He didn’t return to the bomb-hole until Monday, a beautifully warm sunny day with a mild south-westerly wind, perfect for swimming. Alone, he plunged into the ice-cold water, crawling as far as the mass of tangled brambles, lichen petrified trees, bushes, covering the far bank. Treading water, he swivelled his body, breast stroking back to […]

‘Charming couple,’ said Jim. ‘You really think so?’ ‘I was being sarcastic. Actually, I think they’re a pair of drunken old sots and I didn’t care for the way he kept eying you up through those dreadful pebble glasses of his, dirty old pervert.’ It was the most expressive statement Jim had made since our […]

I am heavy with child. My breasts are swollen with milk, my abdomen fully distended. I slump on the wicker chair feeling my baby prod my stomach. My man marvels at how I push myself to the utter limits of my endurance to birth my miracle. Sure, he treasures me, and cherishes me, every single […]

She was stunning, the girl, petite with cascading auburn hair, parted down the centre, that reached as far as her waist, entrancing teak eyes, a cute snub nose, dry chapped lips, and a delightful smattering of moles around her dimpled cheeks. She wasn’t wearing make-up. Natural beauties like her seldom did, a quality that Richard […]

Helen hesitated, opened the lid, breathed, and there they were. Bright tall pink strong stalks. Her first forced rhubarb of the season. Reaching for it, she slid her hand along the firmest stalk until she felt the tender base, the bit where the stalk met rhizome, then pulled. Her fingers felt a thin wet jus […]