Category: Short Story
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RELEASED
Vince reached the familiar streets of the old industrial area. The factories lay silent and rusting. Sitting on the same bench he had used for forty years, he sat and had his lunch, looking at the workplace he had devoted the best years of his life to in the distance. A siren sounded, followed by…
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POIROT’S COFFEE AT DEAUVILLE
‘When did it become fashionable for the French not to serve coffee in a china teacup and saucer?’ Madame Beaumont said, loud enough to ensure the maitre d’ would hear. ‘Mother,’ Alice chided. ‘You shall have to get used to it once I have married Jacques.’ ‘Alice, once you have married Jacques we shall no longer…
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AUTUMN LEAVES
Archie looked at the overhanging branches from the neighbours overgrown sycamore tree. Every Autumn the leaves fell into his garden, burying the flowerbeds and lawn. Every Autumn he had to clear them. It had taken him all morning to sweep the leaves up. Now they sat in one big pile in the middle of the…
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INFORMANT
Chavy watched the dusty streets of Phnom Penh gradually fade away behind him. The brown water of the Mekong river disappeared to the east while the bus headed north. The roads changed from tarmac to dust. The buildings from stone to wood. The beggars remained regardless. The bus stopped. ‘Checkpoint,’ the young white man next…
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GRANDPA’S LUCKY SHOES
The black leather gleamed. It had taken a lot of scrubbing and polishing to restore them to this state. The nest of spiders in the toe of the right shoe was a nasty surprise. They slipped onto the withered feet with ease. ‘Why the old shoes?’ the undertaker’s assistant asked. ‘Family request. Apparently they were…
Iain Kelly 