“As usual, going in a more fun direction here”

Fred Arrendale couldn’t sleep. He was too alert, too conscious of things. He was lying there in the dark, in bed, in much the same way that people would wait for a train, staring at the sign above the platform- the one that read, “Train arriving in fourteen minutes.”

Fred was convinced of just that, that the train would arrive. When, after a t...

“Bit of a horror poem this one - couldn’t resist”

My name means purity and light,

Once I brought beauty and kindness into the world.

Then the mirror caught sight of me,

though it did not reflect the axe,

In another life I might have ducked that jealous blade,

I might have loved and been loved,

sevenfold,

I would have consumed the poison,

trick or no,

I would have endured the soft blus...

Steve Fairaday was awake, but there was precious little time left. It was now or never.

Reaching from beneath the bedclothes, he lifted his iPhone from its position on the floor.

Almost immediately the phone began to buzz, and ring.

Tapping the option for Stop, Steve turned off the alarm, and breathed a sigh of relief. His phone read 7:10am. _That could have been bad. Real ...

“I want to feel…” Hap Jules waved his hands in the air, in a sort of ‘it is what it is’ gesture.

“Anger,” He finished.

“Why would you want that? Asked Zerafina Dimes, nonchalantly.

Confusion and shock - much like hatred - were emotions reserved only for the select few, requiring permissions at the highest level.

Hap leaned back against one of the blue and yel...

Tiffany Hardstrom was racing through the dark.

Her brown locks whipped about her face. One hand pulled at the silk folds of her yellow muslin dress, uncovering an ivory stocking. The other gripped tightly at the black hinge of an oustretched lantern. The grass beneath her feet had a sickly yellow tinge, a result of the lantern’s rays. Tiffany was running-running in desperation.

“Lill...

Every day, Damien looked forward to the morning’s bus journey. For those thirty to thirty five minutes on the way to school, he would put his earphones in, turn on the music, and withdraw into another world.

The practice had started long before. As a youngster, his mum and aunt liked to take him shopping in the local town. That was where he discovered HMV, the music retailer. Black shelves ...

Sunlight streamed from the east, painting golden corridors between the many white and wooden panelled buildings of the monastery. Lying prostrate at the bottom of some steps, a black cat waved its tail, lazily drawing circles in the air. In the plaza nearby, ranks of young men dressed in burgundy robes could be seen moving back and forth, practicing martial arts movements. Above them, the gentle s...

1

Throwing one leg over, Sir Cedric Gain descended from his horse with practiced ease. In the sun’s early morning rays, he cut an impressive figure. His armor was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, intricately engraved with patterns of vines and heraldic symbols. In one of his gauntleted hands he held a great helm. Scabbarded at his side was a longsword, ready to be drawn at a moment’s noti...

“Witch,” they called her.

“Crone! Sorceress! Hag!

All and sundry was thrown at her. Turnips, carrots, potatoes, even a leek - who knew they could hurt so bad! Once she was driven out of the village, she thought that things might calm down. She was on her own. There was no one for miles. It’ll be a hard life, but I’ll manage, she thought._ _Then the trees had started talking to her.

...

This was the last time she would tread this path, the last time she would be her. She had come here as a child with her father. The roses fascinated her. A memory came to her then, her father’s warning. How appropriate that it should come today of all days.

“You mustn’t touch the stems child.”

“But why daddy?

At this last question, her father beckoned to

a bench, and they sat down. Pu...