Four Sentence Stories (Part 2)

30/04/202001/05/2020 Sketched TextLeave a comment

I never know what to do when someone is singing me happy birthday. It’s why I never tell anyone when my birthday is. It’s also why I make sure I’m home alone all day.

So I refuse to open my eyes as I hear someone singing above my bed, leaning in closer and closer.

After my daughter woke my up for the third night in a row, I was getting near the end of my tether. After she stopped babbling about the man at the window, I finally convinced her to let me tuck her back into bed.

When she finally settled, I opened her window for some fresh air and saw a figure on the street, smiling far too widely. As it turns to walk away on limbs that don’t quite bend right, I lean out and find my hands resting on scratch marks on the window frame of my fifth floor apartment.

I never got over the death of my twin sister. My parents seemed to move on quickly, they always said that they were just happy to still have me.

I miss Jennifer.

I miss being called by name and I hate that I had to move into her old room and wear her old clothes.

Five Sentence Stories (Part 2)

27/04/2020 Sketched TextLeave a comment

Richard had always dreamed of visiting this cathedral.

He had never heard of it before, but standing before it he realised that it was the same cathedral he had visited in his dreams throughout his entire life.

As he stared at the building, the eyes of the gargoyles seemed to watch him intently and as he circled it, their heads turned to follow him. Finally he found an empty platform, the gargoyle beside it extending its arm downwards towards him.

If the tour guide that passed that spot ten minutes later noticed the new gargoyle, he didn’t include it in his speech.

I think I was just born.

There are people standing around me talking, but I don’t understand them yet. I hope they like me.

It takes a few seconds, but I start to understand some of what they are saying. “Artificial intelligence” “six years” “project funding” “Shut d-“

It was a shock when I woke up to find a set of footprints in the snow leading to my front door. What was worse was that they clearly spent some time pacing near the door, before heading towards the window to the laundry at the back of the house. Fortunately I had awoken in the middle of the night and it didn’t appear they had been hiding in the laundry for very long.

Quietly stalking my hallway, I held the already bloody knife tightly. I had already taken this home for myself to get out of the cold and no one was going to take it from me.

Two Sentence Stories (Part 6)

22/04/2020 Sketched TextLeave a comment

The grown woman standing before us smiled as she told us that she was our long-lost daughter, who had finally found us after reading about our success online. I welcomed her into the house quickly while my husband started looking online for immediate-effect life insurance policies again.

It didn’t take us long to realise that the tide wasn’t coming back in. We chased the water through sand, rock and coral and over the corpses of suffocated sea creatures, right up until the edge of the endless hole.

I can feel my cat kneading my stomach with her claws as she takes advantage of my sleep paralysis. I keep my eyes shut to avoid hallucinations and squeeze them more tightly when I hear my cat scratching on the outside of my door.

Lost Souls

13/12/2018 Sketched TextLeave a comment

I recently received my copies of Lost Souls, a collection of short stories published by Flame Tree Publishing.

This book features my first published story, Shut-In. I was absolutely shocked when I received the email to tell me it was accepted. Opening that email and almost crying as my boyfriend held the bag I shoved into his arms is a fantastic memory for me. Maybe not for him. He thought someone had died.

It’s a beautiful book, although the shine makes it difficult to photograph

It is a beautiful book, and I am in incredible company

Routine

30/10/201830/10/2018 Sketched TextLeave a comment

Every day I follow the same routine.

It’s not a compulsion, I just see no need to change it.

I wake at 7:30, am showered and dressed by 8, and I’ve eaten and left by 8:15am. I arrive at my job at 8:50 and work from 9 to 1, when I break for lunch. I eat in the break room and make small talk with my co-workers. At 2 I resume my work, taking a 3:30 tea break. I leave the office at 5:10 and am home at 6. My work isn’t rewarding, but it is steady and my co-workers are nice enough. At the end of each day I return to my home where I live alone, with no one to interrupt my preferred way of doing things.

This routine was followed precisely for years before I noticed that I was even doing it. One morning as I was leaving the house, I was struck by a feeling of absolute panic. It was as though my stomach was at once hollow and filled with immense weight.

It was 8:16 and I have never run faster in my life than I did to catch that bus.

Two Sentence Stories (Part 5)

29/10/201829/10/2018 Sketched TextLeave a comment

I have spent months in this ship, drilling towards the centre of the earth in absolute isolation. I tried to ignore the screaming and the banging on the sides at first, but now I can hear my father whispering how he really died.

I had heard the saying that if you love sausage you should never find out what it’s made of, and that is very true for the new butcher shop in town. However what disturbs me more than finding out what the ingredient is, is just how happy I am to keep eating there, particularly with an employee discount.

As I stand frozen, I can hear growling and the pacing of monstrous claws on the other side of my front door. I was so sure I’d remembered to lock it this morning, after I’d kissed my children goodbye and promised them I’d be back once I’d gathered enough food.

Four Hour Painting

29/10/2018 Sketched TextLeave a comment

I forgot how hard it is to get clear lines with fresh oils

This painting took about four hours to finish. It’s been a long time since I painted, and while I’m happy with certain elements, I definitely need more practice