bonfire skeleton

She looked among the charred wet remains. The blackened circle surrounded by damp sand. Green glass, melted, deformed, twisted into abstraction lay buried in part under the ash. She saw no smoke but she smelled the memory of it. Her fingers ran through her hair and grains of sand fell free, their landing a whisper. [...]

an old road

He slings the handles of the duffel bag over his shoulder and slips on his headphones. The sky hangs low but it’s dry and mild. There’s no breeze, for a change. He pulls his hat down low and turns the volume up a little. The ripples lap the harbour walls but he doesn’t hear them. [...]

crunch and slip

The sound of the snow pleased her. It crunched and it squeaked at the end of every step. Her boots slipped a little as they compacted the fresh powder. For each of those precarious split-seconds her heart jumped. Just a little. There wasn’t any real danger. Just that momentary slip – an inch or so, [...]

quiet sea

Sometimes he felt the sea too quiet. It lapped the butterscotch sand with a soft whisper next to him. He closed his eyes and the whisper gave no hint as to the vastness of it. His feet sank slightly. Cool damp seeped through his trainers. He clenched his toes against the cold and opened his [...]

walk away

He placed his empty pint glass on the bar and watched for a moment as the foamy remains of the head slipped down the glass and collected in the bottom. A nod at the barman. A thanks, a short one.
The bar filled up. The regulars sifting through the awkward doors and taking their usual [...]

wedding chat

She was beautiful.
She was crying.
But it was the middle wedding, so I sort of brushed it off as such.
I was a bit drunk, so I’m not sure I remember her name.
In fact, I don’t.
But we had a lovely chat.
She was too lovely to be that upset at such a great party, and I told [...]

listening. soon.

He listened as he walked.
Hands shoved into his pockets.
Scarf wrapped tight.
Sepia lights cast
spiderweb shadows of
bare and skeletal
trees.
The whispers in the dark echoed.
Words unspoken.
Unwritten.
For now.

pub chat ii

She made her way back through the rapt crowd. They stared at the televisions suspended from the ceiling.
She stared at him. Her fingers flicked as she took her seat again. Her hair fell again. She cursed and pushed it behind her ear.
‘Fucking smoking ban.’
He rolled his eyes. She was already fiddling with another cigarette. [...]

on toast

He didn’t mind the rain. It peppered him, the tiny droplets settling and disappearing into the fabric of his shirt. He noticed it. He tried feel each individual drop as it landed on his head. Not to count, but to give each one its due. It occurred to him for a moment to seek shelter. [...]

pub chat

‘So.’
‘Yeah.’
‘So what’d she say?’
‘She said she’d think about it.’
He drank his pint and fiddled with the beer mat, spinning it on its corner. Everyone else’s eyes were stuck to the television. It was some manner of football final, he thought.
She didn’t touch her beer. Her hands lay on the table, her long fingers splayed [...]