A room with a Glasgow View
By celticman
The past is not past, but just lurking.
- Log in to post comments
- 3355 reads
Bill and the UFO
no UFO sited-as yet.
- Read more about Bill and the UFO
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1436 reads
bully for you
away from the footie. a bit rough. go on feel free to point out the errors of my ways.
- Read more about bully for you
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2248 reads
Coal Bags
More grime and grimness
- Read more about Coal Bags
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3316 reads
The best f**** team in the world
There are winners and losers in all walks, but only one team can be the best!
- Read more about The best f**** team in the world
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 5200 reads
Too late to talk to Benny
It was everybody’s local -if you were local-an old man’s pub, that had been slapped about a bit, with paint, tarted up, to look younger.
- Read more about Too late to talk to Benny
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1243 reads
Milk Boy
re-edit 31/1/ visions of the Clyde
- Read more about Milk Boy
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1842 reads
Uncle Stephen
old sea dog tale
- Read more about Uncle Stephen
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1920 reads
Tommy Turner
you need faith
- Read more about Tommy Turner
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2081 reads
The matchmaker
short story-long tail
- Read more about The matchmaker
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1534 reads
Harley Street
‘Mary,’ Ma shouted up the stairs, ‘there’s somebody at the door for you.’
- Read more about Harley Street
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1958 reads
Harley 2
more of the same nonsense
- Read more about Harley 2
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1075 reads
Hughie Gringo
Opportunity Knocks
- Read more about Hughie Gringo
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1823 reads
on the last day of Christmas
Sometimes it’s better not to be born. I’m a dreamer. That’s worse than being normal. I play that tune in my head and look out the eight floor window...
- Read more about on the last day of Christmas
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3079 reads
Life in bits
I picked up a photo of Billy Quinn the other day. Don’t ask me where I got it. He’s handsome. I don’t remember him being handsome. I never remember...
- Read more about Life in bits
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1656 reads
Cadogan Street
‘Hi, it’s me. Phone me back.’ ‘Hi, it’s me. Phone me back.’ ‘I’m a bit worried. Can you phone me back?’ ‘Is there something the matter with this...
- Read more about Cadogan Street
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1597 reads
uncovering oneself (3)
The downstairs bar shut. I bought a bottle of Buckie from the Off Sales. It was more expensive than usual, but I was more flush than usual...
- Read more about uncovering oneself (3)
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1488 reads
uncovering oneself (4)
Bogey was glad to see me. Charlie wasn’t, but he held the back door open to let me in. Mum stood in the doorway between kitchen and hall and frowned...
- Read more about uncovering oneself (4)
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3193 reads
uncovering oneself (5)
With money in my pocket I walked quickly to the Atantis bar. Sammy Small Talk was perched in his usual seat at the bar, a half pint of lager in front...
- Read more about uncovering oneself (5)
- 22 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2587 reads
uncovering oneself (6)
My head throbbed like a man stuck upside down on the Big-Wheel carousel. Blackouts were called blackouts for a reason, not knowing which way was up...
- Read more about uncovering oneself (6)
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1242 reads
Hope Street
She loved that story of how they met. Telling it to her friend Julie on a rare night out made her smile and her voice shine. She is tender with...
- Read more about Hope Street
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1167 reads
Shadow
Dan’s birthday. Their bedroom stinks of stale fag smoke, booze and the acrid burn of hash. After giving him his present, and another kind of treat,...
- Read more about Shadow
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1380 reads
the tug boat
The Tug Boat pub was infected by McAllisters. He turned to go before he was spotted, but he made his move too late. ‘Happy Anniversary’ went the war...
- Read more about the tug boat
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1107 reads
flockers 2
‘You were in the wrong waiting room.’ The lawyer shook my hand, introduced himself as John Cameron, Charlie’s advocate. ‘I’m sorry,’ Myra apologised...
- Read more about flockers 2
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1294 reads
flockers 3
Judge Morrie adjourned for lunch. Just as the big cheese advocate said he would. Stood outside on the stone steps with Myra. Lawyers and normal folk...
- Read more about flockers 3
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1165 reads
flockers 4
The day hadn’t started the way I’d hoped. I wasn’t late for work, which would have been a bad thing. But I was late for court, which wasn’t too bad a...
- Read more about flockers 4
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1030 reads
flockers 5
Had a few days to think about how wronged I’d been by the court system. Off work. Phoned in sick cough, cough, with the flu that needed careful...
- Read more about flockers 5
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1407 reads
flockers 6
Days passed in a shuttle of discomfort. My skin went to war with my body. Blisters appeared round the skin in my hands, soles of my feet and toes...
- Read more about flockers 6
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1273 reads
flockers 7
Myra’s studio flat had heating and hot water. I could have cuddled her. She ran a bath with all the suddy and splashy smelly stuff. She dipped her...
- Read more about flockers 7
- 16 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 3778 reads
flockers 8
When Myra told me she went back with Charlie after he raped her I didn’t understand it, but in a way I did. She made a bed up for me on the settee...
- Read more about flockers 8
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1531 reads
flockers 9
Felt better. Scrubbed up as best as I could in the morning, a complexion like boiled pink ham, showed a face no mother would kiss. Breakfast a...
- Read more about flockers 9
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1435 reads
flockers 10
Must admit the journey home was constrained, especially on the train. Didn’t see much of Myra in the next few weeks. Neither of us had a phone. Put...
- Read more about flockers 10
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1096 reads
flockers 11
Swirled whisky around my tongue. Listened to the shrill see-saw cadence and frenzied excitement in his voice and the little gulps of silence. Poured...
- Read more about flockers 11
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1222 reads
flockers 12
Went to see Myra the next day. Wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. Wasn’t sure she’d want to see me. Whenever I appeared things got worse...
- Read more about flockers 12
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 552 reads
Bible John 2
I clutch the handle of my holdall, with my purse secure inside. ‘I’m not sure,’ I say. I hold a leaflet out as a shield. ‘Perhaps she’ll get some of...
