London torn. Night and day. Sinners and angels. Debut novel by Mark A. King, available now
Mirror | Mirror Her paddleboat is a glorified bicycle on water. Yet it skims the mirrored surface, on dreams of tranquillity. She is leaving the shores of eroded memories, of this long and prosperous life. She envisions the sunsets of Monet. How she has lived. How she has loved. How she has taken everything, from …
Continue reading "“Mirror | Mirror” – Flash! Friday: Vol 3 – 7 | Flash! Friday – Shortlist"
A Woman Needs a Man like a Fish Needs a Bicycle Ariel was the pretty one. The one the sailors died for. The one the crustaceans sang to. Ariel was lured to the stagnant lands, the desolate dunes and the harsh dryness of air and sun. By…by…a man. A man! She’d seen his type before. …
Wall Art Berlin. China. Hadrian. Pink Floyd. Forget them all. The wall behind Greggs Bakers on the periphery of the M1 service station is the most famous and valuable wall of them all. But it wasn’t always that way… “Oi, watch wot ya doin’,” the man with the scruffy hair and spray-paint jeans …
Continue reading "“Wall Art” – Flash Frenzy Round 57 | The Angry Hourglass"
More judging. This time I was lucky enough to be asked to judge at The Angry Hourglass...
Tamara Shoemaker and I entered the arena (sorry) for our 2nd session of judging at Flash! Friday. This one was more problematic. Colosseum prompt picture and Janitor as a character led to many, many stories of blood, guts and cleaning. The winner was something special...
Angel of Death She walks wards of clinical hinterland and navigates paths of life and death. Her uniform is always clean, crisp and blindingly white. She looks like the model professional and her smile is that of cherubim. She gleams brightly at the visitors. But they infest the hospital. They are like parasites around their …
Continue reading "“Angel of Death” – Flash! Friday: Vol 3 – 5 | Flash! Friday"
Construction Spat from the heavens. Wherever she worked in her life she felt alone – she felt different. Today would be the worst day. Under an incendiary morning sky, the skeletal frameworks of scaffolding impaled the horizon. She knew they’d be up there. In the heavens, they’d be judging her. A construction site is no …
Continue reading "“Construction” – Flash! Friday: Vol 3 – 5 | Flash! Friday – Shortlist"
The White Tail of the Metal Dragon The little boy plays in the field outside the city. He tenderly touches his father’s hand, looking for respite from the gathering of the crops. It has been so long since he rested. “These are times of war, son. You know we have to gather the crops to …
Silhouette Sunday Religion never really died – it just moved on. Technology. Lust. Money. Fame. The religions of the first-world fed on the detritus of absconded gods. And so it came it be; Silhouette Sunday, once born of ancient Easter – a time of birth from death. In the sterile factories filled with embryonic stem-cells, …
Continue reading "“Silhouette Sunday” – Flash Frenzy Round 51 | The Angry Hourglass"
St George – Slayer of dragons and lover of honey. Saint George, or Georgios of Lydda, recalled the battle. The North Dragon had reeked of the seas; of ancient brine and decayed prey. The dragon glanced at him contemptuously. His face was coloured of pink coral and diluted blood. “You have no business here, boy …
Metropolitan Dreams 