Stay alive

The sun had passed its zenith. Many weary walkers, growing pink and frazzled, had piled into already crowded pubs and cafes. Alan,...

Everyone from Manchester and Sheffield had converged on the Peak District this warm sunny morning, or so Alan grumbled to himself. They...

So I kept on writing. Not sure why. Something to do in hospital, when I got the use of my arms back. Bored shitless otherwise. The...

The horror of invasion into personal privacy is well documented; the trauma, feelings of being sullied, stripped bare, exposed, destroyed...

It was so early that Sunday morning that the birds were bleary eyed still, flowers remained glumly enclosed, and Alan, though awake,...

The carrier bag wasn’t empty. Alan weighed it in his hand. Nothing much. A lighter? Cigarettes? He took it up to his flat, intending...

Ryon stared straight ahead while Alan drove the streets aimlessly. Night had suddenly, it seemed to Alan, taken over the city, made it...

Alan took a measure of the day outside from his usual place before the sitting room window. Hints of spring peeped through the residue...

Alan was sat in the staffroom eating fish-paste sandwiches. He brushed crumbs from his knees and yawned. Outside the window, which had...

The police officer was different this time. Alan was not as surprised as he should have been when he answered the door. Besides, he was...