Cherrypicked stories
On drawing Horses (I.P)
No idea how many words
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- 19 comments
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- 5152 reads
Planet Earth is blue 4
A story in 200 word chapters. Entrancing women from deep space are likely to be trouble.
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- 9 comments
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- 2678 reads
Elderberry wine
A lone figure staggered through the kind of darkness found only on moonless nights in the remote countryside.
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- 6 comments
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- 1941 reads
rail-road tracks, walking, Ashland Oregon
toward the edge of Ashland, Oregon, we went walking: many of us There was the China-man's ghost: bleeding black blood that stained the rails,
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- 2 comments
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- 801 reads
Taking responsibility ...
Mother thought the time was right Packed her bags Prepared the flight Yet as she wandered round the house Oh so quiet as a mouse Wasted years came flooding back
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- 7 comments
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- 1840 reads
Fate's Asylum for Young Offenders - A short story about lost love
Fate’s Asylum for young offenders.
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- 2 comments
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- 1128 reads
MY LADY OF THE NIGHT
A story of love with a mysterious woman.
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- 22 comments
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- 8425 reads
On Birthdays and Other Scary Things
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I hate my birthdays.
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- 6 comments
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- 3021 reads
The flames of a child
The story of a child's game
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- 1 comment
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- 398 reads
For The Love Of Paris
As with most major events or mishaps in my life, I like to blame my mother for my love for Paris. Thanks to her and her iron fist of TV censorship...
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- 5 comments
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- 2532 reads
The Guinea Thief - Chapter 15 - Crime and Punishment
(Apologies to Dostoevsky) The Honourable Justice Johnson dishes out his unique brand of justice
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- 652 reads
Snow and Stars
The sky outside is full of stars But where I see the street light fall I think I see, and long for, snow. The blank white page feels soft to touch. I want to scrape a picture from my mind:
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- 1 comment
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- 617 reads
Charlie
“Have you been drinking again, Mr. Barrow?” “A little.” “How much?” “Enough.” Eyes red. Shining. Clock ticks behind.
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- 2 comments
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- 1398 reads
Relic
I remember the way you lifted the glinting, silver pendant like a trapdoor - surprised to find a mark the metal had carved into my skin...
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- 30 comments
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- 8612 reads
My Life As A Sari ( poem published in 'indigo Journal')
Securely tuck your fears under elastic at the centre of your waist with your left hand, and with your right, hold the remaining metres of spun silk - your future, facing inside.
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- 4 comments
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- 2130 reads
A Thousand Lines
Take a thousand lines we've danced and rhymed
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- 9 comments
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- 4300 reads
..and if you don’t know cinnamon
poem
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- 11 comments
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- 6819 reads
Are you ready to be in love again?
'Write me a poem',
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- 17 comments
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- 5557 reads
If she were on vacation..
If she were on vacation in Florida as a kid and saw a boy drowning in a pool,
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- 5 comments
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- 3089 reads
The Chauvinist
He dreaded domesticity in any form – it was no job for a man, especially a leader.
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- 829 reads
Disinterring the Vortex
Sitting in her late husband’s coffin there is a ceramic urn of ashes safe keeping an item of significant value and Sandra wants it back. approx 1,800 words
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- 1 comment
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- 1183 reads
Porcelain
At weekends I climb to the top of tall buildings, exit onto the roof and spin dinner plates on wooden poles.
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- 3 comments
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- 1079 reads
The first date
I tell her I am lonely, that I spend most of my time without any trousers on.
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- 4 comments
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- 1751 reads
Moon View Mountain Road
I once read a book of warnings. I don’t remember the title, but because it suggested cautions that should lead to a more leveled life, I called it the Book of Warnings.
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- 5 comments
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- 1450 reads
Duality
She’s not the sort that bares her soul With tales of pain With tales of woe She contains the pain She keeps it tight It haunts her Each and every night She walks the walk
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- 9 comments
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- 2359 reads
Blackberry Wine
(Edit) The berries yield to our touch...
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- 25 comments
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- 7484 reads
A Moth
A moth lay down on my hat to die. On the bright blue tartan check His wings crumpled and dry like a dusty mountain range, a hollow shell. An exoskeleton.
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- 6 comments
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- 1922 reads
Tower of Luck - a story for South Korea
A man recalls his time in South Korea and the woman he met there...
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- 2 comments
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- 924 reads
A Tea Box, A Medal, A Bullet and A Bone
The house when he returned was a foxhole without trees, the soft bed made-up by my grandmother a lazy pool coaxing him to death. He slept on the floor, ate his meals
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- 3 comments
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- 1602 reads
First Letter Home
Wotcher stranger! Remember me? Yes, I am talking like a born and bred southerner already. No more ‘blooooke’ or ‘poooost box’ – I’ve learnt to speak properly...
