London torn. Night and day. Sinners and angels. Debut novel by Mark A. King, available now
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. …
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 …
I was honoured and privileged to be chosen as winner at The Angry Hourglass for my story "The Soul Catcher". Many thanks to judge Voima Oy.
The Time Traveller Perhaps this is the thousandth time I have witnessed this. Yet, this is the final time. I am a time traveller without a DeLorean. This pitiful attempt to rewrite the past has eaten away at me like a parasite. I know it has destroyed me more than the growths which now suffocate …
Continue reading "“The Time Traveller” – Flash Frenzy Round 49 | The Angry Hourglass"
The Basilica of Bethlehem I fumble as I approach the sacred Basilica, the upturned wine glass that stretches ten-miles in diameter. I bow my head, respectfully, as I follow the procession ‘neath the spire, the stem, the funnel that stretches endlessly into a cask-oak coloured sky. On stony bridges, we walk, over the streams of …
Continue reading "“The Basilica of Bethlehem” – Welcome to Year Three! | Flash! Friday"
Fair Ray Tale of New York Your amber locks dance into the suburban New York skyline. I wipe the residue of accelerant from my hands and onto my grubby fatigues. Experience tells me the smells will linger under my fingernails for days to come. Your movement is that of a ghost, an apparition, a fair …
Continue reading "“Fair Ray Tale of New York” – FLASHVERSARY IS HERE! | Flash! Friday"
The Silver Song of the Lark The karaoke bar was heaving, so they went to the back, where proper music could be played – through a proper record player. Let the youngsters, gangstas and Beats-wearing hipsters sing what they thought passed for music these days. Shankly sat at the bar, ale in hand, smiling. …
The Cherub Hitman of Cambridge Things got worse after he’d messed up the millennium gig. It was supposed to be… something much bigger. He’d been banished to Earth, and of all places, Cambridge. People tend to think of cherubs as porky and cute. Cedric was a carrying a bit of timber, sure, but to call …
Continue reading "“The Cherub Hitman of Cambridge” – Flash Frenzy Round 40 | The Angry Hourglass"
A Prayer on All Hallows Eve I am but a man of weakness, frailty and betrayal. I kneel before Him, my cassock rumpled up as a sea of fabric against the shore of my weekend knees. I adjust my dog-collar with my rosary beads hanging off my clasped hands, like a modern-day rapper’s bling. I’ve …
Continue reading "“A Prayer on All Hallows Eve” – Flash Frenzy Round 39 | The Angry Hourglass"
Metropolitan Dreams 