Cherrypicked stories
The Silent S
One man's view of teaching English as a Foreign/Second language
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- 4 comments
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- 2706 reads
The old house
Many years ago the entire dining room ceiling had fallen down in one piece, it landed on the table, the floor, the beautiful art deco sideboard, the upholstered dining chairs and the cutlery,
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- 4 comments
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- 1321 reads
Land Art
Drawn to mark the earth With mortal tattoos These artists fashion Fragile appendices to nature. Whatever the opposite Of the search for immortality They chase it, knowing
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- 5 comments
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- 1949 reads
How To Lose Money And Brain Cells - A Petty Drug Dealers Guide
Just don’t bother...........
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- 9 comments
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- 2174 reads
To Drown The Monstrous I
Free, but rarely registering, The land, the sky the sea, My world’s within; a maelstrom of misery. Replicated deep within each cell Redundant thought, contemplative hell
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- 4 comments
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- 1425 reads
The Birds Will Soar
The birds will soar Long after you and I Have left this life, Long after the Cuckmere sea Has reclaimed this land We stand upon, Leaving vast wetlands, In its wake.
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- 4 comments
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- 1244 reads
The second coming
When the cities have all died and the money has rotted, when humankind has either learned or perished, the trees will come again, nosing at the underside of the railway platforms
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- 3 comments
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- 1227 reads
Nathan the hero - Chapter 1
Every morning it was there, waiting for the people of Peterborough as they woke up. A thick marshmallow blanket, tucked deep into the city.
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- 4 comments
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- 1719 reads
It's really F-ing cold
This is a bit of an odd one.
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- 3 comments
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- 1810 reads
Let's start again
A five year old's inept little fingers; Difficult shoelaces, frustrated cries. Knots gently untangled by Mum who soothes,"Let's start again." Laboured playing, discordant notes;
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- 9 comments
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- 1559 reads
Untitled
Curled Into a curved blade of sadness Scalding water spins on her exposed hip Knees pull to ribcage Chin dipping to collar bone Heart cries shake into milk-colored porcelain
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- 3 comments
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- 520 reads
good morning to the ash God
feasted on sweet sausage, deep sleep re-ordered my troubled brain and I woke up somewhat refreshed to view the continuing fall of steady rain on yards with vibrant rosebushes
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- 5 comments
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- 965 reads
Summer ...the First Time
Breathless, one summer, at the top of a hill...
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- 10 comments
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- 2905 reads
The story of URZENNA – Part 8
Few within the king’s army, court or household shared Haminid’s confidence that they would defeat the army of Urzenna.
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- 4 comments
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- 2977 reads
The Story Of URZENNA – Part 7
“It will be a long way going home”, said the priest Elohan, “And without your moving mountain Kalem, a much slower journey”.
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- 1 comment
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- 2300 reads
The oak tree falls 4/10
Joan spent the next few days helping Lucy in the shop.
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- 3 comments
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- 971 reads
Salmon leap
The sound was deafening, they perched on a wooden gantry on the side of the gorge and watched the furious torrent of water thundering down thirty feet or more
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- 7 comments
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- 2001 reads
Let's Start Again
Competition Entry
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- 5 comments
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- 2788 reads
Grace
The essence of you, still lingers in this room...
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- 26 comments
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- 5955 reads
The Lavender Sky
This is not the end Time does not exist Like that There is some semblance Of justice Forever we laughed Forever we touched
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- 11 comments
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- 2344 reads
Let's Start Again (iii)
How can the eyes that shone with love Now darken in contempt? How did the voice that spoke support Become so tact exempt? How can the smile that flowered for me Alas no longer bloom?
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- 8 comments
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- 2422 reads
Let's Start Again
competition entry This is my entry (I have paid). My first try at alternative history.
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- 3 comments
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- 535 reads
Let's Start Again, Mr Cameron
A letter from a pleading child
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- 9 comments
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- 3481 reads
Let's start again
competition entry poetry
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- 4 comments
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- 638 reads
The oak tree falls 3/10
The lady in the clothing shop was very attentive once Lucy had a word with her and it didn’t seem too long before she was dressed from top to toe, in ‘the very latest fashions suitable for young l
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- 2 comments
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- 912 reads
The Missing Madonna, Chapter 23/2 "Home Truths"
An older woman, Rebecca, tells Mari the full story of what had happened and Mari feels guilt and anger.
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- 2 comments
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- 783 reads
The Missing Madonna, Part 3, Chapter 23/1 "Back Home"
Mari, Joseph and family arrive back in Bethlehem, and discover what has happened while they've been in Egypt.
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- 1 comment
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- 628 reads
The Story of URZENNA – part 6
Only one more obstacle stood between them and the garden of Angels but what an obstacle it was; the evil red desert of Dragoom; six hundred merciless miles of arid earth and scorching sun.
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- 3 comments
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- 2680 reads
The Story of URZENNA – Part 5
Now, into the petrified forest they rode on nine white horses, with two riderless horses behind them and Kenrya, the songthrush, flapping beside them, to face the towering terror of old mother death,
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- 2269 reads
The Story of URZENNA – Part 4
Many miles by many moons they rode, Urzenna and the priests, until they came to the swamplands of Aghash and were suddenly embraced by a strange black fog which blinded them completely.
