The boy was terrified, his eyes conveying fear like that he had never known. He was four years old and tied to a steel chair, a gag around his mouth, his tearful eyes staring at the man who stood by the doorway of the shed with a 7-inch wildcat Bowie knife, looking at the child with curiosity. He had killed before and knew he would this time. He preferred them as young as possible because they were more innocent, so a fou...

He reached the top of the stairs and paused to regain his breath. He sometimes wished that the small block of six flats had a lift, but then walking up and down to his home was, other than sometimes walking up to six miles a day, his only form of exercise at seventy-two. Switching on the hallway light, he made his way across to his flat door. The light barely illuminated the hallway, but it was enough for him to see what...

The horse was in shock. It didn’t know what had happened to it as it could not comprehend just what was going on, and the farmer to whom it belonged, could only stare with a similar level of incomprehension. Standing at the gate, as ‘Bessie’ a retired Haflinger horse, lay on her side in watery mud in the corner of a field, her legs cycling slowly, head moving around, eyes blinking, her heart pumping its last as it lay som...

It was, and still is, one of the great mysteries of its time. ‘The Bazookas’ were a rock and soul five-piece band, who, in the late sixties, simply vanished. Books were written, documentaries made, and even a TV docu-drama was made, but they’re still out there, their legacy written in the history books. There were bands that were bigger than them, but they towered over all other bands below them. Three number ones and two...

He noticed it as soon as he walked through the door, and was about to mention it, but then thought better of it as the youth settled behind his desk and set about turning on his computer. His black eye looked angry and painful, spread across the cheekbone and blending away on his right temple, as though prior to coming into work he had gotten himself into a nasty fight, him on the losing side. He seemed to get on with his...

He really tried his best, but it was impossible. He just could not get interested in the talks and lectures at the ‘Agricultural Innovations For Sustainable Economic Landscapes’ conference, but afterwards, there was drinks and a buffet, deep in Mexico City in one of its most upmarket hotels which was attached to the centre, so that was okay, but his wife loved it. She lapped the whole event up, and he was secretly glad th...

“The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine. Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains, but I would just like to read it to you. “We regard the a...

Playing truant was always appealing. Always. Two nine-year-olds deep into their school days would always know better than what adults told them. Your years in school were not the best days of your life, and you don’t need to attend classes to get clever to get good jobs. They knew it all, so didn’t need to bother attending, and why do maths lessons and cross-country runs when it was much more appealing to play on railways...

He stared out from behind the glass of a small frame, the picture taken 22 years ago as he stood on a beach, the sea behind him beneath a cloudless sky. She wanted to feel emotion at his passing, wanted to shed a tear, but couldn’t. He hadn’t been a bad husband, and he certainly hadn’t been good, but then neither had she. Yet he had seemed to treat her as though she wasn’t really there. She had been someone he could fall...

It was just another New Year’s Eve for Melody. Her thirteenth one to be exact and completely unremarkable. Her mother stuffed her into a dress two sizes too small, accompanied by the furrowed brows of disapproval and invasive pokes and prods over her tummy. “Have you been stealing chocolate from the candy jar again?” The accusation stung quick and sharp. Trying not to furrow her brows in anger in response, Melody sucked i...

The house was of no significance, and would barely warrant a second glance, nestled as it was a mile from the nearest town on a country lane leading into cloudy valleys. As Daniel Carter drove past, he slowed down, then halted the Volkswagen Passat and stared at the decrepit detached abode, with its flaking front door, grimy windows, and missing roof tiles. He pulled the car onto the verge and left the vehicle. At forty-o...

To everyone in the room, she seemed like a normal girl, wearing Vans, blue jeans and a red hoodie. Her hands were both raised high above her head, swaying to music from her iPod. Sierra's body molded the jeans nicely. No one knew what was on her iPod, but it was mostly French music and several types of electronica.  The bus was crowded and warm. But all eyes were on the girl that could dance like an angel. Large but round...

Time for work, even though I’d rather stay here, sitting in my chalet, in my armchair. I only work down the road in the greenhouses, so there’s no rush, just another few minutes to observe my abode where I have lived for five months. I really do like it, even though it’s nothing more than a bedsit. Below the main windows is a maple sideboard upon which are three vases, no plants in them yet, and a cream coloured dial tele...

He squeezed his eyes tight and placed his palm over his ear in a vain attempt to shut out the noise that felt like a hammer blow to his brain each time it ricocheted into the bedroom. He lay in his bed, in the darkness, facing the window, the warmth of the duvet cocooning him like a caterpillar. Rain lashed the window, and thunder rumbled away in the distance, but the shed door continued to bang away in the wind, and his...

  The rain outside only made her isolation more draconian.  She had been placed under house arrest by her country’s vicious dictator, Klaus Heinrich, after she had attempted to pass military secrets to the enemy.  Her homeland had been at war for four years with neighboring Mueslichstan.  She had watched as their leader had imprisoned and murdered thousands of her fellow citizens.  She had not liked what she had seen. Sve...