- Read more about Bible John 2
- Log in to post comments
- 391 reads
quickie
I’d a bad night. The guy upstairs had a burst pipe on Tuesday, which he didn’t know about. Next thing it’s Thursday, the ceiling comes down, and I’m...
- Read more about quickie
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 893 reads
Countdown
Countdown When Helen got the telephone call that her Da was dead she was curled up on one end of the couch watching Countdown, painting her toenails...
- Read more about Countdown
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 884 reads
Plot without a story
The note flapped through the letterbox and lay on the linoleum. I pulled open the door, just in time to see a denimed back sauntering up the street...
- Read more about Plot without a story
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 990 reads
Blood is thicker than water
Rain splatters the pavement when I set out. My sister, Teresa, doesn’t live far, but then the moon isn’t that far, and I don’t particularly want to...
- Read more about Blood is thicker than water
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1503 reads
Forbidden Fruit.
‘Put your false teeth in,’ I said, ‘maybe then they’ll believe in you and believe in your prophecies more’. Old Joe had taken up a position between...
- Read more about Forbidden Fruit.
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1085 reads
the things that we buy and don't know why?
The thought came like a First World War telegram – he assumed that she’d thought his family were marvellous. His mother was short and plump as a...
- Read more about the things that we buy and don't know why?
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1057 reads
Last Call
She clumped up the middle of Singers Road ignoring the pavements, damp and slippy with the mush of fallen leaves darkening pools against the wire...
- Read more about Last Call
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 813 reads
Don't talk back
I slept through the Russian missile crisis when John F Kennedy called the Russian’s bluff and sent them homeward to think again. It was a simpler...
- Read more about Don't talk back
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2424 reads
organist and monkey
The organ, off-kilter as a bagpipe chord, begins the first hymn. Major keys and minor key dance around the usual dirge. Funeral music. The...
- Read more about organist and monkey
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1155 reads
bergy
It’s strange when you get out hearing soft, whispering womanly voices – he’s been sick—licking of soft strawberry lips to create a sympathetic sound...
- Read more about bergy
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1118 reads
shitehouse to shitehawk: a user's guide
I jot things down. Sometimes I order them later, or they order me. Usually, I don’t. That’s called the first draft. It’s full of grammatical mistakes...
- Read more about shitehouse to shitehawk: a user's guide
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1548 reads
the gothic line
Dinner begins with a closed door Smell of mince and totties Worse than the dentist’s chair Shut-up and sit over there Plate piled high as a rabbit...
- Read more about the gothic line
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1135 reads
ghosts not spirits
The pale green Audi with a ladder strapped to the roof jerks to a stop in the angled strip of road before the bus stop and the Irish Pope bursts into...
- Read more about ghosts not spirits
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1582 reads
Le Cock: My Struggle.
I’m reading ‘The International Literary Phenomenon’, Some Rain Must Fall: My Struggle, Book 5 , by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Cliché after cliché so it...
- Read more about Le Cock: My Struggle.
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1117 reads
IQ 2
Cinders Disco was bound to be hoaching, Tina Turner so loud that it vibrated through the walls and brought out goosebumps on my eardrums. Tony, Boaby...
- Read more about IQ 2
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1699 reads
IQ test 3
Somebody had flung a scratchy blanket over my body to bury the unwashed. I woke up to the stench of my own body bathed in sweat. Eyes plumped by lack...
- Read more about IQ test 3
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 621 reads
Jimmy Savile and me
I was lying in bed when my mum rushed up the stairs, barged into my room, mouthed that it was Sir Jimmy Saville on the phone. I had to shoo her away...
- Read more about Jimmy Savile and me
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 740 reads
Grimms
Dad pushed the room door open. I hadn’t heard him, or the door going. I was sitting side saddle on my bed, one leg a comfortable numbness, bare feet...
- Read more about Grimms
- 16 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1430 reads
Grimms2
Dad was better fun than an alarm clock. I used to watch him before I was old enough to get locked up in school. The light in my room was on the death...
- Read more about Grimms2
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1343 reads
Grimms3
Pizza Face is smaller than me, but with a big square head, so we’re really the same size. We’re standing in the smirry rain with duffle coat hoods up...
- Read more about Grimms3
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1039 reads
Grimms4
Pizza Face ducked his head down when he took a drag on a fag and hid it behind his leg when he wasn’t smoking. He’d stolen a dout, almost a full...
- Read more about Grimms4
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 948 reads
grimms6
Light shimmered and shed its hat of cloud and shadows. Snowfall drifted down setting the world to white. Our street was smaller and larger,...
- Read more about grimms6
- 17 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1684 reads
grimms7
The hall is not much warmer than the landing, but the light left on in my room lets us see each other a bit better. Angela looks up at me, her golden...
- Read more about grimms7
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 927 reads
grimms9
We’re playing statues in the hall. I’m at the front door, trying to sneak up on Angela in her house. Her mum has come into some money and bought her...
- Read more about grimms9
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 880 reads
grimms10
Outside the wind carries the rain and it spills against my room window, but it’s not really that cold. I’m tucked up cosy in bed. I know all the...
- Read more about grimms10
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 411 reads
grimms11
Despite smirry rain, Jaz and his two pals, Godge and Rab are drinking bottles of wine and messing about on the canal. They've hollowed a shallow boat...
- Read more about grimms11
- 16 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1594 reads
grimms12
Pizza Face has a size- 4 Mitre ball at his feet, keeping it under control, caressing it into going the way we’re going by touching it with the instep...
- Read more about grimms12
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1174 reads
grimms13
Traffic sloshes through the rain on Dumbarton Road. We pass a woman holding a brolly at forty-five degrees against the wind and to keep her permed...
- Read more about grimms13
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 998 reads
grimms14
Jaz didn’t like wearing a hat, even though it was raining hard, because he thought it made him bald. Not that anybody would laugh at him. They wouldn...
