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...