<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><channel><title>Ian Payne on Gromet's Plaza Archive</title><link>/authors/ian-payne/</link><description>Recent content in Ian Payne on Gromet's Plaza Archive</description><generator>Hugo</generator><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="/authors/ian-payne/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title>More Than Numbers</title><link>/stories/2025/03/08/more-than-numbers/</link><pubDate>Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>/stories/2025/03/08/more-than-numbers/</guid><description>&lt;h3 id="heading"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;ldquo;More than Numbers&amp;rdquo;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;h4 id="chapter-1-a-new-beginning"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chapter 1: A New Beginning&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Nathan Fielding had always been more comfortable with numbers than with people. Raised on a remote hill farm in Cumbria, he had spent his childhood among rolling green pastures, the sharp bleats of sheep, and the steady rhythm of farm life. But numbers had fascinated him from an early age—their predictability, their logic. While his father and older brother worked the land, he had poured over textbooks, even by candlelight, during the British ‘winter of discontent’, his mind lost in equations far beyond his years.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>A Latex Love Affair</title><link>/stories/2024/12/29/a-latex-love-affair/</link><pubDate>Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>/stories/2024/12/29/a-latex-love-affair/</guid><description>&lt;h4 id="dramatis-personae"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dramatis Personae:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Romeo:&lt;/strong&gt; A young nobleman, secretly passionate about latex.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Juliet:&lt;/strong&gt; A fair maiden, open to learning about latex.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nurse:&lt;/strong&gt; Juliet&amp;rsquo;s confidante, wise in the ways of love and latex.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nymph:&lt;/strong&gt; A magical creature&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h4 id="act-i-scene-i-a-solitary-contemplation"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Act I, Scene I: A Solitary Contemplation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A dimly lit chamber. ROMEO, a young nobleman, sits alone, lost in thought.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ROMEO:&lt;/strong&gt; O, fairest JULIET, my heart’s sole desire,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A love so pure, a passion set afire.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item></channel></rss>