- Read more about grimms14
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 914 reads
grimms17
Jaz and Rab guard the bottom of the close, the wind scouring the back courts. The bins are on fire again. Flames leaving smouldering debris, the...
- Read more about grimms17
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 740 reads
grimms18
It’s closing time when Dermot leaves the pub. The last round of drinks with his mates he’s downed a couple of goldies, the whiskies flowing through...
- Read more about grimms18
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 971 reads
grimms19
Dermot picks up Angela and carries her into his wee boy’s room. His son, a step ahead in the lobby, slips into the room picks up his book of fairy...
- Read more about grimms19
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 711 reads
grimms20
The fog lifts from the tops of the buildings leaving them stranded in light rain. By the time Dermot gets back to his close he spots pedestrians...
- Read more about grimms20
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 605 reads
grimms22
Tony is lying in bed sleeping. It’s a Saturday, no school, and a long lie. But he hears his Da arguing with Geordie the milkman outside the front...
- Read more about grimms22
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 745 reads
grimms23
There’s nothing else for it. Jaz decides to go and see Rab. There’s been talk – Rab’s old man wittering, he might be able to do something for them...
- Read more about grimms23
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 929 reads
grimm24
‘You’ll never guess who the Rhetor was?’ Jaz says to Rab. Despite the dim light, Jaz had recognized Chief Inspector Collins at once. He was a tall...
- Read more about grimm24
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 903 reads
grimms25
The chaffing of barmaid’s singing lullabies, ‘Last orders,’ and deftly nicking the glass out of their hand before they are finished, Jaz and Rab are...
- Read more about grimms25
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 829 reads
grimms26
Jaz can’t find his house keys and hammers on the front door, flipping the letter box with an untimely rat-a-tat-tat, echoing through the close. Karen...
- Read more about grimms26
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 767 reads
grimm27
The school nurse’s grey hair resembles an unkempt blackbird’s nest, with a pokey wee white hat stranded on it. She has squeezed into her white...
- Read more about grimm27
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 673 reads
grimms28
When Dermot answers the door, he’s not sure what to expect. ‘I’m Marie,’ she says, holding a soft hand out for him to shake. ‘And I’m a social worker...
- Read more about grimms28
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 835 reads
grimms29
After a while Tony and Angela get sick of hiding from a giant dinosaur under the bed and crawl out dusty and uneaten, which is just as well, because...
- Read more about grimms29
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 816 reads
grimms30
Jaz catches Pizza Face a slap on the back of the head when he catches him and Tony smoking a roll-up at the bottom of the stairs. ‘Go up to Rab’s and...
- Read more about grimms30
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 709 reads
grimms31
‘Shouldn’t you be going up the road, about now?’ says Jaz, smiling into his pint. ‘To get ready for your big date.’ Rab’s bottom lips droops and he...
- Read more about grimms31
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1383 reads
grimms32
Charlie the barman hovers around the five-foot mark and looks like King Louie from Junglebook , a comic figure, who knows everybody that is anybody,...
- Read more about grimms32
- 1 comment
- Log in to post comments
- 346 reads
grimms33
Jaz is standing chittering at the bus stop outside Ramsay’s Fruit and Veg when a beige Morris Marina sweeps through the puddles, making an old guy...
- Read more about grimms33
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 803 reads
grimms34
Crossing Kilbowie Road Jaz negotiates the tooting horns of cars and buses with the absent-mindedness of a three-year-old toddler and seems startled...
- Read more about grimms34
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 730 reads
grimms35
Jaz panting and out of breath runs uphill, the dark street a whetstone underfoot, and the unexpected urgency of the chase sobers him. It makes him...
- Read more about grimms35
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1326 reads
grimms36
Angela nips across the landing and rattles the letterbox. Dermot answers, swinging the door wide in welcome. He’s wearing his old work coat and work...
- Read more about grimms36
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 754 reads
grimms37
With no telly to watch, Tony changes quickly into his jammies, and because of the cold dives under the covers of bed. He sleeps clutching his book of...
- Read more about grimms37
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1048 reads
grimms38
Tony doesn’t decide to go to school, that’s just where his feet take him. The class has already garbled morning prayer, sung the time table and moved...
- Read more about grimms38
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1316 reads
grimms39
Tony hunch-shouldered, tethers himself like a human-shaped balloon on the edge of familiar things, the chair his da usually sits in, watching the...
- Read more about grimms39
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 781 reads
grimms40
There is a vacancy in the way Tony looks out the car window at the sweep of tenement building they pass and a sense of unease that they are going in...
- Read more about grimms40
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1153 reads
grimms41
Tony remembers a parade of uniforms and much mumbling just outside of hearing. He forgets who has come or who had gone. Memories and dreams mixed up...
- Read more about grimms41
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 911 reads
Grimms43
On the second landing, Jaz can’t wait. He nips into the cludgie and pulls the door over, stands leaning, left hand splayed against peeling paint of...
- Read more about Grimms43
- 12 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1081 reads
Grimms 44
Jaz sprawls on the couch, a Woodbine in his hand and has a few nips of whisky and sparks a can, leaving it at his feet. Angela, cross-legged in the...
- Read more about Grimms 44
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 848 reads
Grimms45
The smelly cupboard is the ideal place to hide the guns until Jaz can find somewhere better. He’s thinking ahead of ripping up floorboards and...
- Read more about Grimms45
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 750 reads
Grimms46
Jaz quickly shakes off hangover the next morning with a quick blow job. He pulls his cock out of Karen’s mouth before he comes and his jizz squirts...
- Read more about Grimms46
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 775 reads
Grimms47
Outside the snooker club, a black Hackney cab across the road lets somebody off. Jaz pulls his collar up against drizzling rain, decides since he’s...
