Fiona Perry

      The Mirror   Eimear’s half-brother, Julian, died and left her a terraced house. I offered to help Eimear clear the rooms and to do runs to the charity shop with anything worth passing on.  We discovered that he had amassed about a hundred...

Harlan Yarbrough

      An Orphan’s Progress               Geoffroy, no longer young and a man of importance, could have ridden in a luxurious coach.  He chose to walk, because he enjoyed walking.  If Zarafa was going to walk he would walk with her.  No strolling,...

Meg Pokrass 

      The Forest This has something to do with the adoption of that unwanted animal, right there in the living room. Her husband watching telly, drinking beer, not looking at the animal dancing around. The animal gazing into her eyes, finding her...

Kate Rigby

      You’ve got a pop belly, mama. Like when you had that baby. It’s a pot belly, she said. And there was no baby. I thought it was pop, because babies just pop out. She didn’t say any more, though when I was very little she said I popped out like a...

Sufia Hayat

      The List In The Brain   This was a special day, Rabia knew it. She had to wake at least an hour earlier than usual. It was special for her too, because today, Saleema had promised to give her salary along with arrears. She gulped lukewarm...