richardcarman
It was silent in the room, the lapping of the water against the sides of the large tin bath, and the sounds of horses in the street below. Until a man entered the house, and silently made his way upstairs. Two mintes later, another man lay dead in the water, his head to one side and his life expired.
He climbed down. The building was three stories high - there used to be four, but that's another storey. So he climbed down because the wind was high and the trees were bending at the ground and it was too dangerous to go higher. Was he a coward, or just more sensible than his friends?
The biggest wrench was walking away with more stones to throw. He had stood there for half an hour throwing stone at her window, and knew she was there, and knew she wouldn't open the curtains because of what had happened, but while there was still another pebble to throw there was still a chance she'd relent and open up... but in the end he turned and walked away.
I think the boost she needed was blue. In fact it was the only kind of boost you could buy any more - the red ones long out of production. But down to the newsagents she went, ignoring the twixes and crunchies, and in a rich Yorkshire accent asked for "a blue Boost please".
The old man couldn't figure out why his nephew had spent so long in the darkroom. It usually only took half an hour or so before he got bored with printing photographs. Until, eventually, the sheepish boy came out - with his girlfriend. The light in the darkroom wasn't the only thing that was blushing red...
Hot sand, deep water, and the weight of a monstrous sun on our backs as we row across the lagoon. Michael leaps from the boat into the water, and just as quickly grabs the side of the boat and calls to be pulled back in, his legs tucked under his chin and his laugh louder than his obvious panic. Jelly fish - swarming to the east in their thousands....
The parcel came through the door, dropping heavily on the mat. I knew what it was.... tore open the seals and clicked the kettle on as I headed back to the sofa. Coffee, dogs at my feet, the house to myself, and the chance to open up and hold in my hands an advance of my first book. Black coffee, black dogs, black ink on 140gsm paper. Cool...
The echo of the first shot bounded around the trees, and the gunman looked over his shoulder. Panting hard. The second shot caught him in the back, the third to the side of his head, and he fell. Laughing. Paintball was such fun...
They are the one thing you miss as you get older. Relative values. You realise you are now the relative for a whole bunch of other people, but the relationships you built your foundations on aren't there any more. So you keep on keeping on, and stick with the ones you got. One by one, they all fade away...
I sat waiting for some time. Eventually the sun started to sink beneath the city skyline and the temperature dropped. It was a cold way to start the evening, but it would only get colder as the night took over from the day. After three hours I was freezing. My first night in the basement.
load more entries