It stands before the doorIt knows the rules, only fairIf she fails to observe itIt can begin to come upstairs She stands atop the landingLooking down at the front doorHer sight pushes it back into the frameLike it was never there at all It reaches over the bedIt knows these rules of hers…

Hiya, I'm Bill. I'm here about the Home and Possession insurance. Nah, I'm a subcontractor. They send me out for this type of work. They don't keep anyone in-house for this. They used to, but I think all the sick days and complaints about hazards made it too tricky. Nice place. Are the floors overlay? OK. Is the sound of the heart constant, or does it only arise in your quiet hours to remind you of the weakest, most despicable moment of your life?

Do you ever start a project, like cooking or sewing where you read the instructions, then forget them the moment you put them down? Confidently starting, then having to unfold the pamphlet, reopen …

She brought him a hot drinkto place among other cups,cold and filled to the brim.Easily distracted, despite reminders,he never drank enough to kill him. She asked him to drive to the shopswhile she…

Hearing the birds landing on the roof, Joe smiled at his perfected business model: selling people pet birds that were trained to return to him. Sleeping soundly, Joe did not smell the smoke or feel…

My neighbour started a new business of renting out his goats to clear weeds from overgrown properties. Seeing his success, I based mine off the same model. Pigs really will eat anything, and housin…

I’m glad we have a moment alone. We don’t have long, but I have something very important to ask you. I know it doesn’t look good outside. We have limited resources, and God knows …

The temple was famous for the sound produced when the wind blew through. A faint kind of wail, almost like choral singing. Sarah stayed as long as her tour allowed, but the sounds of other tourists…

There is power in the unheeded. Agreements hidden in the introduction to a recipe, skipped over and agreed without perusal. You have agreed to take on the burden of that witch’s anxiety, shar…

Upstairs and warm in bed, Anna reached sleepily to pet the warm, furry creature next to her in bed. Downstairs, her pet cat stood proudly over what turned out to be the second rat that had come thr…

Ethan was immediately obsessed with the ballerina. He sat too far back to make out her features, but her fluid movements, weightless leaps and unceasing smile reached him from across the theatre. R…

It’s incredible what can change in a person the moment they become a parent. For Carla, she found that nothing about her baby seemed to disgust her. Spit up, wet nappies, drool, even blow-out…

⭐⭐ This recipe just didn’t work for me. I followed everything exactly, thought I had to convert the measurements into cups since my measuring cups don’t show millilitres. The only reaso…

Emma was furious that her father had remarried so soon after her mother’s death. She has put so much work into making it look like an accident Terry was sure his ex wouldn’t be upset th…

The ever-growing song I sing to my son, to amuse myself: Row, row, row your boatGently down the streamMerrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,Life is but a dream. Row, row, row your boatRight across the…

Luke tried to make every birthday the best day he could for Sasha. It wasn’t easy after her mother’s passing, but he did his best to keep distract her from who was missing. It never wor…

Adam was scared about getting caught. He knew graffiti was wrong, but it was important to him to add the name to the wall. He’d stuck behind after the tour guide described it. It was a list o…

Anna had lived there foreverIn the house with the light blue doorShe offered every new neighbour a handbut they always wanted more The Sinclair twins would use her poolLeaving puddles and towels sp…

He had been running longer than he’d ever thought possible, long past when his body would have given up on a normal day. The fear kept him moving. For the first time since he’d seen his…

I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten all day, but I knew I had a bag of corn chips saved for myself. I saw it when I put the shopping away, I saw it when I got out the ingredients for dinner, and it …

Most parents jumped at the chance to give their children an advantage. The government offered free IVF to couples in exchange for the right to run gene experiments prior to implantation. This led t…

On Halloween I walked aloneSilent and bad-temperedI was no longer a childAnd nothing was as I remembered Wandering past dark homes,Having found the evening plainI found the last road with lights st…

There are miracles hidden within some of us that we may never know about. But some do make that discovery. An average man stares at the empty portion of their brain scan, having never known anythin…

It took months to tell the doctor about the shadowy creature that stalks around my room at night. I was terrified that I’d gone crazy. I’d lie in bed, paralysed and conscious as it mean…