As autumn leaves fell, our lives’ hue darkened. Covid-19 grounded Sarah’s corporate-lawyer lifestyle. We fretted; could infection accompany me home from the hospital? Challenging times, despite dad’s toilet paper stockpile. It pays not to giggle when your girlfriend repeatedly tries to shoo our cat away from her Zoom meeting. “Annie, stop it!” Sarah’s tone was so testy. Scooping up the cat and depositing her on the balcon...

Butterflies and bees danced under the summer sun as Gail walked to the raspberry patch. The heat was increasing as the day wore on but was still bearable. With the lake as her pool, the heat did not really matter to Gail. She would re-apply sunscreen and go for a dip later. Finding a bush with plenty of ripe, red berries, Gail started picking. Her husband Michael was grilling a trout he had caught for dinner. The berries...

‘What a view.’ Felix never imagined that thought would ever cross his mind while looking down from a Ferris Wheel, probably because he had always kept his eyes shut. Earlier, the yin and yang of excitement and trepidation had pulled at him when he and his dad arrived at the summer carnival. Like any boy, he loved the atmosphere, essentially a kid’s version of Nirvana: the lights, the sideshows, the games, the rides, the j...

Telephone poles whipped past her, each separate in her headlights but blurred and indistinct. The girl was traveling north. She drove the speed limit along the two-lane federal highway. Into the night she drove once more. Alone, heading towards the big city. The highway stretched out ahead and ghostly phantoms of imaginary treelines wavered in her peripheral vision alongside her route. Occasionally porch lights shone out...

She stared at her reflection: silver-streaked hair, laughter lines, dark circles beneath her eyes. She looked middle-aged. Was middle-aged. Where were the white hair and deep creases of later years she’d expected to see as her end neared? Too soon… way too soon. Thoughts of a missed future – of laughing grandchildren, long summer days pottering outside, retirement holidays in far-flung places – threatened to bring tears....

Sunday morning, cold, damp and miserable. The dark rain-clouds which had, less than an hour previously, let fall a deluge of freezing rain upon the fields and hills surrounding the small Pennine village, were beginning to break. Their stark edges becoming wisps of pale grey. For the men and women who had gathered around the well-kept war memorial, the weather was a mere inconvenience. Nothing would keep them from remember...

The bar was too noisy and people stood shoulder to shoulder. They were all vying for a place at the bar. Music filled the air and it mingled with the laughter and drunken ramblings of its patrons.  I first spotted him as he entered the bar. His black hair was ruffled and his shoulders were hunkered in. The collar of his shabby, oversized peacoat was pulled up so high his face was barely visible. His frame was small, which...

Quarter-moon, harvest moon, blood moon, lover’s moon A cow jumped over the moon, Was I once so very young And grew old so very soon?   An ebbing tide, a waning heart, the tears of hopes betrayed So far away, yet here on earth The moon is much the symbol In every skit of life that’s played.   A cardboard box, a wooden sword, a towel makes a cape A rocket ship to the moon The wildest imagination of a child Their dreams take...

Gaze fixed on her phone, Jaz read the email again without taking in a word. She squeezed Tish’s hand, her grip tightening when raucous laughter exploded from the four men sprawled on the seats diagonally opposite. “I mean, look at ’im. Fuckin’ poof.” Tensing, Jaz looked up to see the man in the outside seat facing her, lean across the table and send a beer can clattering to the floor. Ignoring the noise and the pool of li...

It has been another long and miserable day ferrying scrap metal and hazardous materials across the state and I am tired. I don't complain much, as it still it beats driving over the road because I am home every night. I activate the remote for the garage and slow the Harley down so I don't have to come to a dead stop to wait for the door to open. The absence of my wife's car reminds me that she is attending an out of stat...

"I can offer some tea," said the lady. Jim paused then spoke. "What was that?" "Your flag, flying outside. I noticed it. Would you like a cup of tea?" "Is there a problem with me displaying it?" Her head shook. "No, my friend. Not with the flag. The way you're showing it." Jim was not sure if he should be angry or not. "I can show it if I want. I'm not taking it down." "No. But it's showing purple, blue, green, yellow, or...

They all lie, you see, every last one of them. Sometimes you got to change tactics, it's all psychology at first. Some you finesse, go soft and quiet and sweet. Make them feel safe. Some you close in on, really loud and hard, scream if you have to, never break eye contact. And some, well, you have to go even harder on. Grab their elbow or neck. Slap them, hit quick while that fear is fresh, like an animal, while yelling....

Relentless. The undergrowth of beginning. The endless overgrowth without a finale. Twining and vining imperceptively, Yet, interlocking in a stranglehold for life. Creating its own atmosphere in a limitless terrarium. Providing sustenance while feeding upon itself. Nature in consort with planetary purpose. Adapting to each assault. Flexing but not breaking. Surviving even the pestilence of man. A forgiving mother. But a h...

The sun’s heat was particularly humid in the open plan office, as though the windows were large magnifying glasses, the workers under inspection, the heat rebounding from their computer monitors to bombard them as though they were in an oven. Benjamin Lowell looked up as a shadow fell over him. Trevor Ingram was standing there, holding out a bacon and egg sandwich and a Styrofoam cup of coffee. "You’re a workaholic, you k...

  Kissing the girl   Errin slipped out through one of the side doors, the hot and sticky summer air enveloped her. The heatwave has rolled over the city the past few days relentless and scorching. She needed some cool air, for more than one reason. The red wine, tequila and the usual cigarette with wine have unlocked bottled up feelings. She sighed, she had hoped that the night air would cool her down and clear her mind,...