Psycho – Written by Isabel Joely Black

There’s a man behind me. I think he’s following me. It’s Friday night, and I’m going to get a proper fish supper from the chippy near my friend’s house. I can’t believe how cold it is, walking along the back streets. It’s only a five minute walk. But you know how it is when it’s [...]

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Clock – Written by Dom Conlon

The first time Billy-o saw a clock he was baffled. He understood numbers of course. And he understood counting. Billy-o’s grandmother had counted all kinds of things as she made soups for them in their large, stone-clad kitchen. “Thirty-three stirs of the onions and carrots, Billy-o” she’d say, “eighty-seven stirs of the stock. Clean the [...]

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Ride – Written by David Stedman

Arjan held out a bottle. ​‘Ready for one?’ ​‘Yeah.’ ​He forced its lid off using his lighter — one of his favourite tricks — and pressed it into my hand. His knuckles were rough, the beer was cold. We were sat near the canal bridge, at the edge of town, our Saturday meeting place. The [...]

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2nd Violin – Written by Tom Mason

Her voice could raze cathedrals to the ground. On the first night, her soaring Italian crotchets rattled the windows of the church down the road. The spire shook in the gale while the stained-glass saints gripped their multicoloured relics and prayed. Stone and sand trembled in her presence. So what chance did a romantic fool [...]

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WFH – Written by Dom Conlon

Satan sits in the kitchen and pours itself another cup of tea. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that sir. You’re not the first to have raised the issue and it looks like you won’t be the last so the best we can do at this stage is to say we will look into it. [...]

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A Painted Smile – Written by Kevin Edwards

Young Jack had enjoyed himself. With the rest of the crowd he slowly filed out of the Big Top, passing as he did a craggy greased painted face, oily black tears stained one cheek. ‘Thank you, please’ it muttered, handing Jack a small silver envelope. The boy slid it into his pocket for safe keeping. [...]

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Stardust – Written by Larner Caleb

Over two millennia in the making. No one on Earth believed in fairies anymore. Save innocent children. And in the grand scheme, maybe a few skinheaded homophobes. But that was the very point. The time to end this very human emotion was long overdue. The fairies had done an outstanding job of staying undetected. Each [...]

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