Questions by Catriona Ferguson   Hearing Myself Think offers a fascinating snapshot of a contemporary, global world.  Was the story a deliberate attempt to examine where individuals place themselves within this epoch? Well, the sense of ‘now’ inside the world’s busiest airport seemed like a promising place to start.  But I wouldn’t say I set out with such a grand theme in mind – the size of the idea would have been utterly disheartening.  Recently I seem to have spent a lot of time in airports surrounded by people I don’t know.  I always have the feeling I really should have bumped into someone by now, but I never have.  So I wondered why that might be, and how long

 Published in Prospect Magazine and New Writing 15 Heathrow Airport is one of the few places in England you can be sure of seeing a gun.  These guns are carried by policemen in short-sleeved shirts and black flak-jackets, alert for terrorists about to blow up Tie-Rack.  They are unlikely to confront me directly, but if they do I shall tell them the truth.  I shall state my business. I’m planning to stop at Heathrow Airport until I see someone I know.  In the busiest airport in the world this shouldn’t take long, and I expect to be home before Ally leaves for work.  It is 6.43 a.m.  My gaze slides between so many faces that I instantly forget everyone I