- Read more about Grimms47
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 467 reads
Grimms48
Rab cashes his Giro the next day and agrees to meet Jaz and the Tash back in the pub. Jaz sits waiting, nursing a warm pint, the Tash beside him...
- Read more about Grimms48
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 735 reads
Grimms49
Tony shares a room at the top of the stairs with Bruno. ‘He’s a bed-wetter,’ whispers Julie. ‘We may get him up during the night to take him to the...
- Read more about Grimms49
- 16 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 2226 reads
Grimms50
Tony places the fork carefully back down on the table, beside the butter dish. Clutching his eye, a colourful arabesque, milky with red veins, half-...
- Read more about Grimms50
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1056 reads
Grimms51
Bruno is hanging about waiting for Tony when he comes out of the office. ‘An ambulance came and took Hunter away,’ he explains. ‘Hunter swears he’s...
- Read more about Grimms51
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 874 reads
Grimms52
The cook looks up from a pile of dirty pots and dishes, rolls her eyes at Tony and comes walking towards him standing just inside the kitchen door...
- Read more about Grimms52
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 836 reads
Grimms54
The social-work meeting takes place after lunch. Tony lies on top of his bed, with belly ache, paging through a stained Readers Digest he’d found on...
- Read more about Grimms54
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 457 reads
Grimms55
Pizza Face sits on the floor in the living room, his back against the wall, tilting his head, gnawing at his thumbnail until his cuticles redden and...
- Read more about Grimms55
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 982 reads
Grimms56
Angela stands, waiting. Bob shouts again. ‘Jesus,’ he rants, when there’s no reply and no sign of footfall. ‘You better come in, then.’ She cranes...
- Read more about Grimms56
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 840 reads
Grimms57
Pizza Face pulls his duffle coat hood down, to show he is serious, even though the rain is coming down horizontal. He does a feint and step-over, is...
- Read more about Grimms57
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 555 reads
Grimms58
Bruno perches on the bed in the muggy heat of his room with his jacket zipped up, and the leather strap of his school bag over his shoulder, waiting...
- Read more about Grimms58
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 756 reads
Grimms59
On the day of his dad’s funeral Tony gets himself ready early while the care staff busy themselves having a meeting to decide who is to accompany him...
- Read more about Grimms59
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 906 reads
Grimms60
Karen answers the door tugging the belt of her flowery nightgown tighter, smiling, and giving a little wiggle as Dougie towers over her and ogles the...
- Read more about Grimms60
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 874 reads
Grimms62
Jaz tries to erase the memory of the snivelling shadowy self he’d been earlier by tearing into the booze. But Del isn’t hanging about either. They...
- Read more about Grimms62
- 14 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1188 reads
Grimms63
In the late bloom of spring, snow scars the Old Kilpatrick hills. Seagulls swoop above Angela’s head, screeching along the bins on Risk Street. A...
- Read more about Grimms63
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1093 reads
Grimms64
Jaz is gagging for the first pint of the day, but is stuck in traffic, enclosed in a bubble of the front seat of a red Volkswagen. Del is driving...
- Read more about Grimms64
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 796 reads
Grimms65
Angela’s eyes are splintered with not sleeping, she lies scrunched like a question mark at the bottom of the bed, blankets tight around her shoulders...
- Read more about Grimms65
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 788 reads
Grimms66
Del fits false number plates to the white Volvo, stolen to order for the job, in the early hours of the Friday morning, from Bearsden. Dougie lounges...
- Read more about Grimms66
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1035 reads
Grimms67
Bob rolls up the sleeves of his frayed, green, checked shirt, and uses the side window of the dining room as a temporary seat. No wind, slow moving...
- Read more about Grimms67
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 596 reads
grimms68
Angela stands sulking in the driveway, near the dining-room window, anorak brushing against the wall, out of sight of everyone, poking at something...
- Read more about grimms68
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 774 reads
Grimms69
Tony dashes up the stairs without meeting anybody, but Bruno, who has been searching for him, spots him from the lobby and clunks up the stairs after...
- Read more about Grimms69
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 498 reads
Grimms 70
Jaz figures he’ll need to take driving lessons, not right away, but sometimes soon. He could buy one of those fancy Jaguar cars now. Pay cash. He’s...
- Read more about Grimms 70
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 585 reads
Grimms71
A couple of days pass, then a week, in which Jaz does little more than alternate between pubs and empty glasses follow him. Maggie Scott’s for...
- Read more about Grimms71
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 833 reads
Grimms72
Jaz ganders out the kitchen window and sees Pizza Face playing outside, kicking a ball against the bins. ‘Hi,’ he calls through to Angela, but it’s...
- Read more about Grimms72
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 599 reads
Grimms73
‘You don’t need to be daft and drown yerself. You can just drink the poison to kill yerself.’ Bruno is deft at sneaking up on people and has big lugs...
- Read more about Grimms73
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 816 reads
Grimms 74
Jaz hears the loud screeching and the rising harangue which follows. It woke him up. It wakes the whole tenement block. The smell of cigarette smoke...
- Read more about Grimms 74
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 753 reads
Grimms75
With all the cash Jaz is carrying and the hurry-scurry Rab is surprised to be standing beside him at a bus stop waiting for a bus. Jaz has brought...
- Read more about Grimms75
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 758 reads
Grimms 76
Awash with pints and halfs and even mouth puckering gin, with a slice of lemon and whisky in the same glass. Cocktails of his own devising. His day...
- Read more about Grimms 76
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 709 reads
Grimms77
Junior hurries home. Tired and hungry, his hair sun-washed and lighter than his brothers’, he finds virtue in manual labour, skin lightly tanned and...
- Read more about Grimms77
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 689 reads
Grimms 78
Fag smoke drifts above Pizza Face’s head. His is a frightened silence amid bickering conversation and accusations of neglect. The last of the sun...
- Read more about Grimms 78
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 836 reads
Grimms 79
Tony’s social worker, Marie, arrives on an official visit. She waits for him in the office. Dayshift-staff circle around, Julie flustered, leaves her...
