Barry Walsh

The glow of embers in the fireplace, warm and comforting
Shadows chased by the sudden flare of a match
A candle flickering in a steamed-up window
The bob of a rescuer’s headlamp on a snowy mountain
A lighthouse in a stormy sea, guiding, reassuring
Sunlight slicing through dark curtains
A beam of torchlight on an unlit path
In the darkness, i…[Read more]

Gosh, thanks Raine. I think there were some really excellent entries this month. I put my win down to luck – and sneaking “Madrigal” into my story.

Congratulations Ath, an intriguing tale and well-deserved top place. And thank you Raine for providing me with a very useful opportunity to work out a scene in my current wip as well as inspire others to provide entertaining tales.

A question of perception

After, naked, panting; towelling stinging sweat from our eyelids, we stepped outside through the open French windows into the still-warm August night. A quick sideways glance: he as relieved as I to no longer be the focus of intense female attention. Relieved it had ended – honourably? Yes. That could honestly be said.…[Read more]

Byrd

‘Somewhat overshadowed by Tallis.’

‘Sorry?’

Janet looked up from the score at Penrose who was holding his copy at arm’s length. His other hand grasped his lapel as though he was striking the pose of some learned patrician. Probably just what he was doing, she thought. She felt a twinge of guilt, but also resignation. If only he hadn’t in…[Read more]

Well done all, especially Raine. I thought it was a bit special.

Congratulations Raine – so uncomfortably vivid! – and to all of you who managed to fight down an adversary, real or fictitious. And thank you Knicks for competition and comments.

I had a first line (oddly enough, my adversary was Time) and discovered Time had beaten me. Not to worry, there’s always next month.

Congratulations, Raine. Your entry was frightening (in an inspirational kind of way ☺️)
And thanks, Knicky, even though I was too slow 😂

Doug

I could be expelled, or even stuck in a young-offenders institution, but, honestly, I can’t see how they’ll ever pin it on me.

Doug isn’t a nice kid. At ten, he’s the spitting image of his dad; spitting being the operative word. He’s well on his way to being as big as him, too. Which is big.

Doug hates all the other kids at school.…[Read more]

Not exactly ‘Overcoming Adversary’

Truth is, I can’t think of anything big enough in my life to count as ‘adversity’. (If it was big, I either ignored, walked painlessly around, or didn’t even notice it.
So I’m giving you, ‘My writing journey‘, which is as close as I can get.

If we’re talking about ‘proper’ conscious writing; wanting to set d…[Read more]

Knicks, you very closely echo my thoughts about participation in the comps (and in the Den as a whole, to be honest, despite Ath’s striving to make it a more use-friendly site) but I think the answer IS just to press on with setting one – if we join the non-participants, they have us beat.
And yes, I do know how Life leaches away time, am well…[Read more]

I should spend less time on the test site and more here. Cracking story, Knicks. Well done. Thanks for the competition, Sandra. I found it tough but fun.

December destined to be a quiet month, I suppose, and very few of you seemed to have suffered from the prurient curiosity about the activities of Jack and Jill’s activities I did, Nevertheless the two entries submitted were a pleasure.
Ath’s trawl through several nursery rhymes returned me to childhood, browsing through books illustrated by the…[Read more]