The child was just there

She ran, out the door, through the open back gate and down the ginnel between the houses and out onto the street. She didn’t think about where she was going or take in her surroundings, she had her head down running hard and tears were making her vision blurred. She didn't see the red brick …

Monsters

It was too cold to display her wares effectively; when a sweep of headlights approached, she had just a short moment on that corner, to look alluring and available before the beams raked over her and continued down the road, tyres crunching the hard rime frost. This was going to be a long hard winter, …

Hidden Agenda (2)

Nigel Simpson was gathering his thoughts as the taxi came to a halt. He had dealt with Karl Jäger, the chief buyer from Elecktrosure GMBH, for several years and on his last trip to London, they had got much closer. Karl and he had enjoyed an excellent dinner together, during the course of which, they …

Village Affairs

The Studley cum Hardly Village Fete had been open for a couple of hours and he was enjoying his stroll around the village green. All about, stalls were doing a roaring trade selling cakes, jams, bric-a-brac, not to mention a cluttered white elephant stall, (which he made a mental note to visit when things had …

Hidden Agenda

I am eight years old looking in the shop window at all kinds of wonderful things but am captivated by a doll and I’m not a doll kind of kid. I’ve just spent a perfect early summer day playing with my younger brother and sister in the river, Mum and Dad walking and chatting as …

Potholes

“People underestimate the danger of potholes.  The most common damage is a flat tire or damage to your tires, bent or damaged rims, suspension and even damage to the body of the car. Potholes can even knock your car completely out of alignment.” I think that was the last thing my brother ever said to …

Moments (2)

We all have moments; senior moments are becoming the norm for me! And we're all encouraged to take a moment or be in the moment; but how often do we actually really, totally do it. Life encroaches so easily, especially now most of us constantly carry a phone, that vibrates even if it doesn’t ring. …

The Elevator (3)

I’d been doing so great.  Oh, not by Mr Average’s standards – to him I’m still a deadbeat junkie.  But I know how much better I’d been.  It took leaving the country to get there though. I began using drugs when I was fourteen.  That will shock some, I know, but the truth is that’s …

The Elevator (2)

He walked authoritatively through his office building lobby, acknowledging everyone he passed, smiling broadly, his inner smugness apparent for all to see. They’d been in the new office block in the City for a week now. He had helped design the modern space and had spared no expense, he wanted the world to know he …

The Elevator

Early 1970s I am off to my very first Open University lecture, somewhere on the Leeds Uni campus.   I follow the detailed sketch map and, despite my poor sense of direction, eventually find the right building. The room I have to find is on the fourth floor so I go to find a lift. I …