Archive

Kissing frogs

One hundred days of kissing frogs for nothing but chapped lips and and upset stomach, and I feel fantastic. Why? Because the secret nobody wants to hear is: you were never going to find a prince in 100 days. This first stretch is all about building habits, refining techniques, and

Chamber

The invitation said, 'Dr Quick will meet you in his chambers'. It had all seemed very friendly, but Carys thought that nothing good had ever happened in a chamber. Chambers were for tests and torture and bullets. She wondered which she was in for. It didn't

Rules

When she went round to Marnie's house they played a game where you twisted sections of a crystal tower to make gems fall down into a treasure chest. There were rules, but Marnie wouldn't let her see them. They always had to play just twisting and

Rude words

They spent the lesson looking up rude words in the dictionary. But something was wrong. A small agricultural holding. The part of the leg that extends from the knee to the ankle. Sticky or claggy dirt. Not one of them was rude at all. They had been tricked. They would

Daisy chain

I was still wearing the daisy chain, and somehow I knew that when it broke I would too. But days in the sun had dried the stems until they were stiff and brittle. We did not have long left. Unless I lay down in the mud to be preserved, we

The Audit

Stories about bollards, an audit of unused possessions, a key under the mat, and a school trip to the cranking factory.

Empty playground

The playground is the best place to go. You sit on a swing and look at the empty climbing frame and you can't forget the way things are. In the cafés and the streets it is not so strange that you don't see children. We made

Bollards

A year after it happened, I saw they had put bollards in where the car hit him. I stopped to give them a shove, a shake, a kick. I wanted them to break loose. I wanted them to crumble into powder. If they stayed standing under my bloody knuckles it

Those Strange Boxes

We spray-painted empty ice cream black and strapped them partway up lamp posts. That is, Tom painted them and Lou shimmied up the streetlights. It was my job to start the rumours, but I never had to. By the end of the week I'd heard they were

School Trip to the Cranking Factory

We were almost done with the morning shift when the kids from the school trip arrived. They lined up along the wall and numbered off, well practiced but distracted. We kept turning the cranks. The teacher explained that they were in the main cranking room, and said a few words

Dad Dancing

Stories about clownfish, frogs, fairies, a migraine, and why it's actually a very beautiful thing to be a terrible dancer.

The Tour Guide

A fox on the bus, a tour of the gallery, a pancake on the ceiling, something in the woods.

The Last Two Stars

Stories about a garden, a rollercoaster, a mayfly, and a satellite falling to Earth.

Of The World

Stories about a weighted suit, a big wet dog, an out-of-reach blackberry and a visit to the Emotion Recycling Centre.

Widdershins

Stories about ice cream, chalk, birds' eggs, and the sun turning back in the sky.

Lungs, Larynx, Lips

Stories about rivers, leaflets, a hollow book, and (regrettably) "AI".

A Bicycle for the Heart

Stories about spring, cats, a bicycle, and sitting in gum.

A Body in Motion

Stories about picking snowdrops, climbing trees, running away, and a daughter on the moon.

The Puffin Guide to Drawing

Stories about playing chess with an incomplete set, drawing puffins, and getting punched in the face.

Double Texting

No sad boys near trees in this week’s story, but a bit of a content warning for creepy, obsessive behaviour. Nothing in the ‘I have been reading...’ section about handling old books with gloves, either. It seems I simply cannot keep a bit going. This week’s daily stories