The River Denly

The river was gloomy. A rich field of bog and heather lay patiently beside a river grey with apathy, its eddies and creeks coiling endlessly through hills of East Lundria. Beside them, moss lined footpaths of pebble and shale formed their own channels, twisting and turning, converging towards the babbly burble of every watercourse that flowed … Continue reading The River Denly →

Morning’s Humour

‘What would you say the standard measurement of milk is?’There was a depth to the seemingly innocent question that threatened to upend the sanity of the so recently begun shift term. Seconds passed as Neil tried to internalise the question. ‘Governed by who?’ he asked, warned about engineer Cuddy’s hypotheticals and wary of an argument that … Continue reading Morning’s Humour →

And So It Was That A Line Did Then Appear In The Sky

Happy 2024 spooky season! 👻Just a quick note that this is a horror short. ~ Drawn as if by a razor, a scar, segmented and pure, was slashed across the faultless blue of that summer’s morning, the darkness hanging weightlessly above the city below.What could we do but watch? What could we do when a … Continue reading And So It Was That A Line Did Then Appear In The Sky →

Oxley Ln

Tree-lined and hemmed by footpath, Oxley Lane awoke to a bluster of wind drawn from the mountains and caught the faint drops of dew-frost in its passing. Gumnuts, past blossom and dry from the winter’s retreat, are shaken from their branches and fall, softly dropping upon the parked cars below, the hollow ding against windscreen … Continue reading Oxley Ln →

The Balendup Hills

Extract taken from C.F Peterson’s A Trundle Through the Balendup Hills - 1971. It was a sleepy day in the bush.An easy wind fluttered through leaves upon dreaming eucalypts and the thunk of a nearby kookaburra is heard as it falls from its branch in a bundle of feathers and a harangued squawk. It was … Continue reading The Balendup Hills →

The Copperpot Inn: The Death Of Dennis Highburrow

They were everywhere.Denizens of darkness coiled knifelike in their dim shadow. Dennis could see them, the ghosts that haunted this city and followed him with dread silence. Lurking invisible and malevolent, these haunted spectres drifted nearer at each hour’s bell: a doomsome toll that heralded death. Dennis felt a presence reaching out for his mortal … Continue reading The Copperpot Inn: The Death Of Dennis Highburrow →

🪔 Lundra: The Falling Rain – Part 1

It was raining. It had always rained in Lundra. Chroniclers, distracted by the steady drip of untraceable leaks, would be heard throughout the annals of time, crying out in lament as another drenched manuscript lay ruined and in the need of redrafting. Water in the inkwell, again; damp settling into the air and turning important … Continue reading 🪔 Lundra: The Falling Rain – Part 1 →

The Copperpot Inn: The Wolves of Velik Mountain

The redwood fell without ceremony.It was not the largest within the Huxley-shire Forest, but Errol never felt at ease when cutting down a tree that was too tall for his means. In his days as a Lumberjack, he had been given the nickname of Cottonwood: a tall tree, thoughtful in how it shaded the land, … Continue reading The Copperpot Inn: The Wolves of Velik Mountain →

The Prelude of a Flying Apricot: The Merry Doctor Part 1

'There's not a lot I can do if you didn't bring the, um-and-a, finger with you.' I remember it as one of those particularly cold mornings when the Port winds would whistle through cracks and creep coldly under doorframes--making not wearing socks particularly unbearable--when a pallid looking gentleman had wandered into my office and greeted … Continue reading The Prelude of a Flying Apricot: The Merry Doctor Part 1 →

Turbine West: Part 3

'The boiler's at over temperature.' The thin voice of an electrician was barely audible over the alarm that had sent the workers of nervous disposition running for the fire escape and enticed the more interested bystanders from the lunchroom. 'It's a boiler, they're supposed to be hot.' Helma shouted back with obstinance, her presence looming … Continue reading Turbine West: Part 3 →