Grandfathers

Non-Fiction /

Two grandfathers. One tall, straight, cheerful. Always sunny. One, short, slumped, slightly mournful, slightly sad. They had both been through the War.

The tall one pulled his comrades out of the water when the landing craft beached at Normandy, dragged a few of the drowning and wounded up the beach at Normandy through a hail of bullets. This one came back to work at Watneys, but never drank. Retirement was never enough, he got a job at Tescos in the Arndale; talk to anyone, friends with anyone. The hospital screwed up and he died young at sixty-two. …

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An Early Memory

Non-Fiction /

The trouble with an early memory is knowing where it begins. What is actual memory, something concrete, real, beyond just disconnected images and impressions?

One of my earliest memories dates from perhaps three years old. My mother pushed me along in a buggy, down a hilly, grey London street near where we lived then.  The buggy’s rain hood pulled up left me deeply sheltered not just to the elements but most of the world beyond. My mother stopped, in conversation with a woman. A friend, by their tone. Much of the conversation was about me, but didn’t involve me. Under the rain hood, I was completely unable to contribute. …

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Opinion: Write Something, Write Anything [Guest Post]

Opinion /

Opinion: Write Something, Write AnythingHave you ever sat there, thinking “I wish I could write?” Not “I wish I could write like [Joe Schmo] or anyone in particular, just “I wish I could write.” I think you can. I don’t mean ‘the one novel that’s in all of us.’ Believe me, I’ve read a lot of those. It’s not true.

But you can write something. An opinion? Opinions are good. We all have them. Done something technical? What about a how-to, or a review? Maybe a poem? A haiku in response to Eric Schmidt? Go ahead, learn a new art-form… …

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BBC9: In the Closet

Fiction /

BBC9: In the Closet“You’re listening to BBC Radio 9, Night-time and we’re in the Closet. Thats the musical special-interest closet for all you fans of indie hardcore, grunge, guitar, mixed core, fruit-and-nut, hub-cap and community disco; be it on download, CD, vinyl, 78, 45, 33 and a third, 38-26-34, Arsenal-Brentford one-nil, 911-assist or the vuvuzela. …

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Bella Star

Fiction /

Bella StarFrom the observation deck, the star seems only a little brighter than usual.

Through the polarised filters and shielding, close enough to touch, filling the entire space. Safe. Comforting.

Unlike the truth of it. The destructive power of it; awesome, in its’ true meaning. …

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The Western Gate

Fiction /

The Western GateI believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible-

Anjuron was thankful for the descending darkness as he made his way through Jerusalem’s streets, as the guards set the few Moslem prisoners to clearing the dead, washing away two days of blood. …

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