Our “mamad” (a protected room in an apartment constructed with reinforced concrete to withstand anything but a direct impact from a conventional projectile) doubles as a TV room and contains bookshelves and a work niche. On the second shelf above the desk is a small chest reminiscent of a pirate’s treasure chest. It contains most of the coins I had in my pockets while traveling through various countries. Our grandchildren...

In the watered down version of you, you are merely an acquaintance not the love from my youth. In this version, you are smaller with those thin hands that keep slipping through mine. And, yes, you still speak with a bit of a southern accent, but it’s not smooth or gentle. This voice does not grasp me at once wrapping me in the light that was you. Those sweetheart-baby doll-honey-sugar words are not lingering in the air. N...

"I'm sorry Marge, I can't drive with you any longer." "Why not, Lois?  I thought we were friends?  Is it my driving?" "Yes, we are friends, good friends.  And no, it's not your driving." "Then what's the problem?" "You just had your car fixed, right?" "Yes!" "You went to the brake place down on Main St.?" "Sure, you even recommended them.  I got a very good deal" "I know, I know, but now every time you hit your brakes, I...

Leather clad knuckles rap the bar. Irish Jack grabs the whisky and pours a shot. "How ya be, Bill? Good week?" "Got those bastard Darcy boys, but they're thin shit for the miles rid. Need me some tender mercy tonight. Fanny free?" "Always for ya, Bill. Likes the way your Colt hangs, eh?" "Somethin' like that." Up the stairs, the door squeeks open. She's propped up on the bed, dressed in her flouncy working gown. Gloves an...

The gull sails aloft white-crested oceanas smooth as silk, in perfect motioneyes scan the surf for silver glimmersto harvest crops of scaly dinnersA glint, a meal, a hunger realan upward swoop with deft and zealone turn, a hover, then a plungesharp golden beak in deathly lungeQuick splash, a grab, wings pumping roughspraying surf, jaw clenching toughsprat writhing in a fatal snaregills choking on cruel ocean airSnap of th...

At 1.00 am on the 6th May 1941 a German bomb made a direct hit on the Apollo Picture House, reducing it to rubble. On hearing the news, I, just turned seven, cried all that day. Not the Apollo, where my visions of life, truth, or fantasy, were just coming alive. It just couldn’t be. Not the Apollo, where ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, had thrilled and delighted me, and I’d sung “Hi. Ho. Hi. Ho,” all the way home on th...

The town mourned when he passed away and held a very large funeral.  He was survived by his wife, three children, and many grandchildren.  The officiant told his long life and the many changes he had brought to their town.  Suddenly a  dark shadow passed over the ceremony, the crowd stepped back as a large green dragon landed close-by.  The officiant told everyone to remain calm.  The dragon made no threatening moves and...

Jacob calls me in the afternoons, around three to make sure I am out of bed. On this day, I am groggy, but I still answer. “Let’s go have a margarita at that Mexican place by the gallery tonight,” he says. “Not yet. OK?” “Oh, come now, Jane! They have great fajitas, killer salsa. Besides, margaritas are your fav!” “I’m not up for it. Not today,” “Have you been able to paint?” “No.” “Jane?” “My brain’s not working. There’s...

She wiped a smudge off her porcelain cheek. Her husband clapped her shoulder. "You were supposed to stay out of it." "I would have if the witch hadn't sent that dragon!" The neighboring Queendom thought the death of her step-mother was an opening to invade, she thought ruefully. "The men are starting to get used to you leading from the front! Your small friends were a huge help." "The witch never saw that coming, the grou...

It was in the madness of lust that I found my purest moment. In the raw melting of orgasm I found Death and defied her. It was then I reached the Divine, while agonizing amidst spasms, it was then I learnt I was yours and yet I was dangerously free, like the wind in the desert, free to live throughout our desire, to wander through the realm of lust, to become one with the elusive flame, the one that ignites and feeds life...

Cynical lady, she has seen a lot, has been used, ghosted, abused, seen her best friend flirting with her man, the one she used to love. Cynical lady, she has won and lost. Cynical lady, refusing to give up, going on relentlessly, in pursuit of nothing and willing to try it all.  

She sat on the beach watching her children playing in the surf.  She knew they were perfectly safe but also knew the dangers of the water all too well.  Her husband sat on the sand next to her, his arm around her shoulder comforting her and making her feel secure. "Do you ever miss it?" She looked a little wistfully as one of her sisters rose high in the water with her older daughter on her shoulders.  "No, Eric.  I can't...

He opened the door to his old hut. It had been years since he’d been here. He never could bring himself to sell it, even after his mother passed on. So much had happened since that one day. His name became famous throughout the land and opened so many opportunities. He made some mistakes, but he learned who he could trust and who he could not. He found himself successful beyond his dreams and he and his mother never had t...

The Queen Mother sat quietly as her daughter, the newly crowned monarch, presided over her first meeting of Parliament. She remembered her own first time, following the death of her husband the King. She knew her daughter was nervous, but also saw that she was doing well. She smiled to herself as she watched her daughter shut down one very conservative Lord with grace and tact, without letting go of her rightful authority...

His joints ached, his vision wasn't great, and say nothing about his hearing because he won't hear you.  The stooped-over old man looked like a gnarled oak, but always had a smile for everyone.  Once there was a time he could have lived forever, barring an accident or a firewood shortage. He lived more within his memories than reality nowadays.  She re-appeared before him, as beautiful as when he was a boy.  She held out...