Theo wound up his enthusiastic description of his employer with the emphatic, “He is a veritable prince among men.” Silence. And not of the awed variety. Eventually, one of the older men at the table in the corner said. “You’re not from round here are ya.” Theo’s face – never good at hiding his thoughts …
Myrah hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on her brother’s marriage proposal, she’d been snipping flowers for the vase in Mother’s sitting room and found some lovely late-blooming roses behind the bower. She was bent over, coaxing a particularly reclusive flower from behind its thorny guards when voices had hit her from the raised floor of the …
“Dad, Dad, Dad! What’s brown and sticky?” Damian wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. “I don’t know, what?” “A stick!” Emily flopped into the armchair, giggling at her own joke. That actually a pretty good one, definitely better than yesterday’s. He chuckled. “Nice, I’ll have to remember that, tell the guys at work.” …
It was all well and good to have a home up the hill. The views were lovely and there was none of the worry about flooding the valley people had, but did the damn hill have to be so steep? Justine re-gripped the shopping bags and kept going. “Alright then?” Ergh, not young Marcus McShea. …
It had taken a week of solid work – every evening after dinner – but it was finally done. It was beautiful. A proper display cupboard for the Collectors’ Edition dolls she’d been buying for years. She’d already had the cupboard, a lovely glass-fronted antique. It had just needed some decoration, to put each of …
The leaves on the palm trees outside his hotel window waved mockingly on the afternoon breeze. ‘Here you are in paradise’ they seemed to say, ‘but all you can do is pace about your too-large-for-one hotel room, talk on your phone, and tap on your computer.’ And the room was too large for one person, …
“If that’s an egg, I’m a gargoyle.” “Well you’d better climb up on the roof then, because it is.” “It’s the size of my torso and made of copper. Look at the tarnish marks from where the water’s dripped on it.” “So? It’s still an egg.” “Fine, it’s a pretend egg. “Why would someone create …
“Most medicines can be as harmful as they are healing. It’s all to do with the affliction, the dosage, and the patient.” Nadira knew it was important to remember the two-sided nature of the cures they created, but did Healer Mentor Fong have to start every single lesson with it? And usually finish with it …
Georgina looked at the diagram on the table. Leonard was clearly very proud of it, pity it looked like nothing so much as a square plate of spaghetti and meatballs. “So this is the layout for the ball.” Leonard puffed his chest out. “Yes. The door is there.” He pointed to one side of the …
“You have to, you’re doing your Leaver’s presentation this week.” “Which is why I’m not going. What am I going to tell them? That I’m going to spend my future career pushing a broom around my Mum’s coffee shop?” Janet rolled her eyes, then propped one hip on the desk in front of mine, arms …
The DNA of Stories 