Something’s different, I think to myself as I put my waffles into the oven. I stroll over to my collection of records, take one from the shelf and gently remove it from the sleeve. Holding it up to my nose, I inhale deeply. Vinyl produced to resemble vinyl produced before the ‘70s has a different
The grassy pathway before me descended into an empty valley. Pretty summer clouds graced the sky, the day was bright, and the air carried the scent of fresh-cut hay. I had no notion of my purpose here and strangely this did not concern me. An odd little man appeared at my side. His face displayed
She told me she loved me. She whispered it. She breathed in my ear. She brushed my lips and breathed into my mouth. We hugged and she pressed against me. I could feel her body against mine. She kissed me and I found myself responding, my lips against hers. Briefly her tongue flickered and pushed
The day before yesterday, my son said something wonderful. It was one of those things children say that delight and charm adults, like when his sister called a church ‘an astronaut’s castle’, or when he asked a beekeeper if you can get dragonfly honey. He took some humdrum adult concept, invested it with poetry and
It was a family tradition, to greet each new calamity with a party. It might seem strange, but it was actually rather joyous; the absurdity of cheering and clinking glasses when something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. My earliest memory was of celebrating some failure of my father’s with canapes and champagne. So when the
“Wilford passed this morning. They said one minute he was here and the next he was gone.” “Isn’t that the way it is? We’re like water in a bathtub, moving closer to the drain and tunnel. After all, we are mostly water. “ “That is a horrible way to look at life.” “No, not at
A fly landed on the bottom of the saucepan that was resting on the drainer. Which was allowed. Because it was on the bottom of the saucepan, not inside it, unlike the fly that had greeted Cora when she’d opened the butter dish on Tuesday morning. It had been dead on its back, right in
Zeus, the child of Titans, ate his own and begat new gods. Some believe the Gills are Science’s revenge for ignoring their warnings. Some say Science genetically engineered them so that a remnant of humanity could survive the great inundations and extremes that resulted from Climate Change. Some say it was just a natural progression
I see you, Madame Coutrot, carefully arranging canapés and petit-fours. Highly sought-after, they were obtained with your husband Jean’s exclusive Polytechnic food-stamps. There’s no gateau (he considers it extravagant), but he’s baked modest cupcakes himself (chocolate, his favourite). Your hand trembles as you insert one small candle. Your body betrays you constantly – the pristine
Me and Shady Granger playing grownup. Me and he. Just past 12 years old. Me chugging an empty whiskey bottle and him fake-smoking a cigarette. Pretending we are like our own parents. His family came from over there. Forbidden part of town. Part of town where the poor folks live, my daddy always said, and
