‘It’s a fine balance,’ said Anna. She aligned two sticks to form the supporting beams of the roof. ‘Everything affects everything else.’...

She crouched on the bank, meticulously watching the river. Early on she’d learnt to be a still, silent child at her father’s side. He had...

The picnic was laid out perfectly. Crystal glasses cradled the pink remains of rosé. A bottle, uncorked and almost empty, bobbed merrily...

The 6PM police satellite umbrella had just orbited above the house. When she stepped outside she was 5 ft 4 inches tall. The pneumatic...

Startled by the slide of the cell door, Ben snapped the e-reader closed on his failed request for appeal. The Replicant entered. Ben...

Four tonnes of elephant block the middle of the only road to Rishikesh, butt smirking like a lazy Mona Lisa. Vishnu kills the engine. Lee...

I don’t want to be here, not in this country, not in this hospital, not near these people. It’s always been so lonely here, so why is it...

Mandy gazed down at her pink high tops, seeking reassurance in the perfection of the bows that she had tied by herself that morning. She...

The sand was warm and soft beneath Angelica’s feet as she sprinted along the beach. Waves crashed against the shore, tendrils of sea mist...

Brie always starts her morning jog at the fence buried in Honeysuckle. She’s convinced its caramel scent is the magical energy boost that...

I live on an old street in the middle of Detroit City. It’s a two-block stretch of Victorian mansions with a passageway of...

When I was seven, my teacher decided I needed help with spelling. Each week she sent home books to read and a list of words to spell. The...

Sister Violet gently drew the curtains in the vast silence of that cold dusk. The snowflakes slowly swirled down gently spreading over...

With weapons ready, Cre and Arn moved quietly through the forest in search of game. "Cre, look, a strange object." “What could it be?...

I stare at our old grandfather’s clock, clothed with two-hundred-day-old dust. It’s been eighty days since it stopped, our only marker of...

She was not supposed to be above ground. Louise had long since given up on going home to her ivy-covered cottage, deep in a once-verdant...

I looked in my rear view mirror to make sure no one was following me. After making that loud of a noise someone must’ve heard me. If he...

You drive.’ Greg stamps hard on the floor. His hands clench tight, his eyes fill with tears. ‘Emma, no, you drive.’ ‘I take you...

At first, there were only two. It wasn’t a terribly big house after all, and that was all they needed. Mr Jennison and his grown-up son...