Cherrypicked stories
End of days 1
A final battle looms to end all others (possibly for real this time).
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- 9 comments
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- 2773 reads
Preface. The Game Begins
It is bitter winter in the mountains, a pale sickle moon casting a wan silver light over the unmarked white of the snow.
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- 5 comments
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- 1928 reads
She's Very Nearly
She's a very nearly person.
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- 3 comments
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- 997 reads
Back of my hand
Back of my hand (9th June, 2010) I wrote your name on the back of my hand with eyeliner, so I wouldn’t forget; you know how I am; memory lane twists and turns, if only I hadn’t learnt the
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- 8 comments
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- 5375 reads
Wishing Well
The re-telling of an olde and curious legend of a Yorkshire witch, a necromancer and a seer...........
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- 2 comments
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- 1877 reads
The Coming of Age .November Part 2.
More goings on.
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- 1 comment
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- 1011 reads
Since You Arrived...
'Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings...' or so it was written.
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- 12 comments
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- 3191 reads
Forfeits and Rewards - PART 2
A night of love. Only for the initiated or those who wish to be.
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- 6 comments
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- 3026 reads
Forfeits and Rewards - PART 1
A night of love. Only for the initiated or those who wish to be.
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- 1 comment
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- 1131 reads
My Mother
What my mother means to me. I hope she never reads this.
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- 9 comments
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- 2250 reads
Morningside
the steps of Morningside have seen a lot
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- 7 comments
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- 2837 reads
Amnesia
My trail of footprints sinks into the sand like a long, rambling confession; the ins and outs of two years of extreme loneliness.
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- 32 comments
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- 11585 reads
It all began with Nana's cat
You will love the smell of a domestic cat As it sizzles in the pan Toss in some onions And garlic Then present it to your Nan And as you watch her gobble it up
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- 3 comments
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- 1462 reads
Obolus.
He stands at my door, arms crossed, leaning up against the wall. He wants permission to enter. I decline. He says he’ll wait. He anticipates my response: “You will!”
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- 3 comments
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- 1250 reads
Words
Words do not like to be caught. Poised, frozen on the sheer plain whiteness of the page.
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- 2 comments
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- 1608 reads
The Comin g of Age. November. Part 1.
Some awkward moments
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- 583 reads
Nicolaus Copernicus In My Mother's New Kitchen
The centre of it all, he says, is her Russell Hobbes kettle. Everything revolves around it - is drawn to it like the sun. And the steam that gushes forth from
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- 3 comments
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- 1113 reads
Gossip
An insidious but common pastime methinks.
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- 7 comments
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- 2071 reads
11. Do You Remember?
This is my love letter. I love you. Goodbye
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- 4 comments
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- 1360 reads
Rose
"Who needed men?" she'd asked a friend.
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- 9 comments
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- 2703 reads
The Coming of Age. October Part 3.
A bit of nooky.
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- 3 comments
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- 1188 reads
WAITING
...becomes more than a game.
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- 11 comments
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- 3981 reads
The Coming of Age. October Part 2.
A Day Out.
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- 2 comments
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- 1031 reads
Washroom
I resign to the washroom, a place where I hope I can get a glimmer of freedom from you
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- 3 comments
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- 1294 reads
Mr Jones
I remember a time and, though it was not so long ago, the world was a younger place. Mr Jones and I had found ourselves – how can I put this – on the outside of things.
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- 1 comment
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- 946 reads
There's a Bone
There are always two versions of any text, what the writer thinks he wrote, and what the reader thinks he meant... Do they ever meet? Discuss.
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- 1 comment
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- 648 reads
Me, You and Peon
You always said, no matter what happens, we'll have a good time. I never doubted you.
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- 5 comments
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- 1634 reads
Shelter
When the lights went out I knew we were in trouble...
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- 5 comments
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- 832 reads
Harley 2
more of the same nonsense
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- 2 comments
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- 1974 reads
A Funny Thing Happened, (Part 4)
The conclusion of Dorothy's adventure and the beginning of her life.
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- 868 reads
All my exes
All my exes My exes live in notebooks, drinking cans of red stripe under trees at outdoor gigs reading paperbacks with slick limbed Charlotte’s, Maya’s, Kirsty’s.
