Short Stories

My short stories have been published in Bad Idea Magazine, Brand Literary Magazine, Dramcatcher, Gloom Cupboard Print Edition, Pens on Fire and The Writing Shift.

Below are some of the published short stories to download and read.

Any Good Literature?

In the Sutton branch of Waterstones, a keen teenager tries to reconnect with reading. Download here

Breaking Up Present

A painter composes the best way to break-up with his girlfriend. Download here

Dienero de Mentira

What links a elderly homeless woman in Croydon to the Queen of Spain? The answer, is a little girl who danced for the Queen as they fled war in the 1930s. Download here.

Hideaway

While suffering from leukaemia, Ian is determined to build a shed, a hideaway, a place to escape. (Based on a true story) Download here

Giving Up

During Lent, a struggling couple face the fact that the one thing they may have to give up is their relationship. Download here

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Poole Hospital Short Stories

These true-life stories were written for patients I talked to while working as the Resident Writer on a elderly care ward in Poole Hospital. Download here

The Last Latte

Over coffee a couple decide their future. It doesn't quite go the way either of them expected. Download here 

Talking in Tongues

In a chain coffee shop two teenage girls discuss kissing boys. Download here

Too Many Choices

Dan the Maintenance Man bemoans the range of coffee choices whilst fixing a filter coffee machine. Download here

Two Hyenas

Two teenage hyenas in grey tracksuits, hoods, and baggy trousers lick their lips at the sight of a homeless man giving his speech in a crowd Sunday train. They watch him talk about the cold February nights as we crawl into Clapham Junction. He walks the carriage, asking for money, apologizing, thanking profusely the few who offer; his shame drips off him like blood from a wound.

The two hyenas smell this and shout out,

‘Don’t give him anything!’

‘He’s a crack ‘ed!’

The homeless man, wretched in his dirty clothes and matted hair, limps towards them, ignoring their ignorant insults. He tries to cross to the next carriage.

One hyena steps in his way and blocks his every move; the other cackles and films it on his mobile phone. The homeless man gives up, waits by the door, suffering in silence as the two hyenas cackle and cuss, threatening to Happy Slap him, looking for support from other passengers who say nothing, think nothing; act as if nothing is happening.

The scream of the trains, iron on iron, as it twists and slows. The homeless man jumps off at Clapham Junction and runs to a colleague. I pass him and share his humiliation.

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