain\/?p=3859"},"modified":"2018-09-20T15:00:10","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T15:00:10","slug":"the-hook-by-sarah-sasson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/a-bel-abroad\/the-hook-by-sarah-sasson\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The hook’, by Sarah Sasson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our minds latch to narrative,<\/span>
\nit\u2019s how we learn, remember, interpret.<\/span><\/p>\n

I went to hospital to have a baby,<\/span>
\nI should\u2019ve returned more, not less.<\/span>
\nSubtracted: my ability to rise, walk, move;<\/span>
\nIn my pelvis, broken bone.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the premise?<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the character\u2019s motivation?<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the hook?<\/span><\/p>\n

That feeling: ochre, electric, waist down.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hook is me on the edge of my bed, listening for my baby.<\/span><\/p>\n

My doctor: you will probably heal\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

what if I don\u2019t<\/span><\/p>\n

things that were part of me: walking, laughing, being in ocean.<\/span><\/p>\n

My editor draws lines through this section.\u00a0<\/span>
\n[The pacing is slow, nothing happens]<\/span><\/p>\n

Days are triangles between the bed, the couch, the bathroom.\u00a0<\/span>
\nPain tethers me; a dog on a rope.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m on the bed trying to stand, the collar pulls my neck<\/span>
\nto breathe or growl<\/span>
\nI watch from the other side of the room how I\u2019m changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n