The cat sat on the fourth step, her eyes darting left and right, whiskers twitching, as she surveyed the room. The fourth step was the best place to be - she had learned this through experience. Any higher and she lost her view of the room; if she sat on the third step she would be noticed by Antoinette and shooed away with a feather duster or tea towel; on the second step, she would be clearly visible, and kicked and cursed at by Pierre; and on the first step she would be vi

A short story, written after a visit to Peak Caverns in Castleton, Derbyshire and published in the online magazine, Cafelit   Bert Marrison sat in the cave mouth on a rickety hazel stool. It was 1970 and he was 85 years old; too old to be a rope-maker any more, with his gnarled and deformed hands, but not too old to fend off the returners. In fact, his age – in this role  – was a definite advantage, as even the roughest and most foul mouthed of the lead miners would stop shor

“Name please?”   Simon looked up at the bloke in front of him; he didn’t look anything like he had imagined. No robes, no big book. No pearly gates for that matter – obviously a myth spread by Sunday school teachers. Just an ordinary guy in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a slogan scrawled across it ‘ Eye of a Needle’ . He hadn’t heard of them, must be a foreign band.   “Erm, Simon, Simon Cavanagh.” “And have you completed your questionnaire?” “Questionnaire? I’m not s

I hobbled clumsily down the seven steps from the front door to the street; steps worn shiny by over two hundred years of feet passing up and down: tenants, tradesmen, and for the last eighteen years, our family. I usually skipped down the steps, my mind on other, mundane, things, but today I was totally focussed, manipulating my crutches and trying to remain upright. Once on the level, I made my way along the pavement, negotiating up and down kerbstones and across roads unt

Harry jolted awake as the front door slammed. Jenny looked flustered as she deposited a cardboard coffee cup on the table and shrugged...

I opened my eyes. Slowly, millimetre by millimetre, until I could see a smudge of blue sky through the dusty haze; a soupy mist which...

She awoke early. She had dozed into an easy slumber around midnight, lulled by the soothing call of the Tawny Owl in the field behind the...

It was Saturday night, 8.30pm and they were in A&E. Triple whammy - a situation nobody wants to find themselves in - ever! It was going...

"There she goes again." They didn't know then that she was a 'she', but something about her waddling walk reminded them of a busy woman...