Footsized by Sarah Peploe Her breasts hurt with milk, still. They’re heavy. They leak sometimes, dark and obvious through her dress. She is behind with the washing. Her big girl who is nearly seven has been helping, and her sister…
Eleanor’s Last
Eleanor’s Last by Nuala O’Connor Thrice, after my birthing years were ended, a babe grew under my apron. Thrice I bled them out. ‘Chew birch bark, Eleanor,’ Mother said when I mentioned I was expectant on the first of them.…
Estelle
Estelle by Sheila Scott ‘It was on the clipboard at the last check.’ The commander pulled open a small drawer beneath the seats and rifled through its contents, sending odd items drifting into the air around them. A camera swung…
A Pot of Usefulness
A Pot of Usefulness by Jane Lomas ‘D’you fancy a cuppa, love?’ Bill calls from the back door. He takes the battered, tannin-patinated pot from the shelf: a leaving present from the lads. He’d worked at the steelworks since he…
Frau Roentgen’s Left Hand
Frau Roentgen’s Left Hand by Anita Goveas The thumb is indistinct, mid-sized and slender. If it were a tree limb, it would reveal I was fifty years old. It can’t sense I have twenty-eight years before I die of intestinal…
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune by Nick Black Oh yeah, life’s been nothing but sweet for Jasper since he invented that flat round rolling thing of his. He has respect from the elders. A cave higher up the cliff, further away from…
A Long Way Away
A Long Way Away by Diane Simmons Dear Mummy and Daddy It is realy horrible here. The journey took AGES and AGES and I blubbed and the lady took my pear drops away so I didn’t choke. Visiting is…
Three Hundred and Eighty Five Yards
Three Hundred and Eighty Five Yards by Rob Walton Some say Conan Doyle is only here because the organisers offered him a good seat to watch the athletics. Others say he is here on behalf of the Daily Mail. I…
On The Ethics of Book Burning
On The Ethics of Book Burning by Nick Lord Lancaster These are the facts of the matter. The warehouse fire was entirely accidental. I don’t know the cause of it; I’m not privy to that level of information. My role…
Balm
Balm by Charmaine Wilkerson “Tiger Balm!” she screeched, right there in Aisle Nine. “Ti-ger Ba-alm!” “What? What?” her son said, with that down-curved oh-shape that his mouth took on when he was annoyed. He wouldn’t understand. She couldn’t expect him…