“Yes, I’ll come in a minute,” Dominic said. He didn’t mind working from home, really. Not even on days when Rita wasn’t working. He didn’t really even mind looking after the baby. But it did interfere with work, sometimes. He continued typing – “the uplift in profits that can reasonably be expected from this management […]
Vengeance
Christine almost snapped the key in the door, her white knuckles clasped tightly round the keyring. “Vengeance is mine,” she whispered to the empty hall. “Saith me.” She picked up the two carrier bags and kicked the front door closed behind her. She went to the kitchen and picked up the wine glass she had […]
Killing Christmas
The soft lilt of the church bells in the distance provided my usual Sunday morning wake up call. I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, dressed slowly, made myself hot chocolate and sat in my chair in the window, looking at the frost outside. “It’s cold today, isn’t it?” she asked. I nodded. I […]
Reunion
Have you ever wanted anything so badly that it hurts? I don’t mean like when you were nine and the Care Bears were on sale and your parents wouldn’t buy you one for Christmas and you felt your life was over, I mean actual gut-wrenching sad; the kind of thing you cry every night for […]
Back (Our World, part 2)
This story is a sequel to the story Our World. It should be stand alone, but includes spoilers for the original story if you haven’t read it yet. As will happen for the remaining stories, the “behind the scenes” can be found at the end of those post… The mobile phone clattered into life, vibrating […]
Fake
From now on, I’m publishing the “Behind The Scenes” as part of the same post – you can read it at the bottom of the story. This happened ten years ago, maybe more. I was heading for the team leader role and was pretty much second in command on that – Lexi was just starting […]
Walking Home
I’m sick today. Not life-threateningly sick, just bad enough that I didn’t even want to get out of bed. So here is the story I wrote for the Story Guide podcast. If you want the “behind the scenes” on this one, you’ll just have to listen to the original episode, I’m afraid… It’s a hot […]
Chum
“What are these big fishes daddy?” The man followed the girl’s finger and looked at the board next to the tank. “They’re a kind of shark, darling, I think.” “What kind of shark?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “This one only tells us about rays – those big fishes that look like kites.” “Oh,” the […]
Disappeared
The screen door opened before the sheriff’s foot even hit the floor. Somewhere in the house, a dog barked. “Sheriff Nicholls,” Mrs Trotter nodded. She was thin, sunburned lines etched into her face. “Good afternoon Mrs Trotter.” He made a small wave with one hand and got out of the car. “What can I do […]
Our World
The nurse at the emergency room reception heard a woman grunt at her and looked up from the keyboard. “Can I help you?” she asked. “Helen Styles,” the woman said. “I believe you brought in my husband, Tom Styles?” “Let me look,” the nurse replied, and searched on the computer. Helen tutted, shifting her bag […]