He'd just managed to reach her before she departed through the exit of Terminal 3."Pete, what the hell are you doing? You will have missed your Edinburgh connection.""Look, Sam. A twelve hour long haul from LA to London with a total stranger. So, she's the best thing that has ever happened. That's it. Can't let … Continue reading LONG HAUL by Bob Ballard

A couple of old tissues, a polo mint, two rubber bands, a cinema ticket. Keys (garage? office? shed?). A biro (cracked), some sellotape. A business card from my husband’s agency: same address, different department, a woman’s name. When I phone, she calls my husband a lying bastard and says I’m to tell him he's never … Continue reading BETWEEN THE SOFA CUSHIONS by Mandy Wheeler

In my line of work, you lean into your senses. Benny’s laugh was too high pitched. Forced. “You with me?” I said. We’d been waiting fifteen minutes, welts on bare arms testimony to the mosquitos we couldn’t pinch in time. Our mark was still in the car. Shaking suspension and fogged-up windows told their own … Continue reading NOTHING WORSE THAN A HUMID NIGHT IN FLORIDA FOR A HIT by Cole Beauchamp

She followed each sign as told, her life a map of paths well-trodden by her ancestors. When she reached a fork, she paused. The right road bore familiar footprints, the left – unused. She hesitated, removed scuffed shoes, and stepped barefoot into the unknown.The paths ran parallel for a time, but foliage frustrated her progress. … Continue reading A FORK IN THE ROAD by Lesley Bungay

She’d never been what you’d call unwavering in her decision-making. Indecision, she’d convinced herself, was the last emotion before genius kicked in. Proper research and an ordered approach to the bigger choices in life were necessary; a prerequisite to a successful outcome. She looked again at her comprehensive list of pros and cons. They equated … Continue reading HEADS OR TAILS by Tim Kirton

I haven’t taken sugar in my coffee in fifteen years, I can’t drink it if someone puts sugar in it, or even worse one of those syrups people like so much. Fly buzzing around, always reminds of the South of France. I stare into the coffee, willing it to cool down. The first coffee of … Continue reading SUGAR IN COFFEE by R. D. Brown

Butterflies land their luring cobalt blue on wavering stems, bowing them beneath the shimmering sun. They flutter, hover, lift again as straightening blooms release them to the air. Like them, she vows to let temptation go, unbending to the broken promises and lies. She’ll set him free and cherish what she has, resist delusions of … Continue reading LETTING GO by Jackie Meekums-Hales

Rapunzel was 12 when her hair fell out — about the same time the witch locked her in the tower. Soon, her hands began to warp into fearsome talons, and her tongue stretched till it could dart chameleon-like from her window, to catch the food her captor left far below. However, with her mouth reshaped, … Continue reading WHO NEEDS PRINCES ANYWAY? by Sarah Barnett