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ALL AT SEA
Archie lay on his bunk. His stomach lurched with each swell of the Atlantic Ocean beneath. He peered out from under the duvet. Agnes stood at the table, resplendent in her best dress and velvet gloves, preparing another gin. ‘Do you think you’ll make the ball later on?’ she asked. Archie groaned. ‘No dear. You…
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AMAZONIA
5th July 1592 We continue to follow De Orellana. The river seems to be endless. It has been seven months since we set out. Today we were attacked by a group of savages. Without a common language took us for enemies. They hurled sharpened rocks as we fled back to the boat. It was not the men that…
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WAR CRIME

Snowflakes glistened, falling through the electric light. A blanket of innocence covering sin. The same as that night in Kabul. The funeral had been mercifully brief. Another of the unit was gone, only I remained. Still no one suspected me. The Military Court said we were innocent. I knew differently. I still see her pleading…
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DELAYED

They had been waiting for three hours in the airport terminal. The departure boards were full of yellow-highlighted rectangles reading ‘DELAYED.’ The fog looked thicker than ever out the window. The children were climbing on the seats again. ‘Joe get down from there and let go of your sister,’ Claire said. The kids ignored her. Pete…
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CHASING PAPER DRAGONS

Lucas finished folding the paper dragon and added it to the pile in the middle of the empty room. Three hundred and sixty-five paper dragons. Three hundred and sixty-five days since he had last chased the dragon. A whole year clean. Three hundred and sixty-five days since Angie had chased the dragon too hard and…