Each time she passes through the station, the same flow of thoughts: that film, the character saying that it was three stops from Charing Cross to Greenwich, Mike letting it bother him, Mike showing her the map in the back of his diary, her not caring, them arguing anyway. But today she isn’t passing through. Today Charing Cross is her… Read it
Tubeline - Bakerloo line
Water Wings
She ducks under the water, a pair of goggles revealing the rippling bodies beneath it. Rise, suck, duck, she bubbles along the bottom of the pool, propelled from the edge she pushed from, undulating like a stingray. She forces herself lower, as close to the tiles as possible, even though every atom of air in her body wills her to… Read it
The Lambeth Walk of Shame
It was that time of the morning. The commuters were making their way to work, shoppers were hitting the early morning January sales and I was just trying to make it home as fast as possible. My head was pounding and my cheeks flushed with the embarrassing recollection of last night. I had never even been to Lambeth before and… Read it
Circus Folk
It’s not in Oxford – it’s not a circus. All those people dressed in bright tartan trousers, they’re not clowns. They’ve just been to the nearby Golf Sale. You know, the Golf Sale. No one seems to know exactly where it is, it’s there somewhere. There’s always this guy on the street outside the station holding a big signboard with… Read it
The Eye of the Beholder
Anna ran a fingertip over the smooth quartzite cabochon in her palm. Her reflected face looked rounder on the stone’s convex meniscus, her eyes almost protuberant. Flecks of gold, caught in streaks of river-brown, winked in the weakening Sunday afternoon sunlight. She addressed the taciturn stallholder. “What’s your best price?” she asked, feigning mere half-interest. He surveyed her from behind darkened… Read it
Values Laid Bear
I alighted at Paddington station and bought a cookie from the stand. White chocolate and raspberry, crunchy and crumbly and casting delightful smells from its snug paper bag. Before I could walk and enjoy my treat I spied a teddy bear sitting alone and forgotten against a pillar and decided I would do my good deed and take him to… Read it
The Lovers
They kissed on the platform with absolute abandon as if the rest of the world did not exist. Commuters and tourists tutted, pushed and milled around, oblivious to the arrow that had pierced the lovers. Fate. Eros. Passionate love. Their souls and bodies now forever joined; the iron arrow connected them. It gave them both a wound that would never… Read it
A Great Escape
Once upon a time in Fibula Castle lived Princess Crystal. On Thursday morning in the east tower she asked her long-suffering maid Susanna “Is he here yet?” Susanna looked out of the narrow slit window for the eighth time that morning. “No, Your Highness.” Princess Crystal flopped onto the pile of satin cushions and re-read the message on her iPhone… Read it
Josephine & the Detective
At first, Josephine had suspected her pretty young dresser Maxine. Who could have blamed her? They were such beautiful creations; any girl might be tempted. But Maxine had beat her fists against the dressing room mirror and sobbed, protesting her innocence. A month later, three more exotic costumes went missing, including her famous banana outfit. Something had to be done.… Read it
In the Snake Pit
Key to staying alive in a snake pit is stillness. People who do it for religion or sport have learned to pare the repertoire of the animated entity down to its basics. They can only allow themselves the motion of breathing. Of seeing: in the snake pit, looking is a luxury. Now and again someone falls into the snake pit… Read it