Short Fiction, Poetry and Classic Book Reviews
Before leaving the house for his mission, Paul stood in front of the mirror and studied his appearance. Visually, this was a useless exercise: it was a shaving mirror, and he had to stand on the other side of the room to fit in his entire reflection. He had no idea how he looked (and... Continue Reading →
My grandmother gave me this book for Christmas a few years ago. Inside the cover she wrote: Merry Christmas 2016. I look forward to trying one of your cakes! What puzzled me was not how she mistook a dystopian novel for a cookbook (the cover art on this edition was a man in a helmet... Continue Reading →
Desperate for likes and nominal friends, Swallowing whole what the T.V. says, But never a thought for how it all ends, What on earth are we doing? Not happy with plenty, only with more, With no idea what we are here for, As long as we’re better than the man next door, Where on... Continue Reading →
Ron trundled up the hill. The long, lush grass swayed and rippled in the breeze, while the late afternoon sun draped its red glow on the giant fig tree. Down below, the village lay still and content. Ron sat down, wheezed and heaved up a large pearl of phlegm that landed on his shoe. He... Continue Reading →
These days, “sequel” has become synonymous with minimum effort and maximum disappointment. When I learned Homer had written a follow-up to his classic Iliad, I assumed it was a lazy cash-grab—not that I blamed him, you have to make hay while the sun shines. But I lowered my expectations unnecessarily; it turns out The Odyssey is... Continue Reading →
I first heard the name Kipling during a grade seven English class. Our teacher had to leave the room for a few minutes to deal with an unexpected situation (Adam Preston had just run outside and spewed over the balcony), so my schoolmates and I were left to talk amongst ourselves. Naturally the topic of... Continue Reading →
In the end you weren’t so good at picking up all the dust, But watching you leave, that doesn’t seem to matter quite so much. You were with us, way back then, when we moved into this house, You helped me when I spilled glitter on the carpet, and when I didn’t want to... Continue Reading →
I took off my shirt and handed it to Vlad to use as a towel. We helped him to his feet and he went into the bathroom to wash the blood off his face. "Whoa, hey!" said Mossy. "Nice ink! When did you get that done?" "When we were in Belgium," I said, turning around... Continue Reading →
The young man murmured and groggily opened his eyes. "Hey mate," Mossy said to him, "take it easy, okay? You've had a knock to the head, but you're going to be all right. Just sit still and try to relax." The young man began to mumble, but we couldn't make out what he was saying.... Continue Reading →