Lochlan Bloom is a British writer and co-host of the Unsound Methods podcast. Subscribe here

The Pardon

There was a moment, several years ago, when it looked like they might do it.

Everybody in the country, every citizen, was to receive a full, official pardon.

A press release was drafted and the government instructed the judiciary to set the appropriate wheels in motion. It was marvellous news, quite unheard of.

The pardoning was to be comprehensive and final, no discrimination. Every individual would be completely pardoned of all sins and officially expunged of guilt by the authorities.

It was, everyone agreed, a remarkably gutsy move by our leaders.

The press was abuzz with rumours and the civil service, for once, was a flurry of activity. For several months that summer, as news started to spread, there was even some laughter and excitement on faces in the wider public.

In the end, of course, bureaucratic wrangling delayed the regulation, and since there were elections looming and persistent questions about the economy, they decided it might be best to bury the whole thing.

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The Wave is published by Dead Ink Books.

“haunting, existential… A book you will want to read more than once.” ~BookHive

“The writing is taut and stylish, the effect immersive and atmospheric: the whole work had something of a Kafka meets David Lynch vibe whilst retaining a distinctive personality of its own.” ~ Isabel Costello, The Literary Sofa