When Lizzy stabbed my grandfather I was not fazed enough to leave her. In fact, I somehow did the math to work out so that my willingness to dismiss her actions would force us closer together. Of course, this was not the case, but what else could one do? Perhaps if he had died I…
Tag: Short Story
A Shallow Grave
Mildred decided that she wanted to be buried alive. The grave was shaped to her body, but just before getting in she had second thoughts and for one awful moment considered the possibility that she was making a big mistake. Nonetheless she lay down with her arms folded on her breast and closed her eyes,…
The Idea Groves
They rush into the chippie in the woozy rum hours after 3am, the hours of Formica and kebabs. They gather armfuls of greaseproof paper, pungent and vinegary, with small, scrabbled hands. Wee anteater hipsters, foraging. They resemble bug-eyed thyroid kids, expressions as huge as fists. Undoubtedly, their nails are dirty and feet unclean. They reek…
Second Coming
Hyde Park is mined. There’s barbed wire on The Strand. Snipers line up London Bridge and watch the Underground. Through the miracle of modern genetics Christ the Redeemer is back on Earth to save us from ourselves. From the brown curly lock, locked around the Papal neck, we managed to grow Jesus in a tube….
Crows
I glanced back into our pickup’s bed. Light was fading, and I couldn’t fight the urge. Don’t, my father said. An unanchored end of our tarp rippled beneath the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Hammond. The Hammonds had worked the land alongside ours for five generations. Mrs. Hammond sang first soprano in the church choir….