I wake at half past three, unsure whether to lie still and listen to the sounds of the outside world beginning to rouse, or get up, drink a mug of tea and go for a walk. I choose the latter. The tea steams while I pull on some warm clothes and boots. I take several […]
Category: Prose
A Halloween Affair
We meet on the edge of dusk as the moon starts to rise, its misty light highlighting the lacy stonework of the church tower and the shadow of its silent bell. Eleanor leads me through graves blotched with moss and lichen that over hundreds of years have erased the inscriptions and life stories of the […]
Voice
I close the cottage door with a soft click and turn onto the road that leads past cottages and bungalows. The smell of hot earth and sun-scorched hay stubble settles over the village’s fields and lanes, where wilting scarlet poppies congregate. Before the small hump-backed bridge, I turn right, feel prickles of dry grass through […]
Ogden’s Extraordinary Emporium Episode 2
We waited until our evening meal was over, when Miss Pecksniff nodded off by the fireplace in her room, and then, warmly dressed in our outdoor clothes, left by the servants’ entrance. I locked the door and placed the key in my reticule. Bella and I clasped gloved hands and set off through wisps of […]
Ogden’s Extraordinary Emporium Episode 1
A sheet of printed paper landed at our feet, swept along with the autumn leaves by our governess’s skirt. Isabella – she preferred Bella – picked it up and read: ‘OGDEN’S EXTRAORDINARY EMPORIUM – ONE NIGHT ONLY’. The spidery black words filled us with anticipation. The address was not far from the house where we […]
Snow Globe Episode 11
Rosanna found a job editing with a British publisher and worked mainly from home. Mrs Allen stayed on and they became close friends, feeding off each other’s stories about Will. Sabrina visited every day and encouraged Rosanna to accompany her to coffee mornings with a group of friends, and soon she felt ready to tackle […]
Snow Globe Episode 10
The house was eerily quiet, except for the faint clatter of cups and plates as Mrs Allen set the table in the kitchen. It was warmer and cosier there, full of the love and sympathy of the only people who seemed to care about her. She did not make it to the undertaker’s; she broke […]
Singing in Space
Earth has been dead for a century, and all humans with it. Or so we believe. All that is left of the final expedition is our colony of souls on Mars. Only mouths are we. Who sings the distant heart which safely exists in the centre of all things? That is the question we ask […]
Snow Globe Episode 9
It was Mitch who booked her flight, packed her bags, and drove her to the airport. He arranged for Sabrina to collect her at Heathrow and promised to call every day. He organised a flight attendant to accompany her on the plane, and the kindly woman ensured that Rosanna ate and drank, and that she […]
Snow Globe Episode 8
For several days, things seemed to be back to normal. They ate breakfast and dinner together and Mitch even met her for lunch once. Rosanna felt a chill around him, a barrier that stopped her from reaching out to him or kissing him. The weather changed and she noticed a haze of little green buds […]
writing in north norfolk 