How did we get here?

This month started much like any other challenge-month, a bit of trepidation, a touch of excitement and a large helping of ‘hang on tight and see where this takes me’…

Well, I began by getting a few issues about 2020 off my chest. I came back to the same subject later in the month, and managed to convey my irritation and anger in an informed and creative fashion. Surprisingly, I didn’t even swear very much.

I quickly became addicted to naming characters Kate, but not before I had spent some time with an anxious groundhog called Chuck and a troll named Amethyst.

After an interesting fishing trip with some Greek islanders who couldn’t quite get over their brush with Hollywood in the shape of ‘Mamma Mia!’ I spent some quality time with old friends.

My three favourite trash pandas managed to make me smile as always, while Dirk Danger proved he’s still the most useless spy in the world.

I encountered aliens who couldn’t understand humans, some fairly dysfunctional relationships, Chinese Zodiac animals with a lot of explaining to do and an old lady who just wanted to know how the story in the sand finished.

My inept babysitter character was too fun not to revisit, as well as my all-female backstage crew who loved to compare horror stories of shows they’d worked on.

I shot a horse with a broken leg, nagged a writer who wanted to be left alone and wrote a nativity panto that will probably send me straight to hell when I die.

As always, I stand in the shadow of the finishing line and wonder… how did I get here? How did my brain come up with all that?

It doesn’t matter if I follow the brief to the letter or take a single word from it as inspiration, I am always impressed and pleased with the unusual places these challenges take me.

But now it’s time to pat myself on the back and relax for a bit. I don’t have to check my inbox every 5 minutes to see if the brief is in yet and then clock-watch to make sure I don’t leave it too late to submit.

I can enjoy that heady feeling of having, oh so very, many hours free in the day to do whatever I want.

I admit that I’ll miss going onto the Forum, the Facebook page and numerous Zooms to connect and share ideas or just joke about how many Kates you can fit in one play.

But for now I can cross the finish line with my head held high… If nothing else, it’ll get rid of the crick in my neck from all that writing.

Please join me… go on, have a lie in, give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy this calm after the storm that was 28 Plays Later, 2021.

But don’t get too comfortable, there’s only three months until the next challenge starts…. See you in June.