Author Archives: Sandra

  There are a hundred and one reasons why his daughter constantly kicks over the traces. And the woman sitting opposite him, fussily arranging and re-arranging the table setting, well… she’s probably the biggest one. One thrives on order, the … Continue reading →

We create our own reality, they say. And I’ve only recently grasped the hair’s breadth between Joe’s reality and a nightmare. I bring food daily to the derelict multi-storey, occasionally clean clothes. He sells the clothes to fuel his habit. … Continue reading →

Leaving the island is always easier than it is to return. It seems life arrests mid-stroll, mid-conversation, mid-everything the moment my plane skims away across the waves, only to lurch into motion as I step back onto the jetty years … Continue reading →

This small village accommodates even smaller minds, and the journeyman’s departure is no secret.  Everyone finds reasons to watch the locomotive steam away. I ignore speculative glances, before curling myself around things they mustn’t know; the rapturous nights amongst the … Continue reading →

Eric tried to tell his parents; they didn’t listen. So party games remained unplayed, prizes unpresented, trampoline untrampled.  Dainty triangular sandwiches curled at the edges, as cream curdled on the jellies. The solitary guest, a little girl way off the … Continue reading →

  That night before our final victorious skirmish, I detected his mood change, his uncertainty. Next day, when we’d won, he simply disappeared, upped sticks and left. After leading us to victory, he didn’t stick around to share the euphoria, … Continue reading →

The other passengers fall silent; there’s nothing quite like a 67 year old camel-toe to arrest conversation. “What have I told you, Mother, about wearing beige leggings?” “You’re so conservative,” she giggles, running arthritic fingers through her spiky pink hair.  … Continue reading →

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 →