As she parked the van, Joan was looking forward to being in the shop alone for a few hours. She still enjoyed the run up to Covent Garden, the colours and scents of thousands of flowers never failed to cheer… Read More ›
Just Stories
The Visit
I don’t understand why Mum and Dad always argue about where to go for Christmas because Granddad Joe and Granddad Pat are both really nice. They never ask me what I want and they keep saying that I’m not a… Read More ›
Hailstones
The hailstone was the size of an eyeball with tinges of green and yellow, like a bruise. After the first one fell, we all looked up to see where it had come from, this aberration. Grey storm clouds were shuffling… Read More ›
The Old War Horse
I have been a master printer for thirty years and the room-size print machine still enthrals me a little as the roll of paper clacks and clucks its way through the rollers, hits the cutter and perfect oblong sheets fall… Read More ›
The green-eyed monster
There’s no doubt he’s a popular teacher. The pupils all love him and in the staff room he’s always telling stories and jokes, though I don’t think they’re as funny as everyone makes out. Although he’s only recently qualified I’m… Read More ›
Introverted Deep Sea Diver
Harry pressed the send button and sat back in his chair, contented. After weeks of careful research, he’d finally decided that Belize and the Chico Marine Reserve would be his next diving trip. He glanced at his desk diary, a… Read More ›
Simon vs. the Headmistress
Simon Lucky that Mum never notices anything unless it’s written in the kitchen diary or she’d have realised by now. God knows what’d happen to us if that disappeared. The pets would die. We’d probably all starve. Jane keeps staring… Read More ›
Recluse
From the outside it’s a simple two-up two-down Victorian house. Inside, all the rooms are painted plain magnolia or white-with-a-hint, with pictures hung everywhere, randomly. The kitchen is sparse; a kettle and a toaster the only nods to modern living…. Read More ›
I think he was the first boy I ever snogged
I thought I would always remember it, but over time it has become blurred, part of my memory that I seldom scan. It wasn’t until I was clearing out the loft in readiness for the move, that I found a box of… Read More ›
Never Again
The school hall was just how he remembered it. A wooden stage at the front, worn steps, a slight whiff of cabbage and maroon brocade curtains covering the full-length windows. His tummy was already playing up and he’d long-ago sweated… Read More ›
Just Scribbling 