- Read more about Grimms 79
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 970 reads
Grimms 80
‘What’s been the crack then?’ Del stands at the front door, a cigarette jammed between his lips. A clean white open-necked shirt sleeves contrast...
- Read more about Grimms 80
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 756 reads
Grimms81
Lizzie is as lovely as Jaz remembered her, perhaps more so, with her chiselled cheekbones and hair untamed as a burning bush. The room is stuffy and...
- Read more about Grimms81
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 835 reads
Grimms82
Jaz sits in his usual table in the corner of Maggie Scott’s, with a view of the door, nursing a pint. He’s been reduced to mooching about in his Y-...
- Read more about Grimms82
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1225 reads
Grimms83
‘I’m here to see Tony,’ says Angela. Bob stands elephantine in the doorway of the Home with his checked shirt buttoned up to his neck, glasses off-...
- Read more about Grimms83
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 837 reads
Grimms 84
Five days after robbing the Securicor van Jaz pulls a mask over booze coloured ruddy red cheeks and face and, hungover, is back at work. Del and...
- Read more about Grimms 84
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 763 reads
Grimms 85
‘This big gigantic guy with an eye is trying to kill him,’ Bruno says, with exaggerated affect. ‘So he can eat them.’ His voice rises and he gets...
- Read more about Grimms 85
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 544 reads
Grimms 86
Jaz sits in a haze of cigarette smoke in his usual perch in Maggie Scott’s, back against the wall, watching the door. Rab stumbles in and weaves...
- Read more about Grimms 86
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 667 reads
Grimms87
Rab finishes his pint and follows Jaz out of the pub. He feels woozy, as if he could lie down for a lunch-time nap. A few minutes’ walk through...
- Read more about Grimms87
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 902 reads
Grimms88
Jaz squats on his haunches at the door to the smelly cupboard in the lobby. Under the light of a thirty-watt bulb he inspects the Starr pistol in his...
- Read more about Grimms88
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 408 reads
Grimms 90
A stilted walk to the car, flared denim flapping in the wind, guns pressed one-handed, hard, against their bodies, but concealed in their coats. Del...
- Read more about Grimms 90
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1087 reads
Grimms 91
Angela sits on the top steps on her landing, waiting. Tugs have been pulled and combed from her blonde hair and skin been scrubbed pink in the...
- Read more about Grimms 91
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 697 reads
Grimms 93
Jaz is a different man on the Larne Ferry, a man that now suddenly believes in the hereafter. The crew wear uniforms, blue shirts and grey trousers,...
- Read more about Grimms 93
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 796 reads
Grimms 94
Jaz tries to work his way out of the seat and buy a round, but a hand goes on his shoulder and Bri in a voice that merges pity with outrage shouts...
- Read more about Grimms 94
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 613 reads
Grimms 95
Karen isn’t sure how she feels. She looks over the rooftops hoar frost has picked clean of grime and burnished glistening white. Outside the kitchen...
- Read more about Grimms 95
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 729 reads
Grimms 96
At the top of the Cressie Stairs, just before Angela crosses the road to go to school, she bends away, follows the black train of crows in the sky...
- Read more about Grimms 96
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 698 reads
Grimms 97
Jaz’s handler is waiting for him underneath the clock and the monument of remembrance. A gold-leaf list of the Clydebank dead from the First and...
- Read more about Grimms 97
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 685 reads
Grimms 99
‘Weet, weet,’ says an man at the bar, the cuffs of his gabardine coat falling down his thin wrist as he necks down the last of a Grouse whisky. ‘Aye...
- Read more about Grimms 99
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 664 reads
Grimms 100
Bedcovers deaden Tony’s hearing, seals him in the tomb of his dreams, but when he sticks his head out of his bed, he’s alive to the wind rattling...
- Read more about Grimms 100
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 603 reads
Grimms 101
‘How are we gonnae dae it?’ The idea feels jaggy, sticking in Bruno’s gullet. He shakes his head, wets his mouth with saliva and begins again. ‘I...
- Read more about Grimms 101
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 812 reads
WMD 2
‘You want me to add some vinegar to this water?’ I asked. ‘For old time’s sake.’ ‘Nah, just give it to me straight.’ He tried to raise His head, but...
- Read more about WMD 2
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1430 reads
Grimms 102
From Dalmuir train station to Glasgow is a distance between not far and life changing, the the High Court an Intensive Care Unit of the Criminal...
- Read more about Grimms 102
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 877 reads
Grimms 103
Representing the Crown and prosecuting for the Fiscal Office, Queen’s Counsel Montrose appears born to the era of wigs and absentmindedly fingers the...
- Read more about Grimms 103
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 566 reads
Grimms 104
Detective Inspector Grier knows his place and sits smoking, which gives him something to do, in the soundproofed room away from the stage of the...
- Read more about Grimms 104
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 567 reads
Grimms 105
The forensic expert, Mr Cleary, wears a baggy brown cardigan with bulky pockets he jams his fists into. He shadows the Macer, but is smaller, hitting...
- Read more about Grimms 105
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 649 reads
Pretending to be me.
You worked in that video store beside the Cressie Stairs. A grey shop, a belly-flop of unordered Betamax tapes and dust that made me sneeze. Bless...
- Read more about Pretending to be me.
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 867 reads
The Rock
The bell rang for the end of recreation and tally count of heads throughout Barlinnie. Prisoners milked it, flinging down the last domino in disgust...
- Read more about The Rock
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 825 reads
the gothic line
He offered drunken prayers for the dead Wanted to call his pals on the blower Those who knew How artillery weighs the soul Keeps you in touch with...
- Read more about the gothic line
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 366 reads
Sammad
One of his shoes was missing, his cheek face down in wet, overgrown, weeds. A man in his early twenties, wearing an oversized leather jacket, his...
