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linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest like loading my true final letter on january 15 2026 by annika perry in short story writing 95 comments the eighth day of februari 1587 my majesty cousin elizabeth they will say that my last letter is the one to henri my dearest brother in law king of france we are close but not the way we were at times elizabeth the letter to him will be about the final housekeeping for my staff it will become my last political act ultimately my testament to the future the inner truth resides within me my dear cousin i know how can i think of you as dear after your cruelty these past decades years that are inherently bent and twisted distorted beyond any recognition every year became a lifetime yet fleeting and gruelling i wake on the four poster bed the heavy drapes a cocoon from my life my fate my death the majestic red material in tired folds the red blood of martyrs do you want to make one of me cousin cousin what a sweet word of family the familiar a close relation and we know each other well don t we as i open my eyes in the morning the dreams of our childish giggles echo into the bedchamber do you recall the games of tag darting between the roses in the gardens around the lakes of course being older i often let you win maybe i should have overruled you already then my kindness has perhaps become my downfall those were the times of joy before the tragedies in our lives when our chortles bubbled up to life affirming laughter most unladylike our guardians reprimanded us as once again we ran away to play on the manicured lawns the day you sequestered me in castle after castle year after year you banished the laughter out of us out of our people our country as a sovereign i thought i would one day visit these illustrious habitations just never as a regal prisoner wanting for nothing wanting for everything we never stood a chance your majesty history has ruled our every step even before our conception blame what a simplistic naive concept and i don t hold it in any regard none lies with you yet the fault is all yours i hold you close in my heart dear cousin i hate you with every fibre of my being you contemptuous queen my legacy will haunt you and your england forever this elizabeth is my last letter to you and to you alone it may not survive me but it is writ yours grievously your cousin mary queen of scots annika perry my true final letter was inspired by an article about mary queen of scots actual last letter on display at the national library of scotland why would her final writing be to her brother in law when surely her cousin elizabeth queen of england must be first and foremost in her mind for over two decades elizabeth had kept mary as an enforced guest across the country mary reigned as queen of scots from 1561 to 1567 however she was forced to abdicate and flee to england after a rebellion by the protestant scottish lords elizabeth queen of england felt that her cousin threatened her position yet for years managed to keep her alive in captivity however in february 1587 mary was implicated in a plot to overthrow elizabeth queen elizabeth s ministers insisted she sign her cousin s death warrant note photographs from the national library of scotland share this share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest like loading the cave on january 8 2026 by annika perry in books books goodreads reading challenge writing 93 comments where do we go from here the woman in red asked again i just want a little bit of sunshine didn t they all thought mira straining her eyes in the dark damp cave the walls seemed to be closing in on the four of them wearily the straggly group edged their way forward the swim to the other side will be easy neil had promised and dared them in equal measure hours ago as if one friend or rather acquaintance had been swept away hopefully to safety prayed mira but even that offered little consolation to them i said where do we for god s sake julia can t you stop moaning for once a single act of kindnes s and consideration wouldn t go amiss retorted neil guilt and exhaustion clawing at his spirit after the calamitous swim which took them far from their intended beach nook they d struggled onto some rocks and found a cavernous opening in the mountainside would this be their salvation they continued to scramble over stones and spiky rocks accruing scrapes and cuts there s something about mira mumbled petra the norwegian exchange student whom they d all met at the fresher s week petra gave voice to all their musings mira who barely said a word and rarely showed any emotion hung with them at every opportunity what was it with her no one believed mira would come with them on the trip to the island off the cornish coast just for the summer perhaps she had been convinced by the woman with all the answers aka julia we can find the missing pieces of our lives julia had declared selling the well being aspect of the holiday heavily the only pieces were the fragmented friendships mira thought the island home quickly became a toxic and smouldering place with arguments and verbal abuse scattered far and wide mira retreated further inside herself if that was possible petra had taken on the role of the housemaid she seemed chained to the kitchen as she skivvied away julia had shown her true colours her privileged upbringing ensuring she never lifted a finger to help mira sought refuge in the butterfly garden where the others quickly discovered her her quiet demeanour meant she soon became unwillingly the secret collector stoner julia revealed that she hadn t been clean a single day of term petra an orphan thought of herself as nobody s child while neil battled his embarrassing emotions of a boy between teenager and adulthood no doubt they all would soon think more about their lost colleague and at last truly talk about the real stages of grief hours passed in agonised silence as they trekked onwards through the caverns until the sudden wild call from mira of all people look her arms waving madly pointing ahead light at the midnight hour the four stopped to rest in the magical beam of moonlight from a gap above them see over there see what the light touches exclaimed mira exhausted they all took in the heavenly sight of a purple hibiscus lit up to all its glory and behind it a crevice just wide enough for a person which led onto a beach freedom the end annika perry the cave was inspired by book titles of some of the books i read last year as part of the goodreads reading challenge 2025 i was happy to lose myself in 76 books and in the story above 22 titles as shown in italics are featured overall i read 25 360 pages and the longest book was 528 pages long and the shortest 114 enjoy perusing the images of the book titles i ve read and below are a list of my five star rated books as well as my non fiction read books my 50 read fiction books for 