Author: Kieran

(022) Jess had been ready all morning, but she was still running late. She’d alternated between pacing her living room and scrolling intensely on her phone, waiting until she absolutely definitely wouldn’t be early, and hoping for a good enough reason to cancel to pop into her imagination. None had, however, and now she was…

(021) Eddie had held off for as long as he could – turns out 5 days was the limit – but after a slew of feverish dreams he’d awoken in the early hours in a cold sweat, and now he really had to go. He throws the covers back on his centre-bed and reaches for…

(020) “Do you know how much it costs to finish one of those?” Frank asks, cracking open his fifth can of lager and not waiting for a response. “Near on half a grand.” He tips his head back for an ostentatious victory sip, dribbling it down himself in the process. “Mmm.” Jon responds, his tongue…

(019) Mark locks his phone and drops it in the open satchel at the foot of the tree, glancing through weary eyes at the dark clouds gathering above him. The forecast had predicted sun, but the threat of rain was ever growing. He tugs on the tattered yellow slackline that stretches 30m across the grass…

(018) Tiny waves break against the hull of the canoe as it runs aground, leaving rivulets of water cascading onto the muddy bank. A young woman with her face cloaked in a shawl steps out onto land on sure feet, shadowed by a border collie with specks of grey ringing his hazel eyes. Using the…

(017) Torn from its moorings with a violent fury, that is how the journey begins. Tossed willy-nilly in the centre of a swirling vortex, unable even to exercise its ability to soar. Instead it is pulled far, far away, never to return.  It is eventually relinquished from the storm. Discarded on the dying wave of…

(016) “Maybe I just shouldn’t do it.” Tina sniffs, lifting her scarf with her chin to pull it up over her mouth. Her chestnut hair pokes out from under her hat and swirls around her cheeks.  “I think you’d regret it if you didn’t.” Bea responds, her voice measured and gentle.  “But would I?” Tina…

(015) “Wanna hear a scary story?” Brad snickers, leaning his can against the tree and covering the back of his phone. He turns the light on, making his fingertips glow briefly while he flips it round and under his face.  “Bwohahahahauha!” George gives his best attempt at a spooky laugh, prompting Brad to howl like…

(014) A little bit of hope, and a lot of patience – that’s how the process begins. A tiny silken thread floating on the wind, glinting in the moonlight, and a spider on the end of it, waiting for a connection. A warm breeze filters through the trees, gently swaying her to and fro on…

(013) Beneath the fear, there is a noise. He doesn’t hear it now, but it’s still there. The ragged breaths punctuating the darkness like horn stabs, or the feet thudding the earth in an irregular rhythm. The unrehearsed drumbeat and the out of breath singers, coughing and spluttering in haphazard pursuit. None of it is…