Short Fiction, Poetry and Classic Book Reviews
Soft light dawned in the darkness, awakening brighter into a sizzling panorama of fiery flakes, bursting then descending in swirls of green and blue. The embers carpeted the ground and faded one by one, each giving a final bright wink then disappearing. A whip crack echoed through the evening air, and rumbling hooves shook the... Continue Reading →
Gavin St. Grosby was a freelance fruit picker, one of the best. He specialised in strawberries, but he could pick just about anything; it was a gift. His family disapproved of his choice of vocation; his father hadn’t spoken to him in years. St. Grosby men were traditionally either senators or unemployed anti-whaling protestors. Due... Continue Reading →
Sonny approached the shed. A couple of the others tried to dissuade him from going in, but his mind was made up. He stopped at the entrance and looked inside; it was dim, but he could see two chickens were already in there. Something brushed against his foot: a feather, one of Winston’s. It lay... Continue Reading →
My friend Mossy and I love watching the Academy Awards; it’s a chance for us to celebrate the best people on earth. The 2015 Awards were particularly memorable. The evening began as usual: beautiful celebrities on the red carpet, artists being recognised for their talent, and light-hearted comedy courtesy of the host (Neil Patrick Harris).... Continue Reading →
The bewildered crowd wandered a street lined with abandoned shops and burned out cars. Their rapturous cheer had wilted by degrees into dead silence. All shouting had ceased; no one was fighting anymore; not a single firebomb lit the night. The wail of police sirens had long vanished. Two men sat on the kerb. The... Continue Reading →
Fergus walked by the lake. The morning sun embraced him—not literally, of course. A gentle breeze came and went at its leisure, probably measuring a two or three on the Beaufort scale. For the first time in months he felt truly happy, and neither the songs of magpies in the trees nor the laughter of... Continue Reading →
H.G. Wells was a trailblazer when it came to science fiction, making technological predictions in his writing that turned out to be remarkably close to the truth over a century later. I wish I had even half his gift of foresight; oh, to see the utopian future predicted in my own science fiction novel The... Continue Reading →
Could you stay alone when the crowd departs? Can you hold your ground when the trouble starts? Will you keep the faith in the dead of night? Would you play the villain to do what’s right? When the road is long will you forge ahead? In the face of defeat will you keep your... Continue Reading →
Anatole leaned forward on the couch and coughed a hearty, phlegmy cough. He grunted at the dusty ray of sunlight that had entered uninvited through the divide in his dingy curtains. A mild hangover squeezed his head. His eyes settled on the coffee table, where from amid the mass of horse racing form guides and... Continue Reading →
