We used to come here every day- now I come alone. The drought dried up most of our little swimming hole. But the bridge is still there. I stand as tall as I can and look out across the dry grass of the fields.

Life was never easy on this farm: we rose with the sun and worked till we were raw and sunburnt. But you made it bearable. You made me so happy. I love you so much.

I still remember when...

It’s warm in her room. That’s how X knows something is wrong. The heating hasn’t worked in her building for months, and the electricity has long since stopped flowing. She’s months behind on rent.

*

Y heads towards the flames, gripping the firehose. His team has been battling this blaze for nearly half an hour, but it’s just getting worse. Someone in a neighbouring building called in this apart...

The wind is howling with the force of all the ghosts of the sea. Gargantuan waves rise up and thunder down, threatening to drag the lighthouse and its lone occupant to the briny depths of the Atlantic. Anderson huddles down harder into his bed. The roof leaks copiously. In his dreams, he hears sirens singing.

“It’s w-way too cold to b-be out here,” Anderson mutters to himself as he closes the do...

I don’t remember arriving here. I must have, at some point, because I wasn’t born in this sprawling mansion, but in my memory what should be a line between my apartment routine and the country lifestyle I now lead is a complete blur.

I can’t even remember how long I’ve been here. Definitely since Easter, when the Nurses painted eggs and hid them across the grounds overnight. We had such fun hunt...

Released from the chains of her weak body, Ella’s spirit flies free. She’s sad to leave her family behind- steeped in their grief and sorrow as they are- but she knows it is time. Her life was short and riddled with disease, but now she will never feel pain again. She promises to their bowed heads that she’ll watch over them, along with grandma and cousin Julie.

*

Solomon is still bleeding as h...

It is quiet here.

Quiet but for the whalesong and distant crashing of waves miles above me.

Except for bubbles of air that fight the intense pressure to return to the surface.

It is dark here.

Dark but for the bioluminescent creatures of the deep that scuttle and hunt and float.

So dark that the sun shies away from us: it is darker than ink.

It is cold here.

Cold yet encapsulating and rea...

She is deadly

But sweet as hell

So enticing

Your heart will swell

Your pulse will race

You’ll go insane

She holds your tongue

Infects your brain

A purple flower

So delicate, soft

Juicy black berries

Your mind is aloft

A witch’s brew

A kingdom’s fall

Northup’s capture

She was there for all

Her darkness is matched

By your pupils’ dilation

She’s a strong love potion

If you’re up for liba...

5am

My eyes are open

6am

The door is open

7am

The road is open

8am

My mind is open

9am

I carry on going

10am

There’s no chance of slowing

11am

I’m awake to my growing

12pm

And I know that I’m glowing ...

The old man’s eyes flutter open as Jai enters the room. He doesn’t have much time left- it’s written on his face. His wrinkles and liver spots tell a story of a long and adventurous life that is now coming to an end. And what an end it is.

The bedside table is filled with get-well-soon cards that- short of a miracle- won’t do anything for the man’s health. Pink and yellow and baby blue images of...

The bright red sun has risen

with yellow rings of glory!

I look out of my bedroom window

to the bountiful fields before me.

My fulfilling farm work starts

each day, at the break of dawn.

By evening every cow is milked

and each sheep has been shorn.

The scent of fallen citrus

permeates the air.

This orchard is my sanctuary

and my problems disappear.

The henhouse clucks with morning joy

...