Cherrypicked stories
speed-dating for the vanished
speed-dating for the vanished light streams from warm bars, smiles recoil from chandeliers i watch, hooded and rained on too close to the glass,...
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- 1163 reads
Two kinds of crying : 15th February 2024
Leaving the road for the slick, clay-swallowed gravel of the footpath, newly scalped of its sodden, rot smelling dark brown felt of last year's...
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- 13088 reads
Home
I watch the cigarette burn itself out in a crowded ashtray Another dead end strangled by the smoke And Laid to rest The living room is dying on its...
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- 544 reads
Up on the Mortimer Trail
After so much rain our lanes are full of potholes hidden under puddles. We had to drive carefully cross-county to a point where we wanted to climb up...
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- 2976 reads
A Devil of a Man (4) - The Italian Connection
A letter from the Pope - Image in the public domain
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- 757 reads
Weston Super Mare 1976
A summer’s day with the family minus Dad To visit our grandma in hospital. She used to work in a cigarette factory And her pension included an...
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- 1683 reads
Cheese and Onion Tuesday
Have you ever been contaminated on the way to your workplace?
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Do you like this colour?
I really like this colour You keep saying that It brightens the room So much better than what was there before It was very difficult to choose What...
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- 4402 reads
"Life is but a Dream"
"It spins the imagination round, your poppycock logic of hologram life…We are solid sir not see thru projections…You jackanapes of oddities have put...
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- 1705 reads
Feeling to find it
Off to a night-time bathroom visit she goes, touching the bed rail, the door handle … climbing back under the duvet … now where’s that bottle to warm...
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A Devil of a Man (3) - An Orgy of Destruction
Hell and damnation.
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- 457 reads
The Emerald City
T he Emerald City Our plane cruised westward, flying high over Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. In the fading light, the snow tipped, granite range...
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- 1682 reads
After Russian Rain (A Postscript from Moscow)
Previous messages from Moscow: https://www.abctales.com/collection/messages-moscow After Russian Rain (A Postscript from Moscow) It was on May 9 th...
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- 6848 reads
In the Bath
I’m always in the bath. Preferring my reflection all distorted on the taps. Preferring the wet water to the droughty winter air. I’m friendly with...
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A Devil of a Man (2) - No Peace for the Wicked
The aftermath of a peace treaty - Map from Wikimedia Commons
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- 901 reads
Baron von Ernest (1)
I could feel the excitement bustling through the village long before the emissary arrived. Much as the excitement that must surge through a hive when...
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- 401 reads
Sounds
I recognised him by his snore - Image from Pixabay
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- 1329 reads
Just like starting over
I recognized him by his eyes. Those deep, penetrating eyes. He never looked at you. He observed you, analyzed you. As if you were an object of study...
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- 1396 reads
So The Story Goes (Bring Out Your Dead series - Part 54)
After the tumultuous events of last Friday, Josiah and Archibald start a fresh week back in the old routine, but nothing is quite the same!
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- 1371 reads
Parcel for You..Part 18
Spencer was staring intently out of the kitchen window, moving his head to focus on the treetops and then back down to the lawn. ‘Three blackbirds,’...
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- 2197 reads