My grandmother taught me the art of patience, guiding awkward childish fingers to draw a loop around a needle, keep going until too-tight, sweat-soaked wool became a square. Knit was the basic stitch, purl soon followed as we explored more complicated structures, more colourful and different designs until, together, we conjured up a rainbow from […]
Category: Prose
The Aroma of Dark Dreams
Without even a chink of light, I can find my way around your room to your bedside, drawn by your nightmares, the way they curl out of the open window and drift on the thermals of a summer night. I am the creature who smells your darkest thoughts, moving like a jaguar in the shadows. […]
Buzzard
It was one of those days when all I wanted to do was walk until my legs ached, the best way to clear my head of the pressures and worries that weighed it down. Solitude and fresh air were the only remedy, even on an exceptionally hot June day. I tugged on my straw hat, […]
Her First Spell
Isadora’s mother grasps her hands and smiles at her. ‘I know this is your first time, but everyone in the coven has been there, and we are here to support you’. Isadora looks around the circle, nods, picks up a handful of herbs and throws them into the cauldron. As she stirs, she recites under […]
Her Last Poem
The poet sits at her desk, chewing the end of a pen, mulling over her latest collection. Over the years, she has had some success with pamphlets and anthologies, but time has not been kind to her, and her sight is rapidly failing. This does not mean that she is considering giving up writing altogether, […]
Back from the Front
The war was over and railway stations in London were flooded with soldiers: the walking wounded, shell shocked and confused. After years in the trenches, it was commonplace to see young men dazzled by gas lights or cringing at a blast of steam from a train. I have waited every day, desperate to catch a […]
Not Forgotten
Mum sat in the twilight of her room, staring ahead, arthritic fingers twisted around themselves, trembling, lips moving but emitting no sound. ‘Hello Mum!’ I tried to be cheerful but there was no response, and I couldn’t read her expression in the gloom, so I switched on the standard lamp that stood next to her […]
Earth To Earth
It had all been a terrible mistake, getting involved with a man like Gary, but Mona was attracted to his earthiness, his dark, brooding looks, and his quietness. Most of the men she had known were uncomfortable with silence and had to fill it with inane chat, boasting and mansplaining. But Gary was different to […]
Bare November
Our coven is gathering in the forest, where trees are already bare, although holly bushes are covered with berries, and an abundance of mushrooms sprouts among trees. Samhain was well-attended, but at this gathering we’re welcoming a greater number of neophytes than previously. My teenage daughter, Stella, accompanies me, although a neophyte she is not. […]
Under My Umbrella
As days get shorter and colder, weather wetter and wilder, I’m back in the habit of packing an umbrella whenever I leave the house. Your father laughs at me. “You’ve a perfectly good raincoat with a hood,” he says. “Umbrellas are dangerous when crossing roads.” “So are hoods.” I kiss him goodbye and emerge into […]
writing in north norfolk 