The Pleasure and the Payne

Unhappy people, pizza delivery boys, blunt fundraising parties, women praying on their ow, dumped boyfriends, women with secrets, men with decisions to make and many more. Take a moment and enter the world of Drew Payne with his sideways view of life.

A Morning at the Beach, In the Warm Sun

The sun was hot that morning. Hal had taken off his sweater and just sat there on the sand in his baggy shorts and equally large tee-shirt (These...

A Night Out with the Boyz

“The most I can give you for it is three quid,” Harry told the hipster guy in front of him. “But this is a classic, the Director’s Cut of Blade...

A Weekend with Family

Eva was waiting for me, actually stood at the house’s front door, when I arrived, that Friday evening. I had barely parked the car in the driveway...

Another Day Goes By

Alfie turned his key in the lock and then pushed the front door open. He was greeted by a dark and empty hallway, none of the lights had been turned...
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Appetite

Simon stood, pushing himself up from the sofa, and then stopped. He felt it, there in his stomach. A spasm rippled right across his abdomen, like...
Cherry

Choose One Cake Only

We were having a family picnic, that Saturday afternoon, but mum always wanted to stay close to home, so we were having it in our garden. She had...
Gold cherry

Crocuses in Spring

When I reached the grave, I saw the crocuses poking up through the grass. Their oval flowers and sharp, thin leaves were pushing apart the almost...
Cherry

Easter Witness

Here a man watches his local church’s “March of Witness” but this year they have turned it into a march of protest. Their protests just leave him cold, but why...

For Five Minutes a Day, Only

I savour the taste. Pushing the sweet and smooth taste around my mouth, feeling the almost velvety texture of it on my tongue. I love the way it...

Fundraising Parties and Other Family Minefields.

Ryan stood at the back of the pub, trying to hide himself away at the end of the horseshoe-shaped bar, and knew he shouldn’t have come here. The...

Goodbye.

Harry is dating Juliet, but it isn’t working. Over an expensive meal he decides to end their relationship, but how can he dump her without hurting her…

I Burnt Your Poems

"He wrote me thirteen poems and I burnt everyone of them when he dumped me..." Sometimes our first love has a way of haunting us.
Cherry

In the Next Breath

I knew it was a mistake the moment the words were out of my mouth, but it was too late. I couldn’t catch hold of those words, as they raced through...

Jonathan Roven is Lost

Jonathan was sat upright in his chair, staring hard at the television in front of him. On it was some daytime program about buying houses, the usual...
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Love & Need

His mobile phone, still on silent, vibrated twice in his hand, it was an incoming text. John slipped it under the table and opened the text from...

Once More with Feeling

Long term relationships are strange and complicated things, so how do you cope when your partner is unfaithful, again? In this story the narrator is faced with just this problem...
Cherry

Penance on a Wet Thursday Morning

Sarah’s five month old daughter, Rachel, died in a cot death and now Sarah blames herself, but are her reasons justified?

Praying in The Stock Cupboard

On a break at work, Joe finds more than he bargained for hidden away in the office stock cupboard.

Safety Information

It was his thing, whenever he flew, to sit in a seat on the exit row, next to the cabin door. It was his fantasy to be a hero.

Suggestion Box Problems

Revd Derek Butler walked through the body of the church, heading towards the Vestry Meeting, with their new Suggestion Box held under his arm. The...

The Boy from Bootle

As soon as I walked in the door, I saw that Joel had dyed his hair purple. He was slouching on the sofa, watching some music video on the television...

The End of Marianne Brownleaf’s Teaching Career

Marianne Brownleaf’s teaching career died on March the thirteenth, as with the rest of her life, during the fatal shooting at Clear Spring’s High...
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The First Night of Spring.

This story returns to that tradition image of the fairy, a much darker and mischievous creature, though it is located in modern day East London.

The Pizza Boy Cometh

Callum fantasises about that a handsome stranger who will seduce him when he delivers a piping hot pizza. One day, though, fantasy and reality crash together

Things Unsaid

After her death, Jack discovers the secrets and lies his mother had been hiding for far too long.
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Those Moments

His funeral was neatly planned, but that’s what my sister could always do well, plan something. The church was full; the only space was the empty...
Cherry

Those Moments.

He nursed his father in the final years of the man’s life, so why can’t he mourn at his father’s funeral?

To the Heart of Marriage

May 2013, The British Government is debating the Equal Marriage Bill. "I just can't stand it anymore," Sarah announced. "Can't stand what?" he asked...

Travelling Alone

The train was busy but it was Father’s Day. It was full of people returning home to visit their fathers, showing their respect on this particular...