Simon had the playground to himself. It was only when he was certain that he was alone would he risk going on the roundabout. When taller boys made it go too fast, he would always become sick and dizzy. The would taunt him for being short and call him a loser, and when his faceContinue reading “Three Wishes”
Tag Archives: fiction
A Point of View
I could try to explain but I doubt you’d get it. The thing is, you would want to know why and there is no why, there is no point to anything. That’s what people don’t understand, that nothing matters. Nothing you do will make any difference. That’s why I want to do this, that’s whyContinue reading “A Point of View”
A Date for Geoffrey
Marcus sat on the edge of the bed and stretched his arms. He enjoyed a shudder that rippled through his shoulders. His body slumped, and his girlfriend emitted a grunt, turned over, and returned to her sleep. On the opposite pavement he saw the woman from number thirty-two taking her two miniature elephants for aContinue reading “A Date for Geoffrey”
The Last Train
I first started commuting on the 8:31 some thirty years ago. They were an older style of commuter carriage then. Not the type you walk through from one end to the other, not even the type with a corridor connecting individual compartments. You entered each compartment by stepping up from the platform and there wouldContinue reading “The Last Train”
The Way Back
Headlights were approaching. Emily stayed where she was, in the middle of the road. Under her bare feet the dark tarred surface was still warm from the heat of the day. If she didn’t move, if she kept still, maybe the car would hit her. A sharp piece of stone cut into her heel. SheContinue reading “The Way Back”
First Love
Mary moved to a small village on the coast within a year of Vernon’s death. Her friends told her it was too soon, that she ought to wait and not make decisions so hastily but, if anything, she had waited too long. They never had children and Vernon hadn’t been interested in identifying the causeContinue reading “First Love”
Late Male
My phone pinged with a message. I expected it to be a friend, checking in after David’s funeral. ‘Hello Lauren. You think you’ve got away with it, don’t you?’ It was David, but it couldn’t be, we’d just cremated him. Someone had hacked his account. ‘Who is this?’ ‘Did you really think you could murderContinue reading “Late Male”
Sisters
I was seven years old when I decided that it might be better if my parents died, probably in an unfortunate accident. I, of course, would be distraught and everyone would gather round to comfort me. It wasn’t that my parents were cruel or neglectful; in their own way they were perfectly adequate. But IContinue reading “Sisters”
Times Past
Soft summer rains falls on warm grey roads. The black stains fade as the heat evaporates the water and the smell of softened tarmac dominates his senses. He wrinkles his nose, puzzled by why he is there. “Do you want a drink Peter?” He doesn’t know the woman who is talking to him. He doesn’tContinue reading “Times Past”
Until Death
I fell in love with my husband when I was eighteen. Some people said I was too young for him or he was too old for me, but we had three happy years together before I killed him. Soon after we married, Derek bought me a large four-wheel-drive car. It was more like a tractorContinue reading “Until Death”