Baz Baron

Well done Sea, for an intriguing tale, and thank you Kate for a topic that had me seeking a tale I KNEW I’d written on this theme, then, not finding it, having to concoct something else. Thanks also for all the other entries; I still haven’t solved the anagram.

Thank you all for a fabulous batch of stories.

Seagreen – you had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was in that letter.

Sandra – such a lovely heart warming tale.

Athelstone – I love that kind hearted Brenda got the reassurance she needed.

Alex – oh! Such a tale of mystery and deceit. Thus feels like the basis for a longer story.

A…[Read more]

The Unmarked Letter

It’s a circular, sitting there on the mat. Or is it? It doesn’t look like the sort of envelope they use. And they usually say To the Householder or something like that. When Arthur was alive, he’d say, ‘That’s me. The householder,’ as though I didn’t count. This one has nothing on it.

Right, that’s Edith at the door. I’d b…[Read more]

There’ll be kites [497 words]

It isn’t often that seeing an envelope on one’s doormat transports one back some forty years through time.
Took me long enough – the wrestling of the key in the lock ever more painful thanks to the curse of arthritis; the nudging open of the door with my shoulder just enough to know I’d be able to push it wide en…[Read more]

Any takers for the monthly competition? A week to go.

Fantastic blog Richard, as ever. A difficult one for me to read, as I’ve always found reading about this incident, its sheer violence and the scale of the death toll, deeply troubling. That the sport I love, and a race I love, and a driver I have always been a fan of (Hawthorn) could have been (in whatever way) responsible for such slaughter is d…[Read more]

Quite awful accident, Richard. I sought out some of the video and still-images after reading your blog, and I have to say that Hawthorn does look, physically, like the villain of the piece. Whether he was the actual villain or not, his face relaxes into a rather smug expression that does him no favours. I was reminded of the comedian Rob Beckett,…[Read more]

Thanks, Alex. It was fun to give Pixie and Gabe an outing! I’ll have a think about a theme for the coming month.

Congratulations Daedalus!

Well deserved win Kate, not only for the entrancing fairy story but for the impetus reading it gave me. And thank you Alex for the competition theme – the sort of challenge which stretches and inspires.

@ Athelstone – would it be possible to put that red reminder banner up more regularly? I confess I’d forgotten about the monthly comp and was…[Read more]

Thanks Richard

Kindle out now, paperback in a couple of weeks

Tickled pink

Let me say straight away, it wasn’t what you – or any of my workmates – would think. Soon as I got over my … anger, I suppose, and looked at her, saw her, I heard my wife say, clear as if she was beside me, and we’d passed her in the street, “Asking for it!” She didn’t always bother to lower her voice, and inevitably I’d look to see…[Read more]

Dream of an electrician

The day that Colin first fell asleep in his van was as cold and unfriendly as a garden privy in the small hours of a winter’s night. Two long shifts, back-to-back, rewiring the mayoral offices in the town centre, saw him close to exhaustion. He had taken his supermarket sandwich down to the seafront and, with the windows c…[Read more]

A STRANGE ENCOUNTER

Len slammed on the brakes of his electricity work truck and squeezed his eyes closed. This couldn’t have happened. It had to be his imagination. Too much beer last night and too much coffee this morning.

He peeked open his eyes and gave a screech more usual for his five-year-old daughter.

Pressed against the windscreen was a…[Read more]

Well, my vote is another month. If you’re up for it that is. If you’re OK with that, I’ll post an entry in the next few days.

What a fabulous place. The film suggests a strong sense of community. Do you feel part of it as an “incomer”?