Crisis

Posted on by under 2020, April 2020 - Crisis

I think the whole world is in crisis at the moment. Humanity is fumbling from one catastrophe to the next. Natural disasters abound from earthquakes and volcanoes erupting to, some say, human set fires that have wiped out most of the indigenous animals of Australia.

Now, we have the coronavirus which is sweeping the world. It astounds me that, the government are setting guidelines to keep people safe. However, we are hearing about people partying and holding barbecues, flouting the safety rules, and all because the weather is unseasonably quite warm.

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The Election Promise

Posted on by under 2020, Other Short Stories

It had been a tough one, but the ‘Support Our People’ party (SOP) had just squeezed through.  The gamble of promising what the people wanted was a brave manifesto, and now they had to come up with the goods.

It was a week later that they actually got down to any business, it had taken that long for the effects of the copious amount of champagne to wear off.  The speaker and Chairman of the SOP party, Lord Charles Alexander Grovner gave his opening speech.  The floor was then open to his underling Lords to come up with ideas that would support their manifesto.

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Sark

Posted on by under 2020, March 2020 - The Island

I had a very romantic viewpoint about Sark. It was a place I had always wanted to visit. Being a very poor sleeper the idea of going to an island bereft of traffic and street lighting sounded like the perfect escape.

I got off the ferry about 4pm, it was a bright and sunny day and the horse drawn carriage was charming, taking the six new visitors to their chosen accommodation.

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Raising Hell

Posted on by under 2020, March 2020 - The Island

Helen sat on the restaurant terrace overlooking the bay, waves lapping the pebbles. Raising her glass, she saluted the photograph upright on the table.

Memories flooded her mind, her first meeting with Paul in the bar across the road. Their honeymoon nearby. Bringing their children always to this beautiful oasis of peace, Keflos.

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And there came upon the land a great flood…

Posted on by under 2020, March 2020 - The Island

Sam wondered where Rosie, his home help was, she wasn’t usually late.  He hoped she hadn’t had an accident.  Slowly swinging his legs over to the side of the bed and with the aid of his crutches, he managed to get to the stair lift. He made some breakfast and wrote a list of food items that he needed, that Rosie could get later.

Through the window, he could see the palm tree waving in the strong wind.  Quite a storm we had last night he thought, he was glad the tree had survived.  It had always been a bit of a joke between his wife Maureen, and himself, a reminder of good times together in sunnier climes.  It was only then he noticed that the garden bench wasn’t in it’s usual spot.  It was bobbing up and down in water near the hedge.  He looked towards the road hoping to see Rosie, but only saw a swift flowing muddy river that seemed to be surrounding his home. 

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The Writing Retreat

Posted on by under 2020, March 2020 - The Island

I glance at the headline of the newspaper folded in my lap, and smile. The plane takes off and the island shrinks into a chocolate-box toytown, surrounded by a champagne sea.

Only a week ago, I hauled my bag up the path that spirals around that cliff. The hotel loomed above me, built into the rocks and incandescent in the sunshine.

She was by the lift, talking into her phone when I walked through reception. I recognised her voice immediately: that same grating, high-pitched lilt. She looked up. A flash of recognition and – was that panic? Then she plastered on a smile.

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Sin

Posted on by under 2020, March 2020 - The Island

Father Scanlon wanted to be at his meal, a good stew washed down with a glass of red wine. Involuntarily he licked his lips. Saturday evening confessions were always difficult: the trivial sins of his flock comingling with his sharp pangs of appetite.

            His attention returned to the penitent behind the grill. The fellow was rambling, unable or unwilling to name his sin. It was the mortal sins that mattered, and the priest couldn’t judge the sins’ gravity.

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The island of the damned

Posted on by under 2020, March 2020 - The Island

Daniel was surprised to find he was dead. Not the fact of his death, because that was sure given the certainties of gravity, and the distance between the nineteenth floor of his apartment block and the concrete courtyard directly below his balcony.

No, his surprise was more like, “Wow! Continued existence”.   

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Weathering The Storm

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

Wyn paused – mid-shuffle – bringing the whole of his deliberation to bear on the weather forecast. ” …  Storm Delme continues to gather pace, with winds of 60 miles an hour sweeping into coastal areas, bringing with it heavy squalls of rain …” His heart beat a little faster. Then he re-focused his attention on the considerable task of placing one foot in front of the other and inched his way from the kitchen to the hall, where his coat hung on a hook.

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Desire

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

I began as soon as I got in through the door. Packing first, then cleaning later. I pride myself on being methodical, staying cool and calm under pressure; not that this was pressure really, I had been here many times before. Deftly, I pulled my suitcase down from the top of the wardrobe and began packing it with neat layers of clothing, toiletries and makeup.

Cleaning next. I pull on a pair of rubber gloves; every surface, every door handle and light switch had to be cleaned to within an inch of its life! It wouldn’t do to get careless at this stage of the game.

