#42 Condemned
You’ve read the news, you’ve seen the condemning headlines and you’ve watched my face on your television screen. Yes, yes, I know, and what I did was truly…
#40 Legend of the K'Tea Tribe
In an old cave atop an old mountain, there once lived a tribe so powerful that they kept control of the lands around them for seven hundred years. Over the…
Twelve
“There’s a needle. There’s a God damned needle in him!” Katya screamed. She jumped away from the dead man, her blond hair flailing in front of her. “Where we…
Thirteen
“You don’t deserve to be here,” Liz, a hippy from Liverpool, spat on the loafers on a suited man. “We should just throw you out there to die, Gates.” Bill…
Fourteen
A darkness covered the whole of the Earth’s land, and the last of the survivors huddled in the air-tight bunker. Jeremiah was handing out dried food whilst…
#41 Mascara Motorway
A tear slid over the beige of my face, peeling off the foundation beneath. It was followed by another, and another, until the trail of the first tear seemed…
#38 New Angel
When my brother was diagnosed with ALS, he didn’t cry. Everyone else seemed to, but he didn’t, and so I didn’t, because someone had to be strong for him. In…
#37 Trouble
It was so quiet in the van. By the time the doors opened again I had started to convince myself that the woman was right and that we would die in the stifling…
#36 The Eastern Gnome Institute
This was my chance. Gnomeregan U was behind me. Now was my chance to really become someone: a gnome really worth noticing. Now, I could leave the abuse from…
Competition
I shouldn’t be obsessed with trying to compete with them, trying to out-PDA them with Warren, but I can’t help but feel inadequate in my relationship. We’ve…
#35 Waiting
Standing at the platform, a small sports bag warming my bare feet. There’s a train ticket in my left hand, a bloodied stiletto heel in my right and something…
Moving Scene
I was woken by rough hands, the air full of screams. Just five more minutes, my head seemed to say, somehow unaware of the situation. When I didn’t move the…
#34 Guilt
“I’m not pushing, only...” I struggled for a reason. “because I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later.” I placed my hand on top of hers and smiled…
Tarquin [Oz]
Tarquin, the munchkin receptionist, had heard of the Lion, but never before seen him. He had built himself up to become a lion of such stature and such muscle…
Dorothy
Crouched over a small jar of ash - labelled “Toto” - sat a fragile old woman. Her white pigtailed hair reflected the candle-light, and her blue plaid dress had…
Powerless
“Oh, shit.” The plane was completely off course. “United 93, come in,” Ted yelled into his headset. “United 93?” “They’ve been hijacked, Ted,” Flight Commander…
#33 Everlasting Peace
Mind, the Middle East at the moment is a terrible tangle, isn’t it? Nobody seems to know what to do. I don’t know why they don’t just take the three main holy…
The Scarecrow
On a small wooden chair, next to an ochre table, a rag-doll had folded over at the waist, clad in rags from head to toe bar the straw hat upon his head and the…
The Tin Man
The Tin Man sat on a small metal stool, head sunk hard upon his worn fingers. The years had seen him rust to the point of decay. His left leg was no longer the…
#32 The Lion
And so they had returned, one by one, to the Wizard’s door. Once more they had travelled the breadth of Oz to stand at this spot, but the gaities and…