Patina (aka ‘A Father’s Love’)

My head was still in a fragmented state of flux when I arrived at the property. From the outside it appeared exactly as the last time I’d seen it, thirty years prior. I was seven back then, my mother sobbing hysterically as she bundled me trembling into the back of her car. As we sped [...]

Forgo (aka ‘When Killers Stop Killing’)

When Freddie Warren opened his front door Detective Inspector Flint Tempest tried his best not to stare at the wheelchair.
“It’s okay Flinty, old son, you don’t have to pretend. Everyone always notices the wheels before they see me!”
Tempest shrugged. “Actually Freddie I was thinking what a fat bastard you’ve become, I hardly even noticed the [...]

Ribald (aka ‘The Bank Job’)

“You’d think a bank that makes as much profit as this one does would be able to afford better staff, wouldn’t you?” grumbled George as they waited patiently in line for a cashier to become free. “I reckon the bloody morons who work in McDonalds next door are quicker than this lot”
“Ssssh! Keep your voice [...]

Vehement (aka ‘The Blind Eunuch’)

“But Father, I do not wish to marry some pompous Prince I barely know. I am young still, just sixteen, I wish to lead my life like other young girls in the Kingdom!”
The King, his face growing ever redder, threw up his arms in exasperation. “You are not like other girls. You are the future [...]

Potemkin Village (aka ‘The Night’s End’)

“Why can’t you admit it Hank? We’re lost aren’t we?”
“Don’t nag Donna, honey. These damn English country roads all look the same in the dark!” replied Hank glaring sideways at his wife in the passenger seat. “Besides, it was you who wanted to take a vacation in this god forsaken country. I still don’t know [...]

Obtrude (aka ‘Billy The Bastard’)

I was sitting at the bar knocking back a drink with Ted when the Bastard interrupted us. We’d called him that ever since we were all at school together. Billy ‘the bastard’ Evans, the kid who never knew his father.
“Hey guys,” he slurred. “Did I tell you about the new motor I bought?”
“Do you mind [...]

Tirade (aka ‘Domestic Violence’)

She stared at Geoff snoring loudly on the couch, his shirt riding up exposing his flabby middle-aged paunch. She picked herself back up off the floor from where she had laid foetal for the past hour or so.
In the hallway she caught herself in the mirror: mascara stained tears streaked her cheeks, a purple lump [...]

The Drowning

The sudden twitching in the sack shocked him. How could she still be alive? How could she have survived the beating he had dished out with the cricket bat?
A muffled whimper came from inside.
“Shut the fuck up!” he growled kicking at it. “You think this is easy for me?”
With a final heave he dragged the [...]

The Gateway Plan

Hilda stood at the gate, waiting for the taxi, and gazed sadly up the street. She hardly recognised anyone these days, let alone spoke to anyone. It was as if the entire world was terrified of human interaction.
She sighed. It wasn’t like the old days when she’d stand by the gate and recognise everyone, wish [...]

Sugar Daddy

She watched as the familiar limo, with its black tinted windows, slowed and began trawling the sidewalk. She could picture his eyes – those cold dark eyes – peering out from behind the blackened glass, eagerly penetrating the shadows of the city‘s backstreets. Looking for something special; something in particular – something just like [...]