It wasn’t as bad in 2015. It was bad, but it wasn’t like this. She didn’t feel it as much. She watches people more now. She takes the tram and everyone has their phone in their hand. They wear masks. They look down not up. Everyone looks down. When they look up they look outContinue reading “It wasn’t as bad”
Category Archives: fiction
Lockdown
She starts arguments with him a lot during lockdown. He is a guy she is seeing casually, and now he’s in a different country and they have little to talk about. There is little point in them talking at all, but she keeps up an incessant regime of messaging to assert control. Nothing is goingContinue reading “Lockdown”
Grease
I’ve just woken up. My eyes blink and a grey ceiling is above me, speckled with black splodges, and a stringy cobweb in the corner. My hangover lingers in the background, like a radio on low volume, threatening to ruin the day, but not bad enough to stop me from sitting up and looking aroundContinue reading “Grease”
The last time
The last time we were together You played with my hair and said this could be forever The first time I went to sleep without you I turned on my laptop And I instantly knew You wouldn’t see me as I was before I would never look the same You could see my face andContinue reading “The last time”
As I
As I watch a screen You are outside roaming As I sit in my shower You walk the streets, drifting As I jump to conclusions You walk without conscience As I stare in the mirror You order another As I put on more makeup You pay the bill for both As I lie hungover You’reContinue reading “As I”
Crazy
Out of all the insults thrown at women, ‘she’s crazy’ has to be one of the most damning. Crazy encompasses a wide spectrum of unruly female behaviours, from being too persistent , to not getting over someone quickly enough, to over-sharing or being jealous or petty or hormonal or loud or horny or emotionally attached…Continue reading “Crazy”
ELLA1
When Ella was twenty-five, she joined an acting group. Though outgoing and vivacious, she found it hard to make herself known and truly connect with those around her in her first few months there. She had a budding passion for theatre. She wanted starring roles in shows, but felt neither bold nor integrated enough inContinue reading “ELLA1”
Temporary part four
When I make it back to the kitchen, I start setting out the fruit. Half of it in the basket, half of it in the cupboards. Seven bananas in the basket. Five apples. Five oranges. A bunch of grapes. Men slip in and out behind me, pouring themselves cups of coffee. Some of them talkContinue reading “Temporary part four”
Good copy
My job as a copywriter consists of making language simple. Long words have to be cut down into shorter ones. Anything vague or “not to the point” needs to be condensed and pulverised into something that resembles good writing, but is actually a regurgitation of another agency’s ideas. Every word is for the purpose ofContinue reading “Good copy”
Temporary part three
Joanne takes her fob and opens the door to the main office. There are lines of rectangular desks and rows of balding heads, eyes down. I traipse after her cautiously, adjusting my skirt, not wanting to stray in front of her. I can hear a slight murmur ripple across the room. A few heads liftContinue reading “Temporary part three”
The female perspective 