I unwrap myself from the tangle of arms, and look down, and scream.

The camp leader gives me a tour of the grounds. He’s a taciturn tour guide. There isn’t much to show. The main stone building contains the common room, and the dining hall. The fireplace is crackling, and enclosed by three mismatched armchairs that look like rescues from the tip. A short bookcase at the opposite end of the room is lined with trashy paperbacks. There’s a gas heater and several black...

Someone collapsed on me today.

He was easily 6'1', maybe 6'2'. Large African man, young, in his late twenties, with muscles on his muscles. He'd come in today for removal of stitches after lacerating his middle finger punching through a glass door. Common complaint. It's either that or a window. Which is surprising because you think that people would learn. One minute, we were threading the suture cutter underneath his bright...

White poplar means time.

He walked three metres behind, eyes fixed on my back. I didn't care where I walked. The drizzle left my forehead damp and my hair a nest of glistening droplets, hanging in the night air like a warm blanket. Petrichor drifted up from the pillows of autumn leaves on the sidewalk. We'd just had dinner at a dingy Japanese eatery, slightly off the main road. The restaurant was empty save one other couple....

Ringleaders

Ringleaders, was the store name. Diamond experts. I tripped on the carpet getting into the lift and felt out of place and awkward instantly. It was located on the second floor, away from the bustling shopping mall on street level. In the lift, mirrors formed all four walls, and I looked up at his face to avoid looking at myself otherwise. He had his business face on; square-jawed, clean-shaven,...

Raspberry Coke

I am holding a Raspberry Coke. In a plastic 600mL bottle. There are six of us, trapped in this concrete prison. Grey slabs stained brown surround us ten floors high. Through the glass, we can see khaki figures guarding the doors. We're not scared, because there's six of us (and six of them), and I'm holding a Raspberry Coke. They chase us down, up wheelchair slopes that maddeningly zigzag...

Dearest ____ (you know who you are!)

Thank you for your thoughts! They were so honest that I could only do them justice by replying in kind. This is the first time I've put on my writing cap in a while, so please be forgiving. Firstly, I'd like to apologise for interrupting your holiday with a selfish question. You were in California admiring Chateau Marmont, and I was in my new flat unpacking, knee-deep in storage boxes, lazily scrolling...