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- 17 comments
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- 5553 reads
Dream Baby
I gave birth to a baby child, It was beautiful. Then I slept And when I woke it was dead. I knew I was dreaming So I went back And made it all ok: I started the dream again.
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- 4 comments
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- 1109 reads
The Abode of Infinite Compassion
Marty Humphrey doesn't finish things. A European backpacking adventure was cut short, when he became morbidly homesick on the flight across the Atlantic, and now he's dropped out of college.
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- 8 comments
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- 4344 reads
Dearest Eliot
But no! – I had to go and fall in love!
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- 749 reads
There Ain't Gonna Be No World War Three, Chapter 17
17. The Curious Incident of the Plaster Dog
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- 1 comment
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- 819 reads
There Ain't Gonna Be No World War Three, Chapter 18
18. Bumbly Wumbly Jumbly Gumbly
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- 611 reads
Have to Laugh - Don't You?
(Edit) “Don’t worry,” the medics advised... it’s not life-shortening.”
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- 16 comments
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- 3381 reads
Planet Earth is blue 2
A story in 200 word chapters. Captured on the asteroid, waiting ...
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- 11 comments
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- 3686 reads
The Application of the Mask (I.P.)
Painstakingly, technicians crafted a tailor-made mask – precise to every last curve and contour...
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- 19 comments
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- 4556 reads
Dear public figure whose private life is tabloid
Dear public figure whose private life is tabloid I am writing to tell you to have faith in things fading. If what you did is so terrible that you have to punctuate it publicly
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- 1 comment
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- 860 reads
Elegy for September
A short, sad little poem
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- 4 comments
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- 2191 reads
In Humanity's Garden (vers. 3)
In humanity's garden, despite the greedy weeds, there are chestnuts of charity radishes of rationality and some apricots of harmony In humanity's garden, despite the mercenary weeds,
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- 6 comments
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- 1135 reads
Mint on the Breath
The victim of a paedophile priest seeks his revenge.
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- 3 comments
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- 1549 reads
Self Portrait
For my Son; Paint your future with the brightest most vibrant colours, that they may bring you unending joy and peace.
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- 5 comments
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- 1582 reads
A Fish Out Of Water
Mr Pisces, the fish shop owner, was having a terrible day. Nothing seemed to be going right.
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- 9 comments
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- 3770 reads
Le Grand Départ
One, final ritual, before the 'Big Push' - 'Le Grand Départ...' I carefully remove all the posters, photos and cards from my bedroom walls.
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- 25 comments
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- 8474 reads
A Mountain of a Dream
Los Angeles is visible Beyond the rising towers And the holy Hollywood Sign:
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- 7 comments
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- 2115 reads
Irony
This is a tale of Janet and John, no not really,
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- 14 comments
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- 6135 reads
Silver Shadows
you always arrive from rain soaked conversations that fill entire spaces with nouns and consonants;
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- 2 comments
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- 943 reads
Under The Surface
“How very disappointing”, said Kolhak the hunter, a creature from the distant, tiny planet of Appelgarp 3, as he studied the geophys readings for Loch Ness
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- 3 comments
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- 1984 reads
the silent corn seed
At tender dawn, When the proud roosters Begin to sing, We rise like spring flowers, And walk To the hungry corn stalks To cultivate the ancient land.
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- 3 comments
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- 1253 reads
There Ain't Gonna Be No World War Three, Chapter 15
15. Give Her Another Half Minute on Defrost
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- 611 reads
There Ain't Gonna Be No World War Three, Chapter 14
14. The Resurrection of Charity
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- 555 reads
These Are The Days
We find ourselves huddled on a bench, by the Thames, opposite Big Ben - his bright, white face mirrored, not only in the river, but in the moon, pastelled onto a cloud at his side.
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- 18 comments
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- 5179 reads
Tap, tap, tap
“Mummy, mummy!”, screamed Erica. “What is it this time?”, asked Erica’s mother, entering her little girls bedroom yawning; groggy from being woken out of a deep sleep.
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- 4 comments
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- 2130 reads
The Mulroney Brothers
Declan meets his room mates
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- 2 comments
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- 1640 reads
Why are we Here? An Angel Speaks.
Why? What does it all mean? Find out here.
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- 4 comments
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- 1241 reads
To Say the Least
The wooden pews were like a somber box: I seemed to almost float on rising rocks. The moon arose and roses seemed to glow beyond the twinkling stars of cloudy night; somewhere where yesterday...
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- 829 reads
A Cautionary Tale
Based on a true story.
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- 8 comments
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- 3487 reads