Category: Microfiction

She had a magic trick that no one else could see. Whenever she needed to, she could conjure the aurora borealis. She couldn’t remember the first time she had tried breath work, filling her lungs until the skin of her chest stretched, holding it to the point of discomfort, and finally breathing out until it…

“How was that?” She made her smile encouraging rather than amused. “You sounded like a proper Italian.” He sighed with relief and took a sip of Pecorino as he looked out over the river Arno. They had paid a tourist’s premium for the table, but he didn’t care. “I wonder what the fish of the…

“That’s it. I’m not gardening any more.” She looked up from her crossword. “Why on earth not?” She was under no illusion that he loved gardening more than he loved her. “Because the foliage is furious.” She lowered the newspaper. Peered over her glasses. “What do you mean the foliage Is furious?” “Exactly what I…

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “Are you ok?” She drew a thumb across her eye. Flicked away the emotion that had settled there. Sat up straighter and smiled an inauthentic smile. “Of course I’m ok.” She sat down on the bench next to her and looked out at the duck pond that neither…

“That’ll be £160 please.” “What? But the cups and saucers are only £50!” “Yes, but you can’t have the cups without buying the bowls and plates too.” “But I don’t need any bowls or plates.” “Everyone needs bowls and plates.” “I don’t!” “So you’re just going to serve your guests their tea with cake on…

“Oh no!” “What? What is it?” “You stood on the crack!” She looked down at her trainers, the ones her mother begged her to get rid of. They were moulded just so. She would wear until they fell from her feet. The pavement crack ran beneath her toes. She smiled at her little brother. “Is…

She leaned against the doorframe of his bedroom and took in the heavy emptiness. He had left everything that looked backwards whilst packing only things that would help him move towards adulthood. The shelves filled with sports trophies and stuffed toys, bare of aftershave and the piggy bank he had finally smashed. She felt hands…

It starts with a tilt of the head. Chins angled slightly upwards as freckles begin to darken on warm cheeks. Steps get lighter, smiles get wider, drinks get colder. Unencumbered by unkind spring frosts the smells of nature ripen and fill the lungs of fair weather runners, the skin on their shoulders lightly toasting. Shadows…

“Your name is Tree? What’s that short for?” His shoulders sank. He thought of his parents on their allotment, discussing natural fertilisers and the fact that humans had long since negated their right to live on such a beautiful earth. “Nothing. It’s just Tree.” “Seriously?” “Seriously.” He waited for the jokes about knots and branches…

She sat in the too cold church and kicked her legs, longing to be outside chasing the butterflies she had seen dancing through the gravestones. “Why did her daddy walk her down the aisle?” Her voice made the nearby heads turn. Her mother whispered back in the hope that her daughter might imitate the volume.…