- Read more about Sammad
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 543 reads
two-faced
I pushed my glasses high to rest on my forehead and stared across the road. I saw her outside the paper shop on Dunbarton Road, recognised her by her...
- Read more about two-faced
- 11 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1155 reads
twelve-noon-two
Two things pissed Marie off, getting phone calls in the middle of the night and life in general. What made it worse was she’d been in a deep sleep,...
- Read more about twelve-noon-two
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 526 reads
twelve-noon-three
‘You mind if I smoke?’ Paddy rested his back against the headboard. He’d woken early, hadn’t really slept, had thought of sneaking away, but then...
- Read more about twelve-noon-three
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1561 reads
twelve-noon-four
Paddy came spruced up and fully dressed, out of the shower, and dropped the wet towel on the bed. He adjusted his tie and polished his shoes by...
- Read more about twelve-noon-four
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 551 reads
twelve-noon-six
Paddy stood outside the church, he’d found it almost impossible to get a parking space and had circled for fifteen minutes before parking on a corner...
- Read more about twelve-noon-six
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 368 reads
twelve-noon-seven
After Sarah used the toilet and flushed, she put the toilet seat down, and washed her hands and doused her face in cold water. No soap. No towel. She...
- Read more about twelve-noon-seven
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 356 reads
twelve-noon-eight
In the early hours, a ghostly presence in a billowing black dress with sleeves gathered at the cuff, Sarah pushed heavy furniture aside and hoovered...
- Read more about twelve-noon-eight
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 313 reads
panjandrums
I’d wrapped up for a winter walk with woolly hat and gloves even though it was just the beginning of May. Clydebank meteorological charts being...
- Read more about panjandrums
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 410 reads
Pandora's Box
I lost my wallet somewhere between buying a black pudding supper at the chippie, a seagull swooping down on my head at the shortcut to Dickens Avenue...
- Read more about Pandora's Box
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 599 reads
samsara
A man of unsolid muscle stands You could call fat But nobody would tell him that He gies me the eye Yatters on his epiphany about scum The cosmic...
- Read more about samsara
- Log in to post comments
- 121 reads
Angel
‘I’ll get us some coke,’ shouted Kimmie above the disco beat. ‘Nah, I’m alright, I’ve got a can there.’ Angel dinked the red tin on the table with...
- Read more about Angel
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 588 reads
Angel 2 (home)
Angela crouched and pulled her chair closer to the electric fire. It had four bars, twin sets in curved reflectors, but only the top bar worked. The...
- Read more about Angel 2 (home)
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 331 reads
Angel 3 (disco)
Kimmie hooked up with the ginger-haired boy. The blast of Temptation - Higher and Higher- Temptation blasted from the speakers. On the dance floor...
- Read more about Angel 3 (disco)
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 507 reads
Angel 4 (at the dump)
Wind whipped rain into Angel’s forehead and high cheek bones and made her look like a sixteen-year-old waif. More like herself than the make-up she’d...
- Read more about Angel 4 (at the dump)
- 13 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 636 reads
Angel 5 (houseparty)
The guy with the moustache searched through his coat pockets, pulling out his fags and the bit of hash and then his hands diving into the side and...
- Read more about Angel 5 (houseparty)
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 357 reads
Angel 6 (rape)
Kimmie groaned and threshed like a fish on the line as they bundled together. Angel didn’t know where to look. She concentrated on holding the glass...
- Read more about Angel 6 (rape)
- 15 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 665 reads
Angel 7 (after the music stops)
Kimmie’s hand on her friend’s shoulder grounded Angel, brought her back to herself, but she moaned loudly, dry retching. Her muscles rippled along...
- Read more about Angel 7 (after the music stops)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 307 reads
Angel 8 (work)
Angel struggled out of her bedclothes, she’d fallen asleep exhausted with her clothes on, expecting the knock on the door at any minute. The radio-...
- Read more about Angel 8 (work)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 341 reads
Angel 9 (and Pizza Face)
Angel stayed in all week and also the following week, barely venturing from her room, other than to go to work. Kimmie had chapped the door a few...
- Read more about Angel 9 (and Pizza Face)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 385 reads
Angel 10 (bromance)
Angel lit another cigarette, more for something to do, and she rolled down the window. ‘Sorry,’ she blew out the smoke sideways, fanning it with her...
- Read more about Angel 10 (bromance)
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 523 reads
Angel 11 (Edinburgh)
Pizza Face parked in his usual spot and smiled as Angel rushed out of her house, crossed the road and rushed to meet him. Sunday, her day off, and...
- Read more about Angel 11 (Edinburgh)
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 518 reads
Angel 12 (the tramp)
‘You hungry?’ he asked. ‘We could go for something to eat along there.’ He waved his hand in the direction of the traffic behind them. ‘Not really,...
- Read more about Angel 12 (the tramp)
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 360 reads
Angel 13 (mum and Mattie)
The living room door was open. ‘Can I have a word, m’lady?’ Karen leaned sideways in her armchair, almost knocking over an overflowing glass ashtray...
- Read more about Angel 13 (mum and Mattie)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 284 reads
Angel 14 (getting to first base)
‘Sorry, I was delayed,’ said Angel as she stepped into the car and pulled her seatbelt on. She sniffed and turned her head away, looking back at the...
- Read more about Angel 14 (getting to first base)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 349 reads
Angel 15 (return of Kimmie)
Kimmie’s cat’s-eyes makeup was smudged. She hopped and skipped in front of Angel in a pale blue, zip-up hooded top and gripped the top of her denims...
- Read more about Angel 15 (return of Kimmie)
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 304 reads
Angel 16 (second base)
Pizza Face waited religiously for Angel parked in his Jaguar every night and weekends before work. The main roads and backroads they’d travelled like...
- Read more about Angel 16 (second base)
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 305 reads
Angel 17 (Wotsits)
‘Where you going?’ Angel asked when Pizza Face started the car the following night. ‘Going?’ he took his foot off the clutch. ‘I never really thought...