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Desire for what

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

So much for the boasts of virtual indestructability. Ground realities differ. Paul searched his memory for that specific web page. The photo that oozed seduction – a golden leather top layer and then 2 further layers, splayed like the pages of a flicked book. All fully breathable and heat conserving:
“This traditional snowshoe binding is composed of three layers of material riveted together. Each binding attaches to the snowshoe with two anchor points to reduce lateral movement of the heel, meaning the foot stays in line with the snowshoe”

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Fever

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

I can just about remember starting to feel very hot indeed. I was on a fever ship left to burn and moan with the others. We did fever ships in history. Pocahontas was left to die on one in Gravesend, poor soul. Now me too.

Delirious. She’s got a fever.

That was Joe’s diagnosis. I heard it. He was talking to my friend May who lives next door.

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I want …

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

Lucy, dressed in her best clothes looked at her reflection in the mirror.  I look dowdy she thought.  My mother wouldn’t even wear these to clean the grate out, and would never wear them outside, even to do the gardening.  She sighed heavily. She had been doing that a lot lately.

Steven, her husband of what seemed like five long years, shouted, “Get a move on, I said we would be there at 11.30.”

She sighed once more before pulling on her well-worn boots, and checked her reflection before hurrying down the stairs.  They set off across the park.  No matter how late they were Steven would never pay for a taxi or even get on a bus. She had thought in the past that his frugality was a good thing. Having lived with it she now knew he was just a very mean person, and she had had to live by his rules.

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A Crime of Passion

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire
White Persian cat

Mia opened her large green eyes, twitched her delicate nose, stretched her sinewy long body. Smelling breakfast, she padded along the thick carpet into the kitchen.

As with every other day eating her food, a noise distracted her. Jumping up she raced to the window. Gazing out HE appeared, strutting along. Her heartbeat raced. How she longed to meet. He was so big and strong, seeing off any rivals who dared to encroach on his territory.

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Daffodils

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

The university park stumbled down to the sea, imitating the crazy lurching of the terraced houses on the same giddy hill. Sam scuffed about the paths round the flower beds, vaguely aware of daffodils in bloom.

            He had a sharp, stabbing pain at the side of his stomach that wouldn’t go away. He was utterly miserable. Three years he’d stayed away from the town, but as soon as he’d entered the park – following the route he and Nicola had often walked – the sense of oppression had just welled up from within him. Memories from the past  pushed up a bit like bulbs in the soil.

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Galloping Johnny

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

My name is Stephen Sacks and I’m a complete faggot.

Oh, I know, I know, bluntness is discouraged these days and words like that reek of self-loathing but I’m not pussy footing around, tonight I aim for honesty.

I’ll tell you about a revelation I had last week which stoked the embers and relit my passion. I was at an outdoor pool party, held by my sister’s in-laws. A celebration over the fact they had stuck it out for fifty years.

So, there I was, meekly maundering by the barbecue when I became aware of somebody’s nephew, Johnny whatever, wafting by the swimming pool. And as that handsome youth, wearing nothing but tight trunks, beer in hand, talked to another Adonis, dear reader I felt the desire.

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My Blind Mind

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire

“Can you picture her face?” My words tumbled out of my mouth as soon as my sister picked up the phone.

“Huh? Whose face?” Evelyn replied.

“Mum’s,” I said.

At sixty years old, I had just learned that most people possessed a superpower. They could visualise objects, places, events and people in their “mind’s eye”. I could not. Suddenly the darkness of my mind seemed blinding. What’s more, I felt the loss of my mother more acutely than ever.

Our mother had died six months earlier, after a long battle with cancer. Evelyn and I had nursed her until the end. Now there was a gaping hole in my life. It was Larry, my husband, who had suggested giving meditation a go.

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Saudade

Posted on by under 2020, February 2020 - Desire
Saudade

I first met Jose Luis Vercas on the concrete apron jutting out into the mouth of the Targus where the splendour of the Manueline Port of Lisboa ends and a wide expanse of river divides the city from Alcântara. He was short, but well-muscled and possessed of that curiously Portuguese combination of a mane of swept-back, black and wavy hair; and a forehead so high it begged to be labelled, “domed”. He said he too was a teacher, but offered no hint of subject or at what level he taught and, to be frank, my interest did not extend that far.

“Do you have it?” I asked in my formal Portuguese. He smiled and nodded – a slight movement of his head, causing a lock of stray hair to struggle free. Patting his messenger bag, he said in accent-free English, “It’s here.”

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Consequences

Posted on by under 2020, Jan 2020 - New Year Resolutions

Yvonne opened her eyes to a blackness and silence that caused her breath to stop and her heart to stutter. She lifted her hands up to feel her face, OK, I seem to be alive at any rate!

Putting her hands down she felt around, perceiving a slightly scratchy covering, probably a blanket, and a cool stiff fabric, a sheet. I can’t be in that much danger if they’ve put me in a bed!

Yvonne turned and put her feet down until they touched the floor. It was warm and slightly slippery. She stood up and, waving her hands in front of her, tried to find a wall in what she hoped was a bedroom.

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Resolutions

Posted on by under 2020, Jan 2020 - New Year Resolutions

Resolutions? Don’t we all think of that in the start of a new year?

And, don’t we all fall by the wayside about three minutes later.

Stop drinking, stop smoking, eat less, exercise more……. That covers every resolution ever thought of, I think.

What about a new resolution then? Its quite simple really.

Its just “be kind”.

Our planet is in dire straits, and as the song goes, “a little less conversation a little more action”.

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