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- 2266 reads
Afternoon service
Walking alone through the Kentish woodland one quiet Sunday, I stepped off the path for no apparent reason and made my way deeper and deeper into the trees. I found a glade
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- 7 comments
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- 1711 reads
Wind Chimes in North America
Prayers return to my lips like a reluctant lover. Now I talk to God the way one talks to a coma patient...
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- 43 comments
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- 12484 reads
The Missing Madonna, Chapter 22/2 "Going home?"
Joseph and Mari decide - after 3 years in Alexandria, that they should go home. But what about their friends? And does Joshua want to go?
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- 1 comment
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- 613 reads
The Missing Madonna, Chapter 22/1 "Racial Tension in Alexandria"
Three years go past and there are developing sinister incidents which makes Joseph wonder if they should be going back to Judea.
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- 2 comments
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- 841 reads
Horse Tears
I remember it vividly. I wanted to wear my cherry jumper because it would look nice in the pictures.
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- 16 comments
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- 5132 reads
The oak tree falls 1/10
Joan leaned forward eagerly looking out of the cab window. Her uncle had just told her that she should be able to see the hotel where they were going to stay during her holiday.
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- 3 comments
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- 1033 reads
The Return
Fill he woods with music and let it lift me, up the great trunks, past the boughs, through the leaves and into the blue sky above, so I can see clearly all that
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- 5 comments
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- 1427 reads
The Story Of URZENNA – Part 3
Hidden under the shining skin of Lake Elama there once was a secret cathedral, lit by glowing anemones and built from pink coral and polished shell with half of a gigantic polished pearl for a cathedr
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- 7 comments
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- 3671 reads
The story of URZENNA – Part 2
The death of Kalimed meant that Urzenna, the younger of Haminids two sons was now the next in line to the throne.
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- 2 comments
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- 2717 reads
The Story Of URZENNA – Part 1
Urzenna’s father, King Haminid, had spent six long years searching for the invisible sword called The Kalex, a weapon of enormous mystical power, fallen from the armory of heaven.
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- 4 comments
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- 2960 reads
"Darkest Before Dawn" (I.P.)
He will not sleep tonight;
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- 26 comments
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- 7509 reads
The full grown oak 8/9
The first thing she noticed was the captain and mate arguing again about the navigation. Then at last the captain called to her, just as she was going off watch.
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- 3 comments
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- 823 reads
The full grown oak 7/9
When the watch on deck changed a few hours later, Jennifer Jane made sure that she wasn’t wanted for any particular task and climbed as high up the foremast as she possibly could.
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- 1 comment
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- 600 reads
The Smell of Lilacs
I already miss you-- You left tonight With the setting sun. I taste the warmth Of your whispered breath On my fleeting thoughts; I love the smell Of fresh lilacs And the summer sky.
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- 12 comments
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- 1933 reads
If you meet me, have some sympathy 16
A story told in 200-word chapters; join in any time. Our heroes find their way into the internet. This is where it gets a bit wierd ...
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- 9 comments
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- 2772 reads
Lets Start Again!
Competition Entry
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- 7 comments
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- 2243 reads
Did i fill your world with love
you know we all leave when we have to and ask did i fill your world wiht love
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- 11 comments
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- 2630 reads
Byron's Timing
He woke with a jolt. The alarm was slowly beeping, the glow-in-the-dark hands visible in the half light read 6am.
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- 3 comments
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- 1326 reads
Bridge End Gardens
They met Under the non-existent beady eye Of a headless stork In ornamental gardens At midnight Perfect hedges shrouded them And he tried not to think About the wedding ring That lay quietly
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- 5 comments
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- 1853 reads
An Antelope With Issues
There is no romance in you Just cold hard truths No risks or dares or promises Just box-ticking stories let loose There is no taking a leap with you No gushing message, no midnight wink
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- 4 comments
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- 1700 reads
Dignity
choosing to die the Dignitas way
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- 24 comments
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- 7934 reads
The full grown oak 6/9
Jennifer Jane walked off slowly, saying in a voice just loud enough to be heard, “I only thought you might have been having a problem with your longitude. I was going to offer to help.”
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- 2 comments
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- 763 reads
The full grown oak 5/9
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- 3 comments
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- 806 reads
A sleepless Christmas night
Seems a long way off in either direction. A message from one solstice to another.
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- 4 comments
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- 1817 reads
The Missing Madonna, Chapter 21/2 "A Day Sightseeing"
The two families spend a day sightseeing in Alexandria on a festival day and get involved in a disorderly procession which shocks them...
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- 1 comment
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- 516 reads
The Missing Madonna, Chapter 21/1 "Life in Alexandria"
A year has gone past and Mari muses on life in Alexandria - and signs of racial tension disturb the surface.
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- 1 comment
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- 511 reads
Let’s Start Again
A horror story told backwards. I really hope it works.
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- 12 comments
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- 3886 reads
Let's start again
Memories and present times are in contrast as a penitent wife wants to start again
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- 14 comments
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- 2344 reads
Bill and the UFO23
dutiful son and a disguise made in heaven
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- 5 comments
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- 1490 reads