I told him simply that he should go and inform himself better, before trying to con someone into signing papers they didn’t want to sign. By then, they still weren’t aware that I had a law firm (actually two) covering me, so he asked me to return the papers if I didn’t want to sign them, and they would decide if it was the case to let me read the will – which they wanted me to declare I had read and understood – and the...

“They don’t know, but yes, I have it. They wanted me to convince you to sign it straight away, confiding in your eagerness to get your hands on a lot of money. They were so bent to that family that they automatically believed any lie they were told, so they are convinced you were a gold digger and would sign in a heartbeat at the chance of becoming rich. My suggestion is, to read everything with care before to sign, and t...

The lawyer was pleased, and destroyed the two letters. Then he called all of the old associates, and explained what was happening. They were shocked, and most of them, as he told me earlier, had been almost friend, and with deep debts of gratitude to daddy. Yes, I call him dad and daddy. I’m repeating myself, again, but those letters were so full of love that I felt I would have loved him, and mom with all my heart. In fa...

  For all her infant life and some way beyond, Jane hated the sea. It was always there in all its forms lapping gently at the rocky shores of Clyth, like some friendly faithful dog, or giving a harvest as generous as a fertile field. Yet Jane believed that below that heaving surface lurked a vicious devil-form that worked with the winds that came howling out of the north to produce mountainous waves that crashed and roare...

Scotland, the Caithness coast, specifically the fishing village of Clyth. It is the evening of January 26th, 1876. A dark chill evening. No breeze, but grassed slopes that tilt to the cliff edge, wear a veil of frost. A shadowed sea heaves, gently slapping at the rocky shore. Waiting. A single roomed fishing hamlet, no different from several scattered along the cliff tops, shelters a girl, three years old, her one-year ol...

I had plans for my time in lock-down, today. First, breakfast and then the usual ablutions. After some dusting and cleaning, I had decided to sit down and get to grips with some writing but, the best-laid plans and all that...   I was in no hurry. I didn't get up early and ambled slowly through the preparation of the first planned task.   My house is situated at the top of a hillside above a small Yorkshire village and, f...

For a second or two after waking, she was lulled by the atavistic relief that comes from surviving another night. Then Faith remembered what day it was, and reality shouldered aside her absurd peace of mind. Resigned to her destiny, she reluctantly abandoned the warm bed. Despite her disquiet she took special pains with her ablutions, carefully shaving her legs and underarms, even neatly trimming her pubic hair. While her...

It is surprising how much changes in a lifetime. Cars, airplanes, refrigerators, telephones, electric stoves, big highways all over the country. All sorts.And people. Gosh, what changes. For instance, there was a little baby girl born in Tennessee and named Annie. Now, the parents of Annie’s daddy said they didn’t want that baby girl to go with her mother when she went to Washington, D.C. to find a job. Her daddy was in t...

And he was in the principal’s office. Strange offices principals had there – strikingly orange furniture with mostly sky blue accents. Even the carpet. As if the interior designer fashioned Gulf Livery into an architectural style, turned up the Mid Century to eleven. “How did you become a pri-” Davy trailed off, in his abbreviated language. Really, the worst part about his affliction was that the guillotine always cut off...

Once upon a time, many, many moons ago, a pretty young ballerina practised her dance alone though in more ways than one she was not alone. She began by holding a handrail and stretched for a moment or two, one leg at a time. The mirrored walls not only reflect her but almost, in her mind anyway, reflect an alternative self, an imaginary dance partner, an identical opposite, a mirrored twin. The music begins and builds slo...

My Alarm goes off at 6 am... it starts with the calm mellow tones of Enya, then Adiemus and progresses through to the likes of Pink Martini and Fever Ray. I really do not like waking up, my finger is well trained at locating the snooze button, so off I go again, back to the land of nod, subconsciously aware of the gentle sounds until I’m very rudely brought back to reality by ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” blaring out. It’s alrea...

Ralph never knew quite why he went into the Plaza hotel on that bright summer afternoon. He had passed by the place so many times without ever going inside and each time he did pass, his intrigue grew. The building almost seemed to call out to him. It was as if he was meant to go there and become a part of something, something big, bigger than him, bigger than his pet rabbit, bigger than his Ford Focus, and perhaps bigger...

The smell of freshly cut grass on a bright and warm summer’s day may sound like a nice thing to experience, but unfortunately for me it generally isn't. My hay fever gets so bad that medication to relieve its symptoms doesn't help me out all that much. Having just passed a field where the grass was still being cut has me sneezing uncontrollably. I am sure my red, itching, watery eyes have me looking smashingly well. Speak...

'Today we are gathered here to celebrate the life of Albert Patrick Hoffman ....' speaks a priest in the near empty church of St Martin's priory. A closed coffin stands angled before the steps which lead up to toward the altar and the small attending congregation sit up towards the front of the church taking positions either side of the main aisle. Albert had lived an unexciting and lonely life. Apart from one brother and...

The next morning, over the cold porridge breakfast, no mention was made about the use of the belt. Not expecting any, Danny was subdued but not suppressed. Anger and resentment still burned inside him. He couldn’t bear to look at Albin Flint, half expecting to see a self-satisfied look on that sour face. As he entered the kitchen on his way out to school, Eliza Flint said coolly, “You know part of my husband’s job as over...