Even those of us who lived through those days, we who learned the texture of history as it pushed against our cheeks, can barely understand the magnitude of what took place. The narrative is too grand, all-encompassing, planetary. Really it is the story of all of us. The children on the street corner, picking through … Continue reading The Events
Category: Fiction
Photos
I remembered an odd feeling that once haunted me, whenever I took a photograph in the street. Now, we take photos all of the time: photos of ourselves; photos of each other; photos of sunrises and billboards; photos of cocktails of blackberry and gin; photos of plates of sweetbreads, or pork cheek or pineapple; photos … Continue reading Photos
Tired
‘We were tired. It made us more tired to look at each other when we saw we weren’t getting away with anything at all. We didn’t have any secrets. We hadn’t seen each other for a while and it was clear we hadn’t changed for the better. We were between jobs, or stuck in jobs … Continue reading Tired
Dream of the High Mountain
'A man in white djellaba crossing a high rise balcony. A view from a compound window in Tucson. Wagtails dying by the motorway. 'My name is Mieko Tan. Welcome to my crazy world!!!' The last spire of Venice slipping beneath the waves. Not long into his stay in the retreat, Morgan realised where he'd first … Continue reading Dream of the High Mountain
Sick Building
The walls are freshly painted, bone white gleaming under halogen. They are always being painted, as stains are likely to seep out of nowhere, sometimes overnight, sometimes taking months before they become visible. The building stands on a traffic island to the south of the city, a circular structure which an architect designed to resemble … Continue reading Sick Building
The Power Of The Dog
'The dogs kept to the shadows, whimpered softly, then were strangely still. Peter was moved to whisper the line from Psalms that had so moved him, hours before. Deliver my soul from the sword,My darling from the power of the dog. He wondered if that Prayer Book were often used, if he might not snip … Continue reading The Power Of The Dog
Dog Ghosts
'Batu said it was likely that Charley, both her person and her Chevy, were infested with dog ghosts. These ghosts were different from the zombies. Nonhuman ghosts, he said, were the most difficult of all ghosts to dislodge, and dogs were worst of all. There is nothing as persistent, as loyal, as clingy, as a … Continue reading Dog Ghosts
