“Get that fucking candle out of your mouth. Jesus Christ, Scott.” Josh instantly feels bad for yelling at his younger brother, pulls a miniature candy bar out of his pocket, tosses it to him. Scott eats the whole thing, including the wrapper. Josh can only offer a crooked smile. He knows his brother has something …
I curl up on mum’s chair. I run my hand along the mahogany arm and my fingers discover little holes in the surface, small clusters of worm pricks within the wood. A shiver of disgust and fascination climbs up my vertebrae. The commode next to me displays a dusty graveyard of all things oceanic. Mum’s …
From above, the coffee spoon hit the wooden floorboards in the bedroom. It clattered, bounced, stopped. Brian closed his eyes and sighed. Every time Andrea dropped the coffee spoon it seemed louder than the last. He wasn’t sure how she did it, whether she simply let it fall from her fingers or if she launched …
Our security guys walked Annette to Human Resources. Bobby, the older guard, wore massive black shoes. His Frankenstein boots echoed in the hallway. According to the collective theory around our office, bantamweight Bobby’s footwear-ballast kept him within gravity’s bounds. He should have tethered himself to his sidekick, young Derek, who was unlikely to go anywhere. …
On the train and I take out my phone and Richard Clandon’s WiFi hotspot is nearby and I look up Richard Clandon and there are the usual Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn profiles and I look at the first LinkedIn profile and the Richard Clandon whose profile it is is the same person sitting opposite …
I was pouring synthetic milk over my cereal when I looked up and saw him: a tiny Lionel Richie in my driveway. Had I forgotten to take my pills? I double-checked the blister pack then stared out of the window again. He was cross-legged on the ground, flicking a twig at my bicycle’s rear tyre. …
Tiny Lionel Richie In My Driveway by Michael Loveday Read More »
The Hobsons sit at the table eating stewed damsons from soup spoons. Teddy Hobson has returned home from the camps a free man, only to find a stranger in his daughter’s place. It is four years since Mary, not long out of aprons, was sent to live with her aunt for her own safety. Now …
As you lie on your deathbed, the nurse asks me for help. Your body is drawing down the moon and bathing in its spotlight like a beautiful actress on the stage. ‘She’s started speaking in tongues,’ the nurse says, and I look down at you as though you will start to do it on cue. …
The ground shakes beneath the giant, painted statue of a blue-suited sailor manhandling a blonde nurse into a break-neck kiss. A low, earthly rumble builds until it rivals an airplane’s roar. Violent tremors make the ground bounce and split. The couple wobbles, strains and cracks. On a hot sunny day in San Diego, at a …
“Trick or treat!” Libby, Anvesh, and Mitch chirped in unison when Mrs. Wilkerson opened the door. On Halloween, she usually wore a big smile and a witch costume. Tonight, she was in sweatpants and looked in need of a comb and a shower. “Here you go, kids,” Mrs. Wilkerson said, grabbed a handful …
Had there been an angel in the room, none of them would have noticed. The four children were playing Monopoly. The eldest was winning, as usual. “Advance token to nearest Railroad,” he read. His silver doggie flew to B&O Railroad without touching the squares. Pietrov was always the doggie. “Body Odor!” yelled the other three …
The glass gives way and cascades down onto the driver’s seat. One piece sticks into the backrest. His backrest. The windshield took six or seven or eight blows with the shovel, but it worked. I catch my breath, hands on knees, and when I straighten up to assess my handiwork, the car looks like it’s …