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There's Just Something About You
[One Year Later...]One Year Later.When Howard woke up that morning the light was leaking through the curtains, casting elaborate patterns on the bedroom floor. The duvet around him was soft and warm, and there was an arm slung unceremoniously around his middle. Howard sighed, closed his eyes again and buried his head further into the pillow as Vince hummed ( Read more... ) -
Hard Times Come Again No More
[Howard wasn't allowed near Vince for three days...]Howard wasn’t allowed near Vince for three days ( Read more... ) -
The Benefit of Filtration
[Howard knew where he was before he even opened his eyes...]Howard knew where he was before he even opened his eyes. He could feel the whiteness burning through his eyelids, the perfect evenness of the room pressing down on his shoulders. It was as if the two rows of evenly-spaced doors were taunting him, mocking him with their endlessness. He let go of Vince’s arm and let his hands fall limply down ( Read more... ) -
Our Ideas Of Our Identities
[Howard had fallen in love with the funny little flat...]Howard had fallen in love with the funny little flat above the abandoned shop in Dalston, with its excessive colours and fabrics and its view out over the city and the way the bell above the door rang excitedly whenever he came home from work. Vince had proved himself a valuable flatmate, though somewhat dreamy - when Howard had asked him what he ( Read more... ) -
I Could Walk Through That Tunnel Of Light And Meet The Rest Of You There
[The day was treacherously cold...]The day was treacherously cold, the sky barren and bleak and slate-coloured, the wind bursting forth in sharp coughs. Howard picked at the loose stitching at the hem of his trousers, winding it slowly around his finger and then unwinding it again. His fingers were numb, his hair falling into his eyes. He reached up to scratch at his rough cheeks ( Read more... ) -
There Won't Be Much For Me In The Afterlife
[Death was not something that Vince Noir had ever given all that much thought to...]Death was not something that Vince Noir had ever given all that much thought to. It seemed, to him, to be an abstract concept more than anything serious and inevitable. Despite all their mad adventures, he had always felt entirely safe and untouchable. Death was something that could be avoided, with a little Shaman aid and a healthy dose of double- ( Read more... ) -
The World Impossibly Coming Together
[The man was sitting on a bench...]The man was sitting on a bench, wrapped up in a large furry coat, kicking at the dead leaves with the pointed toe of his Chelsea boot. Every so often, he would glance up at the playground, but never for more than a second, and while the usually anxious Stoke Newington mothers gave him a wide berth people had stopped paying attention to him ( Read more... ) -
Last Night I Nearly Died (But I Woke Up Just In Time)
[Jonathan looked at Howard through the square lenses of his glasses...]Jonathan looked at Howard through the square lenses of his glasses, tapped his pencil twice on his notepad and said, “You know, when we have dreams that disturb us, they’re usually a manifestation of our anxieties. They represent something ( Read more... ) -
And I Turn Round And There You Go
[Over the whistling of the kettle, Mr. Bridges was humming a song...]Over the whistling of the kettle, Mr. Bridges was humming a song that Howard thought might have been My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean, although it was difficult to tell with such a lack of tune. Howard thought longingly of his own trumpet, locked in its case and tucked under a loose floorboard in his old bedroom in Leeds. He took a sip of tea that ( Read more... ) -
Borne Back Ceaselessly Into The Past
[Outside it was a crystalline, cold night...]Outside it was a crystalline, cold night. The sky rippled overhead, like black velvet, and every so often a cloud would make way for a tiny, bright star to momentarily twinkle before retreating once again back into the darkness. Save for the occasional car driving young women to the Soho clubs and to the restaurants and theatres in the West End, it ( Read more... )