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- 1 comment
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- 992 reads
Diary
At the door of this quiet room Your bedroom, holding all that you are In trust, There is an, almost, holy hush But for the unexpected flesh pink – Such a mistake – a pigs ear.
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- 2 comments
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- 1634 reads
Salvage
You get what you pay for, he declares over a glass of white wine But do you? she asks, hugging a mug of tea. It’s not like a business, we will have to sit there and speak our hearts and minds
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- 1064 reads
The Coming of Age October. Part 1.
Jessica has a date.
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- 2 comments
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- 882 reads
Masha
what it feels like to be Masha
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- 10 comments
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- 2936 reads
Holly Blue
(Edit) Your dignity defiled...
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- 12 comments
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- 3546 reads
Just One More.
Martin coughed and spluttered, pulling and tugging at his oxygen mask. Anna poured a glass of water from the jug by the side of his bed. “Here you are Dad, drink this.”
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- 5 comments
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- 1292 reads
16 - Whose doing who
Whatever happens there is always work to be done. It’s nearly midnight when eight officers in their formal jackets appear by the entrance.
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- 2 comments
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- 969 reads
A Funny Thing Happened, (Part 3)
The meeting with the mentor.
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- 856 reads
I know ...
I wake up at 4.00am. The walls are closing in. Those damn walls are a l w a y s closing in. Every morning Every night Day In Day Out Trying to squish me. Trying to contain me.
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- 8 comments
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- 2288 reads
A Gambler Born and Bred 6
1977-1981 After scraping through my entrance exams, I was transferred to the senior school. There was instantly more time. We were given freedom to wander.
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- 756 reads
Harley Street
‘Mary,’ Ma shouted up the stairs, ‘there’s somebody at the door for you.’
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- 8 comments
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- 4006 reads
Grandma's Face
She was following Helena Chroy’s ‘Exercise Your Face to Astounding Loveliness’ regime, as set out in ‘Beauty Secrets the Ancients Don’t Want You to Know’.
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- 1 comment
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- 836 reads
A Gambler Born and Bred 2
Summer of 1972, New Brighton At seven years of age, I found myself in the enviable position of being the youngest in a big family, living in a big house, my mother’s little golden boy.
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- 2 comments
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- 1020 reads
A Gambler Born and Bred 1
Here are five of my typical gambling formats:
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- 1 comment
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- 849 reads
The Coming of Age, September, Part 3.
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- 582 reads
Live at the Gaumont
Wop-bop-aloo-bop-alop-bom-boom
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- 2 comments
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- 1450 reads
(A Funny Thing Happened) Part 2
Dorothy meets the three witches.
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- 931 reads
Untitled
The endless exhaust fumes infiltrated the air but Ruth took no heed of them on the brisk walk. Breathed them in and out, in and out automatically. The traffic was backed up as far as she could see.
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- 1 comment
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- 1198 reads
One Too Many
The electric light buzzed over my head and made everything in the bathroom including me look stark, pale and ill.
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- 1 comment
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- 1098 reads
Cats & Fish
Katy sat in her Nanny’s living room, itching to get out into the bright green of the huge garden and play in the bushes at the end.
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- 1 comment
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- 1195 reads
In your arms
Doodle/re-post/ edit
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- 8 comments
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- 3072 reads
Going Down to the Sea Again
...the boarding of a train on our yearly pilgrimage to Broadstairs.
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- 10 comments
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- 2494 reads
14. Never a dull moment…
Time off to bury the sea legs, reflect on slapping someone, a decent meal and then, it finally happens. Alessio, cream your pants, gorgeous.
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- 2 comments
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- 1779 reads
That heat
I was sitting next to Andy on the steps that go from our floor at work to the one above, talking unserious stuff when one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen came down.
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- 7 comments
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- 3043 reads
The School Concert
Based on a true story – I should know, I was there. Very strong language from the start. Reviews and corrections welcome.
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- 803 reads
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED - Part 1
An attempt at fantasy. A blend of "The Boys From Syracuse," "The Wizard of Oz," "Alice in Wonderland" and what we're trying to do here at "ABC."
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- 894 reads