2025 4 3 stars my 5 star read books for 2025 to read it to voyage through time carl sagan my 5 star read books for 2025 the women by kristin hannah wild by kristin hannah the bookbinder by pip williams weyward by emilia hart the woman in red by diana giovianzzo a borrowed path by imogen clark tale of the seasons weaver by d wallace peach the wind knows my name by isabel allende the forgotten book club by kate storey the phoenix ballroom by ruth hogan the light a candle society by ruth hogan by any other name by jodi picoult the book of fire by christy lefteri there s something about mira by sonali dev the mysterious bakery on rue de paris by evie woods what the light touches by xavier bosch the boy the mole the fox and the horse the animated story by charlie mackesy about the real stages of grief a journey through loss by d g kaye when i look back i am so impressed again with the life giving power of literature maya angelou my 9 read non fiction books 2025 the joy of wintering by erin nimi longhurst nobody s child by kate adie grief is the thing with feathers by max porter friendaholic confessions of a friendship addict by elizabeth day wise up power wisdom and the older woman by barbara scully consolations the solace nourishment and underlying meaning of everyday words by david whyte the boy between a mother and son s journey from a world gone grey by josiah hartley amanda prowse walden or life in the woods by henry david thoreau about the real stages of grief a journey through loss by d g kaye what a miracle it is that out of theses flat rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world worlds that sing to you comfort you and quiet or excite you books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave they show us what community and friendship mean they show us how to live and die anne lamott a full list of my read books in 2025 is available by clicking here happy reading in 2026 finally as promised an update on my book nook craft kit build it is coming on apace and below is just one of the many completed interior items as we have a grandfather clock in our house inherited from my husband s parents this smaller version feels special to me too pictures cave image courtesy of yogeshhire at pixaby com the living room bathed in sunlight with bookshelves is an ai generated image courtesy of freep k remaining images copyright annika perry share this share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest like loading happy new year on january 1 2026 by annika perry in books writing 141 comments firstly i want to wish you all a very happy new year my blog last year unintentionally languished without a single post a situation that crept upon it unexpectedly as time flew by i felt pulled away by the days weeks and months never would i have expected to be awol for a whole twelve months and i m thankful to break this hiatus at the start of this year i plan to be back on a regular basis and look forward to reconnecting with friends and to meeting new bloggers as well there s never been a christmas where book presents did not feature and this year was no exception i was kindly gifted two fascinating books hints do help and already i treasure these tomes like so many i was captivated by elizabeth gilbert s eat pray love book of 2006 her physical and spiritual journey of self discovery and love resonated deeply within me the book was complete a wholesome ending or so she and the readers thought after an amicable divorce from josé elizabeth gilbert embarked on a new albeit destructive and addictive relationship with her hairdresser the book is about love and loss addiction and recovery grief and liberation and her ultimate search for peace and freedom i look forward to delving into her story words by susie dent promises to be an enjoyable and knowledgeable daily read as for each day of 2026 a quirky and unusual word is explained in detail the author is a renowned lexicographer and etymologist as a human lexicon she has been on the popular british tv word game countdown for over thirty years as well as being an author her latest book describes the history of quirky and unusual words after all who knew the word bluetooth stretched back to a tenth century scandinavian king furthermore it introduces the reader to unknown words including depooperit and whangdoodle as well as explaining foreign expressions such as the norwegian gruglede susie dent will more than fulfil her promise to give the reader a daily linguistic vitamin shot i will relish this medicine i ve never excelled in any type of craft my attempts at knitted scarves zigzagged to oblivion one summer as a child i nagged my gifted grandmother to teach me to crochet before she finally caved in and agreed to give me a lesson bless she knew me only too well and after a frustrating ten minutes i thanked her before scuttling off to play one christmas to everyone s surprise including mine i won the class award for best decorated christmas hat my invention of a mortar board ladened with colourful gift wrapped parcels proved an instant hit a success resoundingly obliterated by the worst ever easter hat of garish yellow feathers flop imagine then my wary excitement upon opening a present of a book nook this miniature magical bookstore complete with books lighting chairs tables will rest between my normal books creating a warm and cosy addition to my literary world there is only one issue it is a craft kit i smiled hesitantly at my husband s trust in my abilities in this speciality tempting me into this world through my passion of books loath to read instructions and usually of the i ll work it out along the way school this time i am for once reading the detailed booklet followed by watching a couple of explanatory youtube videos this time i feel prepared this time i m optimistic and i am keen to begin my journey into this craft i will post progress of my build and hopefully it won t be too long until the finalised project is in place tucked and illuminated neatly between two precious books do one thing every day that scares you eleanor roosevelt heading picture courtesy of pixaby work art by freefunart at https distrokid com hyperfollow oracleridge everwitch share this share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest like loading jewel gem on december 3 2024 december 3 2024 by annika perry in bookreviews oskar s quest thestorytellerspeaks children s books short stories writing last week i was blessed to read so much about gratitude and thankfulness to listen to music celebrating thanks to see art featuring colourful pieces for the season as my american friends celebrated their thanksgiving there is equal gratitude for so much in my life as a writer this takes the form of joy and gratitude when someone picks up one of my books a gratitude and joy doubled when someone takes precious time out of their lives to write a review thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who have read my ...