November light in North London at four-thirty in the evening is a Kodachrome delusion. It’s a saturated gold, bleeding but blurring at the edges, halatious, homely, glimmering, and glowing, the crushing atomic, photonic mass of fifty-six hundred Kelvin collapsing vehemently, violently, vitriolically into bruised oranges and peaches, beaten and battered. Miraculous exposure. The coldest ofContinue reading “The Last Rite of Birthright; or, A Letter to Sylvia Plath”
Category Archives: Stories
Sasha
Sasha had frizzy platinum blonde hair, beautiful green eyes, a Slavic demeanour that left her with an aura of stubborn self-reliance, a coldness that put many first-timers off. There was a romance about her, though, and her dreary Soviet town, her fuzzy green 80s sweaters, the commie-blocks and the Brutalist architecture of her native Volgograd.Continue reading “Sasha”
From Here to Forever
Kiera rests her head against a carelessly framed advertisement as the dying strains of some wistful indie rock song emanate through her earbuds, the singer’s lowly baritone drowning beneath the cacophonous rattling and screeching of the subway car. Through its cracked windows, she stares out mindlessly as the gleam of the evening makes its wayContinue reading “From Here to Forever”
Obstacle 1
A Short Story. It came upon him suddenly, swiftly splitting through his chest and stomach, seemingly in the absence of reason. Its asphyxiating invisible hand dug into his neck and tore him from his blissful rest, prematurely dragging him back into the intoxicating fabric of reality. It implored his heart to pound savagely against hisContinue reading “Obstacle 1”
The Canadian Dream (Канадская мечта)
Originally Published April 30, 2019 The year is 1954. It was a dark and frigid August day in Nizhny Novgorod, USSR, and the clocks were just striking six. The grey stone Soviet blocks stretched high into the cloudy sky, forever scarring the city’s skyline with their wretched ugliness. The concrete roads, overgrown with plants andContinue reading “The Canadian Dream (Канадская мечта)”
Joyeux Nöel
Originally Published December 21, 2018 The year is 1943. It’s Christmas Eve, but in Nazi-occupied Paris, Christmas is nothing more than a distant memory. The dark streets were illuminated by small, dim lamp posts with no Christmas lights in sight, the eerie silence loomed over the once bustling city with not even a distant soundContinue reading “Joyeux Nöel”
Finest Hour
Originally Published December 6, 2018. I remember it so clearly and vividly, as if it were yesterday. The old, cracked stone walls a dark shade of charcoal, the aged yet polished desks row on row, and the teacher talking away while tapping away on his dark green chalkboard. There I was, sitting quietly and attentivelyContinue reading “Finest Hour”
The Perfect Storm
Originally Published September 20, 2018. 7:30am. The dreaded buzzing sound of John’s alarm clock fills the room, much to John’s disgruntlement. John lies on his bed for a long ten minutes, mindlessly staring at the ceiling as the repetitive buzzing slowly drives him insane. At last, John slumps from the bed like a zombie withContinue reading “The Perfect Storm”
A Brotherhood of Heroes
Originally Published April 11, 2018. Battle of the Somme, August 1916. It was a dark, cold evening, and the guns had ceased for the night. The Western Front lit up in conversation with soldiers sitting in the trenches side by side sharing stories and singing songs; these same trenches that rang out in gunshots andContinue reading “A Brotherhood of Heroes”
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