- Read more about Angel 17 (Wotsits)
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 289 reads
Angel 18 (portrait)
Pizza Face parked the car in a layby off the street, and at the end of the building. He clutched Angels hand and frog-marched her down the hill and...
- Read more about Angel 18 (portrait)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 236 reads
Angel 19 (bad dreams)
‘Jesus, that’s minging.’ Angel sat up in bed, her face had been pressed against the wall. Disoriented, not sure where she was, until she felt Pizza...
- Read more about Angel 19 (bad dreams)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 236 reads
Angel 20 (fizzing)
‘Did you hear Diana Dors died?’ Kimmie tried to make conversation. She was sitting on the couch in their flat in Partick, had a mug of tea in her...
- Read more about Angel 20 (fizzing)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 275 reads
Angel 21 (making a hash of it)
The tall cop kept a hold of Angel’s arm. Clean shaven with a bony boyish face it was difficult to tell what age he was, but with a dimple on his chin...
- Read more about Angel 21 (making a hash of it)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 260 reads
Angel 22 (time)
‘We can dae this the hard way, or we can dae this the easy way,’ said the stout officer doing the fingerprinting and he rifted. His breath smelled of...
- Read more about Angel 22 (time)
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 272 reads
Angel (change and charges)
Angel’s time had been taken up with crying and trying not to, when she had riches bestowed on her, a puff of a smoke—she had to bang on the door for...
- Read more about Angel (change and charges)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 325 reads
Angel 24 (Corton Vale)
‘How’ve you been?’ Karen stumbled and pressed her face against Angel’s neck and a male prison guard patrolling the passageways around the tables and...
- Read more about Angel 24 (Corton Vale)
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 406 reads
Angel 25 (prison time and design)
A wee boy held his brother’s hand. With intense concentration he guided a blue Dinky car up and down the curves of the chair and table as his family...
- Read more about Angel 25 (prison time and design)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 228 reads
Angel 26 (church and children)
Most of the prison jobs were taken, but Angel hoped to get something soon. She got free- association a few hours a day and out for meals, sitting at...
- Read more about Angel 26 (church and children)
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 231 reads
Angel 27 (tony and bruno)
Everything about prison quickly became routine and depressing. Visitors and visiting- time, bucked that trend and gave Angel a share of the communal...
- Read more about Angel 27 (tony and bruno)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 396 reads
Angel 28 (proposal)
Angel glanced around at the clock. There wasn’t a lot of time left. She took a deep breath and just came out with it. ‘I don’t know if you heard, but...
- Read more about Angel 28 (proposal)
- 2 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 213 reads
Angel 29 (amnesty)
Angel smiled when she saw Tony waiting for her in the visiting room. She wanted to hug him, but sat across from him grinning. ‘You came.’ ‘Aye,’ he...
- Read more about Angel 29 (amnesty)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 317 reads
Angel 30 (hard to say no)
Angel looked over and Tony followed her gaze. A kerfuffle in the corner of the room, close to where some kids were playing with a plastic Thomas the...
- Read more about Angel 30 (hard to say no)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 341 reads
Angel 31 (hard knocks)
Angel was shaking all over when she got back to the cell. She could feel her heart beating, her bones knocking together. Lisa had some crap on the...
- Read more about Angel 31 (hard knocks)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 243 reads
Angel 32 (causality)
Carol Anne’s hand reached into her jacket pocket for her tobacco tin. Her fumbling fingers had a hard time forcing the lid and anger flickered across...
- Read more about Angel 32 (causality)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 232 reads
Angel 33 (on report)
Angel didn’t see what happened to Carol Anne. Before he dashed away to use the phone Peter had taken her by the arm into one of the workrooms and...
- Read more about Angel 33 (on report)
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 371 reads
Angel 34 (Jonah)
Val made a point of meeting Angel outside her cell door after her meeting with the governor. ‘Some of the girls have been talking. C’mon back to mine...
- Read more about Angel 34 (Jonah)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 292 reads
Angel 35 (scan)
Angel had hoped her mum might have been at the baby scan. She’d written and told her and then she’d phoned to remind her. But Karen hadn’t turned up...
- Read more about Angel 35 (scan)
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 796 reads
Angel 36 (every picture)
Angel didn’t need a black cab to take her back to Corton Vale. Flying, she clutched the black-and-white, print-out of the twins, and studied it again...
- Read more about Angel 36 (every picture)
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 364 reads
Angel 37 (rift)
The screws weren’t in a good mood. Angel wasn’t sure what happened but the girls had kicked off because visiting time had been delayed and the time...
- Read more about Angel 37 (rift)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 228 reads
Angel 39 (returns)
‘You’ve another visitor’s request.’ Church stood in the door of the cell, with a slip of paper in her hand. ‘That’s great.’ Angel made her wait...
- Read more about Angel 39 (returns)
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 468 reads
Angel 40 (earrings)
Her shoulders dipped and she sighed, staring down at the table. ‘I’ve got to listen to most of the girls in here talking non-stop about what they’re...
- Read more about Angel 40 (earrings)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 417 reads
Angel 41 (Lisa's)
During visiting hours, when Angel was downstairs, staff had taken Lisa away. Her cellmate seemed so happy when they had burgers and chips for lunch,...
- Read more about Angel 41 (Lisa's)
- 10 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 547 reads
Angel 42 (return ticket)
While Mickey was out, scratching around looking for a bit of dope and visiting one of the other prisoners in their cell, Angel tried writing a letter...
- Read more about Angel 42 (return ticket)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 276 reads
Angel 43 (midwife)
Carla had been chatting, fag in her hand, the debris of breakfast on the table. Angel mentioned that she was to see the midwife that day. ‘Fuck sake...
- Read more about Angel 43 (midwife)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 305 reads
Angel 44 (birth)
The midwife made sporadic visits over the weeks and months and she’d told Angel there was nothing to worry about, which was worrying itself. Angel...
