Category: creative writing
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SACRIFICE TO THE GODS
‘Run through the checklist.’ ‘Okay. The ceremony must take place in a grand altar.’ They look round the baroque dome and nod at each other. ‘Check.’ ‘Six golden urns placed in a circle atop six poles.’ ‘Check.’ ‘Attire of purple cloaks to worship royalty and their wealth.’ They look sheepishly at the garish cloaks they…
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THERE’S ALWAYS A BIGGER FISH
‘Where is he?’ Rupert was becoming hysterical. ‘I told you, he’s probably just hiding in the pirate ship, maybe he’s found some treasure.’ Hurry up Marc, she pleaded. She could tell when Rupert was about to have one of his anxiety attacks, one of the many results of his Asperger’s. Until now the fish had…
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ARTISTIC IMPROVISATION
The curator scratched her head, while the museum porters waited for her decision. ‘Well, remove it of leave it?’ the surly head porter demanded. They looked at the knotted tree branches atop the wicker chairs. She honestly couldn’t remember if it had been there before or not. The Museum of Rural Life in Lumberton, North…
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A GLIMMER IN THE DARKNESS
I like to sit up here and watch the dawn. That first flicker, the unsteady fragile glint of sunlight peaking over the horizon. It means that a hundred and fifty million kilometres away, the searing ball of gas is still glowing, emanating warmth and light towards us. One day someone may sit in my place…
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BOB’S LAST DAY AT WORK
‘Welcome to the EMIRATES Spinnaker Tower, as I legally have to call it.’ ‘It was going to be opened in 2000 and be named the Millennium Tower, but due to political ineptitude, it didn’t open until 2005, so was renamed ‘Spinnaker’, a type of sail.’ ‘The tower sits on Gunwharf Quay. In the 18th-century it…
Iain Kelly 