This is the intro and first chapter into a longish short story I'm currently working on.  More to follow...

 

Lying in the grass

Near the shady trees

I hear a voice from the dark

Calling out to me

It sounds like my death

 

Written in a bubble above an image of a young lad lying in a grassy field, this image, covering a whole page, intrigued the boy as he read it because he was doing exactly the same thing.  In the picture, there were woods behind the ...

This one is dedicated and inspired by my friend Roy Levosh.  You put the idea in my head about being in the chair, under the gun, getting a tattoo.  But in writing this, I realised it is also a great little analogy for what we do in the name of getting and staying fit.  Hope you enjoy it.

 

Today it hurt,

As it will tomorrow.

Pain is our bodies way

Of saying,

 

“Enough is enough!

Time to take it easy.”

 

But sometimes pain ...

I love the days of me and my girlIn the sun watching clouds unfurlOr on the couch watch a favoured movieLaughing and loving being togetherly I love the nights of my and my girlPlaying the bend and stretch and curlFeeling the love between our skinLetting the cooling sweat soak in I love the mornings of me and my girlBedsheets and hair turned in a whirlDizzy with dreams had of each otherOf enchanted lands, lives and lovers I love these times of me and my girlThe seconds, minutes, ho...

The world is out there

But this room is a comfort

The box glow keeps me warm

And I feel safe here, inside

Pictures from out there

Make me paranoid, checking the doors

I don’t want anything in here

Giving rise to my insecurities

 

So don’t come knocking

Cause I won’t answer

I might say I’m going away

But do I really mean it?

 

My world is encapsulated

In the cotton wool of possessions

Too much is never enough

To ...

Try as I might, I have been finding it particularly difficult to rise to the latest JUWC challenge. The fact that both Tova and Roy have done such particularly good jobs with theirs has left me bereft of ideas. Every time I try to start something, it evolves into a very poor second to Tova’s wonderful entry.

But the words she chose are absolutely fantastic. Some of them I’d heard of before and had even added to my vocabulary (such as rive, odious and usurp). Others I’d read ...

Beauty like a vacuum

Sucks the breath out of me

I can't look at her

She's too bright to see

Tangled dark on her head

It's a sweet abyss

I'm captured forever by her

Brilliant, radiant bliss

 

Beauty like a dagger

Piercing my skin

Etched in the flesh of my heart

A tattoo of my sin

I can barely see her

She's a flashing star

I'm caught in her gravity

Destined to circle her from afar

 

Beauty like a parade

Dazzling pageantry

I ca...

This is just a rambling little update for friends and anyone else who might stop by.

In the Pink:

As some of you know, I’ve been bitten by the exercise bug recently. Having successfully given up smoking and feeling so much better because of it, I went the whole hog and joined a gym. I’m pleased to say that not only has this been a particularly pleasurable experience, despite the muscle soreness, but I’ve also achieved a couple of things in fairly quick time.

First of a...

Here is this little narrative, trying to push beyond the here and now, whatever the heck they are. My here and now, sitting in front of this keyboard, typing this very sentence is so utterly different to the here and now you might be in while reading this, neither of us could begin to understand the differences. To be honest, I sometimes wonder why we bother. Yet I want to be able to step beyond these places, even step between them. Maybe this is where peace lies. Maybe writing this will al...

Inspired by both DeathbyBeebles and Tova (and at both Tova and UDig's insistence), here is the next challenge for the JU Writers Club.

The idea is to write a story in 6 words.  I know it sounds like a hard thing to do (and believe me, it is).  But not everything challenging is easy.  If you want to see a few good examples, check out Beeble's post here:

http://deathbybeebles.joeuser.com/article/308581/My_Six_Word_Story

It is a tough exercise, no doubt.  But here is fa...

Be not afraid of growing slowly, Be afraid only of standing still.” - Chinese Proverb Yep, almost says it all, this does.  But I’m going to elaborate anyway.  I call this Bonsai logic.  Bear with me while I explain. Everyone knows what Bonsai is, right?  It is a tree, usually, where it’s growth has been deliberately stunted.  The plants are usually grown in pots and are shaped by pruning and wiring branches.  What this hobby requires...

She woke with a start, shook the remains of the dream she was having and habitually reached out and touched the wall. It felt warm. She sat up in the cot, looking across the annex to the kid’s empty beds.

Groaning to herself, she swung her legs off the cot and stood, stretching up until she felt her back click. As she walked across the room, she rolled her head from side to side and then rolled her shoulders. She felt a little better for the light stretches.

The kitchen bay was empty...

Hopefully, this will stimulate everyone’s imaginations. Some of my favourite stories are those that appear to be a glimpse into the future. Not necessarily science fiction as such, more almost alternate realities.

For instance, you could rewrite an historic event from the perspective of here and now or perhaps a piece set in a future where, for instance, water has become more precious than gold. You could write a poem or a play about a typical day living in the 22nd Century. It really i...