Someone had let loose a ripe one. The air was thick with it. I looked out over the chaos and sighed, then set to work searching through the bodies for the culprit. “Whose child is this one?” I called out, swinging the offender through the air by his armpits, steaming buttocks as far from my … Continue reading Ella’s Party
“Sherbet fountains.” “Liquorice bootlaces.” “Pear drops.” “Ooh, Black Jacks.” “Candy necklaces! Yay, I love these.” “No, look, gobstoppers!” The wide-eyed children turned as one to the sudden celebrity who’d located the ultimate lolly. A scramble in the aisles became a traffic jam at the retro shelves, and the owner of the new Lucky Sweet Emporium … Continue reading Sweet Shop
There was a dead cat in the washing machine. One surprised emerald eye stared out of the mangled, inverted face. Matted black fur speckled with dirty dried suds covered its other eye, and its absurd pink tongue lolled heavily out of its mouth. What the hell? I stepped a little closer to the partially open … Continue reading The Imp
The ancient mariner’s face was as scratched and weather-worn as the inn’s façade, like a creature fabricated from the building itself. Ink-stained skin hinted of stories both exotic and hazardous, of a life well-lived in the arms of his favourite mistress, the sea. From my perch I beckoned the gnarled innkeeper for a second ale, … Continue reading The Fisherman
EMMA LOUISE GILL 