Stories in Golddust Magazine, Literally Stories, Idle Ink, Writer's Egg, CafeLit, McStorytellers, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Down in the Dirt, Close to the Bone, Shooter, Soft Cartel, Fiction Junkies, and Heavenly Flower Publishing
Tins, jars, those broken strands of pasta that seem to get everywhere, the boxes of cereal with not even a quarter bowl left in them, all out onto the sideboard. Then a sponge and hot soapy water right innnn-to the crevices, into the hinges, across the front of the doors. Malcolm always likes the place gleaming.
Drawers next, and the follies of years past – pasta measurers, spiralizers – are laid out in the sink for all to see. The evidence of poor decisions made, of a lifestyle sought but never obtained.
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.
Autumn has arrived in Scotland this week with the coming of Storm Agnes. I have a couple of thematic haiku, although we’re not quite in frosty territory just yet…
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.
I was able to make the titles of my haiku alliterative this week, so all is well in the world again. We’re hanging off the trees and running through rock this week…
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.
whilst I usually like to utilise alliteration or assonance in my double-haiku titles, this week’s creations simply wouldn’t go that way, hence the below, slightly idiosyncratic, pairing…
*Thanks for reading, folks. Former image Copyright Matthew J. Richardson. Second image courtesy of Wikipedia. My recent short stories include ‘The Lamplighter‘ and ‘After‘.
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.
Bruised cumuli hang ribboned between the hill heads,
Broiling, born amongst corries and high-strewn boulders.
A rumble, and rain films on the moors,
Through suddenly sodden fleece and field,
Flicked and shivered from huddled feathers,
Amidst the peat banks and the tufted grass,
Guttering, gathered in the crooked dykes –
Trickling in earshot but out of sight, and
Rushing underneath the dog-eared booms.
Below,
A rippling, a gathering pour,
A foetal push onto cracked reservoir floor.
At the shieling, moor-cold, alluvial fingers grope between weathered stone joints,
Curling under where eaves once hung.
*Thanks for reading, folks. Image courtesy of Rob Burke. My recent short stories include ‘Digging‘ and ‘After‘.
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0.
Running her finger down the lead-lined bedroom window, Rose feels the protuberant solder. The stained glass distorts her view just so, just as old windows should do. Whilst she loves the feel of the old, single-pained glass, they are beginning to rattle in their frames rather too much. It might be time for replacements before winter – another job for George.
Rose can see her husband through the oranges, the yellows, and the greens. George is working, as he so often is, in the garden. The cha-cha-cha of a spade through soil reaches to the upper storey of their Tudor pile, and Rose smiles at her husband’s appetite for work. The younger man is almost feverish as he deepens the hole in which he stands. The spot overlooking the pond will be perfect for a weeping willow – it will set the water lilies and statues off wonderfully. With a cast iron bench in place – another job for George – it will be the perfect place to unwind.
