Archive

The Last Concert

The band played on as the bandstand sank into the lake. One last show, by the light of headtorches and battery-powered lanterns: the warden, as angry as anyone, would have let them play regardless, but there was a general will to spare him the trouble. When their boots were full

A Day at the Zoo

We had a wonderful day at the old zoo, seeing all the different habitats. We felt the heat of the reptile house and bathed our feet where the penguins once swam. It's astonishing to think that so many different creatures lived so close to us. We ate the

Separate Containers

Stories about sourness wars, living under the sea, a stupid argument and a trip to the tip.

Living nightmares

For just one week I lived my nightmares. Went to work in my pants and let deadlines breeze past my bare skin. Sent the wrong words to the wrong people. When they asked me to leave, I drove home from the back seat. When such absurd fears become real, they

Secret language

For my birthday she gave me a book about secret languages. What it means to wear a certain flower or colour or perfume. How the way a letter is folded might show love, respect, contempt, forgiveness. I turned the pages and looked at the reused silver gift wrap it came

Punishment

When Sadie was bad they sat her in front of the mirror. To stare into the mirror at any other time would have been dreadful vanity, but to do it in shame was quite different. It fascinated her to see her iris move, her nostrils twitch with breath, her skin

Helicopter

We spent a happy afternoon arguing about the helicopter, he that it was a model close by, I that it was real but distant. We talked about flight time and engine noise and rotor speed and all sorts of other things we knew nothing about, and the wronger we felt

Submarine

In my eighth year under the sea I began to dream about leaks. I knew that I was dreaming because I saw the water coming in, heard the trickle, felt the wetness in my socks. If there was truly a leak it would be over faster than waking, my little

On the grid

I wished to live in grids from the first time my birthday was marked on a calendar, from noughts and crosses to chess to go. In school I loved when they brought out graph paper in maths, or even for handwriting practice: fitting all those curls and scratches into perfect

Sour

The sweetshops had grown more competitive all through summer, carrying on long after the children calmed. The sourest sweets in the village, the country, the country, the world. The proprietors were seen on social media with tears in their eyes and smiling, bleeding mouths. A boy went in for jelly

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

A Felling

Stories about shiny plaques and beetles, and seeing your reflection, and cutting down a sinister old tree.

Catching Helicopters

Stories about bad times at the library, training crows, being trapped under the ice, and childhood misunderstandings.

Passenger

Come discover what the impending deadline for my MA dissertation has done to my brain. Stories about painting, a fake well, and a drifting consciousness.

Hyphae

Stories about turning into a mushroom, putting a horrible rich man to death, and inflating roadkill. Happy new year!

The End of Year Rush

Fires, an ocean starling, wolf's teeth, new year's resolutions, and screaming at crows.

The Last Solstice

Happy solstice! Here's a song for the occasion, and a story too. If we are at vaguely comparable latitudes, congratulations on making it through the darkest bit. If we don't, or you are reading this at a later date, congratulations anyway: I'm quite sure