Author Archives: Sandra

I’m wearied by her constant soul-searching. “You’ve never loved me, have you?” she says. Never enough, clearly. “Other mothers…” she begins, but I reach for my coat. I’m done here – I’ve a train to catch. Had I been her … Continue reading →

Why shouldn’t it be ours? Hadn’t we sacrificed as much as everyone?  These people had been forced to flee, as had we, and like as not had perished whilst we, who had also lost everything , survived. So we watched … Continue reading →

They’d arrived late, after a long drive. “Would you,” asked the funeral director, “like to view the body?” “No!” Ellie gasped, horrified. “I would,” said David, grim-faced, ignoring his sister. “I’ve never been frightened of Dad, and I’m not going … Continue reading →

Finally, he turns to me. “…and I’m resting you again this week, Elizabeth.” The girls around me, celebrating their selection, fall suddenly silent. I shrug. “S’okay.” That doesn’t please him; I didn’t intend it should.  It’s a battle of wills. … Continue reading →

There are some parts of this earth that have never felt the weight of a man’s foot. Some blades of grass, straggling roots, vicious briar patches or barren wastes that remain unsullied by the tramp of careless boots,  or the … Continue reading →

‘Attendance a hundred percent up on last week’ observed Father Simeon delightedly. And better still, both seated in the same pew, sparing the necessity of swivelling his head from one side of the church to the other. Inspired, he preached … Continue reading →

He’s returned from the sea, as he’d always sworn he would. “There is no ocean” he’d once said grimly, “that can separate us.” Bleached by sun, sea and salt, he is scarcely recognisable, apart from his faded denim jeans and … Continue reading →

The search party lights flicker away eastwards, trailing the barking dogs. Silver spears of rain slant into my eyes; I taste them on my lips.  Their rhythmic patter stirs the surrounding grasses, releasing the familiar aroma of arid ground succumbing … Continue reading →

I have difficulty concentrating, enthralled as I am by the dexterity of her lips as she mee-maws her way wheezily through her memories. She’s seen it all, but long before this northern town became infamous for the proclivities of its … Continue reading →