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COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Bells rang out across the city, calling worshippers to service. She stumbled against the wire fence and rested herself there. Broken windows, graffiti, crumbling brickwork – all that was left of the home where she had grown up. She remembered again the nuns, the Father, the other children. She remembered the discipline, the beatings, the…
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THE COLLECTOR

I love to collect all sorts of things – badges, stamps, books, tacky souvenirs, even clothes and shoes. If I see something I like, I have to have it. With the cost of living crisis and losing my job, I can’t afford to buy all the nice things anymore, but when I see something I…
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GREEN ENERGY

The internal combustion engine is long gone. Electric cars are on the way out too. Soon all our vehicles will be plant powered. Garden centres are the new gas stations. Pile the greenery into the tank and off we go, leaving a trail of mulch pouring from the exhaust behind us. Tankers collect the discarded…
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SIMPLE THINGS

Simple things. Being able to take a walk without fear is one of them. The empty blue sky overhead is another. Seeing the children running and playing again, though their innocence has been stolen. The worry remains. How long will it last this time? There is no simple solution. There is too much hate, too…
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RESET

The drought lasted through the summer. Trees and plants shriveled and died, so did a few thousand vulnerable people and animals. Everyone waited for The Rains to end the suffering. Anything that could collect water was set out in readiness. Watering cans hung from tree branches, buckets lined pavements, plastic bottles sat on window sills.…