- Read more about Angel 44 (birth)
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 371 reads
Angel 45 (mercy)
Sunlight filtered through the vertical blinds, the room bright and airy, Angel yawned. The night-shift guard, who introduced herself as Sarah, was...
- Read more about Angel 45 (mercy)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 304 reads
Angel 46 (new ward)
Angel was moved by the nurses to a four-bed ward that smelled vaguely of disinfectant, pee and talcum powder. Her bed faced the double doors. She...
- Read more about Angel 46 (new ward)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 295 reads
Angel 47 (scrap)
Angel could see from her mum’s face that Karen was in huff when she spotted Pizza Face. Karen made a point of cuddling Lisa and kissing her wee face...
- Read more about Angel 47 (scrap)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 231 reads
Angel 49 (getting acquainted)
Angel heard the click of a switch from the room next to her and the bump and sound of a hoover. The twins didn’t notice, but it buoyed Angel, the...
- Read more about Angel 49 (getting acquainted)
- 6 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 284 reads
Angel 50 (dinner and dates)
After Angel fed the twins her nipples were chaffed, but she wanted to make sure they had settled. To distract herself, she picked up the remote and...
- Read more about Angel 50 (dinner and dates)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 224 reads
Angel 51 (good cop, bad cop)
Angel quickly established a routine with Lisa and Adam. They quickly established their own counter-routine which included staying up all night and...
- Read more about Angel 51 (good cop, bad cop)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 452 reads
Angel 52 (compromise)
‘There’s nothing as cruel as folk,’ muttered Angel, kissing the tops of the twin’s heads and hugging them tight to her breasts. They didn’t let up...
- Read more about Angel 52 (compromise)
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 357 reads
Angel 53 (baby-shaped hole)
When Angel woke it was still dark outside and, for a moment, she thought Jaz was coming to get her and she wondered where she was. It was the sounds...
- Read more about Angel 53 (baby-shaped hole)
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 353 reads
Angel 54 (new deal)
Angel heard the shuffle of feet coming up the stairs. She could still taste fried food in the air and the dank smell of unwashed kiddie clothing...
- Read more about Angel 54 (new deal)
- 8 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 388 reads
Angel 55 (advocate)
Angel’s mum had come to visit, but it hadn’t ended well. Stacey asked her to leave because Karen was blitzed and shouting abuse at anybody that came...
- Read more about Angel 55 (advocate)
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 467 reads
Angel 56 (old wounds)
Angel had kept in touch with Bruno by phoning him. They skittered around where Tony was like two drunks trying to find loose change to pay for a...
- Read more about Angel 56 (old wounds)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 339 reads
Angel 57 (Pizza Face and Tony)
Angel was late getting the twins dressed when Stacey came to tell her there was somebody on the phone. Adam clenched his fists like a boxer who was...
- Read more about Angel 57 (Pizza Face and Tony)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 235 reads
Angel 58 (cruel symmetry)
‘Coming,’ rasped Angel. Stacey hovered at the top of the stairs, but Angel heard her clumping away to her room when she answered. Outside a dog...
- Read more about Angel 58 (cruel symmetry)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 211 reads
Angel 59 (QC)
‘I’m not too worried,’ Angel, a slight edge in her voice, caught Stacey hurrying out of the kitchen with a folder in her hand. ‘But Lisa is beginning...
- Read more about Angel 59 (QC)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 237 reads
Angel 60 (Bruno's confession)
The following weeks were the longest Angel could remember. The twins were fractious with the sudden heatwave and didn’t sleep very well. One night...
- Read more about Angel 60 (Bruno's confession)
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 272 reads
Nanny Anna 2
Nanny Anna rifled through the cupboards for biscuits. She tended to stuff them into the back of the cupboard after she’d opened them and forgot about...
- Read more about Nanny Anna 2
- 7 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 245 reads
the butterfly bush
‘Explain to me how you came to drown?’ His dark eyes twinkled as he peered at her over round glasses that sat squinty on his broad face and a bush of...
- Read more about the butterfly bush
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 1562 reads
Drop Off
The phone goes and I answer it, ‘Come and get me. Come and get me, Coach,’ he says. Befuddled with sleep. Think it’s the work and I’ve slept in –...
- Read more about Drop Off
- 3 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 238 reads
Spaghettio
‘What’s this?’ Molly asked. Before Spaghettio had time to answer the phone rung, which was unusual, but not unknown as they were ‘courting’ as Molly’...
- Read more about Spaghettio
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 379 reads
good tears and bad.
I used to have the run of the house, said Nanny Anna. When I was wee I was always with my mammie’s mammie and she kept me right. I always got my own...
- Read more about good tears and bad.
- 9 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 597 reads
Visiting Time
The torso of the hanged man hovered about his bunk, a dark cloth hood over his head, his lower limbs appearing and disappearing into a grey misty...
- Read more about Visiting Time
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 199 reads
Lockclown
During lockclown, other people get bored. He never gets bored. It gives him more time to talk about his favourite subject— You know the type, we...
- Read more about Lockclown
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 112 reads
Tour de Falkirk
Bod, my wee brother, was still in lockdown mode, hoarding Digestive biscuits and t-bags, but he lived in Grangemouth and they’re used to that kind of...
- Read more about Tour de Falkirk
- 5 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 121 reads
Ramadan
I’m trying to find a piece of paper with the dates of Ramadan on it. The Muslim religious festival. For those of you that know me, you’d be right on...
- Read more about Ramadan
- 18 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 386 reads
creative writing for losers
Our creative writing class was full of the usual kind of beatific-faced losers. Most of them elderly. There was one girl with brown hair and bad skin...
- Read more about creative writing for losers
- 4 comments
- Log in to post comments
- 79 reads
Comments
A wise sentiment, indeed!
A wise sentiment, indeed!