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Dec 2014: My very first published short story featured in the 10th anniversary edition of Amelia's Magazine, 'That Which We Do Not Understand' is now out to buy.
The Girl in the Red Polkadot Dress
The midwife turns from the Bailey family belting out Auld Lang Syne, and smiles. And in her gentle smile, on the edge of life, I finally have found what I’m looking for in my dreams. In her smile, at last peace flows through me, and I understand; the dawn-age sliver of time between what we know and that which we do not understand is the place where stardust dances. Born from this gap in the universe we are each judged, not by God, but by the breath-taking power of collective humanity, molded by kindly forces that find its ultimate expression through love and creativity, dignity, kindness, and a silent strength.
'The midwife smiles a crinkled, knowing smile again and, with the spark of a newborn in her eyes, whispers into my ear something magical.
Summer 2014:
On Approach to Beijing, and other stories: the Jan chronicles
(written for my mum's 60th birthday on the Trans-Siberian Express)
On Approach to Beijing
The train slowed to a halt beside the station platform. Looming large in Jan’s window was the dirty yellow and black station sign, with the train company’s omnipotent ‘M’ logo crouching on it like an angry insect. Jan’s mouth fell open. She tore her eyes away from the sign, stared suspiciously at her empty cocktail glass, then around the carriage at her fellow travellers, then back at sign. She peered closer, unbelieving.Bell at Sea
Thinking about it, Jan still wasn’t completely sure how she ended up as part of the crew of a 18th Century pirate ship.Concerning the Sighting of the Red Throated Needle-tailed Hawk
In one long, graceful arc, the hawk swooped down from its perch at the top of a tall oak tree, gripped Janice tightly by the shoulders, closing its talons like a vice.Lovely Man
Meowington looked unconvinced. ‘Look’, continued Mr. Tibbs, impatiently. ‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We can’t stay here. We’re too exposed. Next time it won’t be just your arm Tinkerbell will try to rip off.’'Meowington stared gloomily at the floor. ‘So it’s come to this. Choosing between a cold-blooded killer who murders for shits and giggles, or a human sadist who just blind hates us and wants us dead.’
Mr Tibbs sniffed. ‘Well, you do crap in his soil, to be fair.'
Patriachy
Well-behaved women seldom make history.Birthdays
David moved over to the body. The old lady was lying on her back, wide-eyed, breathless, ashen-faced, her left leg at a terrible, crooked angle. It was too dark to see whether there was any blood. He was grateful for that much.He knelt up on his haunches and looked carefully up and down the road, scanning for signs of people or movement. Nothing. So he glanced up at the sky and, with an almost imperceptible nod, placed his hands on the corpse’s chest, over her still heart.
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