Short – Paul Walker

The Paper Chase

By Keith Wadsworth The Envelope Jess leaned forward and, with elbows on knees, she rested her chin on her clenched fists. It was her favourite sulking pose. If it was for public consumption she would add a good loud sigh as she did it. Here in the park the sigh would have been wasted soContinue reading “The Paper Chase”

A JOURNEY

By Joan Whicher It was Paris 1962 and I was visiting my boyfriend who would later become my husband. He was staying at his aunt’s flat in Boulogne sur Seine, while working as an intern at a French insurance company in the centre of Paris. The previous year he’d attended a business studies course inContinue reading “A JOURNEY”

ORFORD

By Joan Whicher Orford in Suffolk is where we would spend a long weekend in August for many years. We’d normally arrive by way of Lavenham and Woodbridge. This was something of a ritual and was looked forward to hugely, as it was, during those years the sum total of our annual holiday, short butContinue reading “ORFORD”

A HOLIDAY MEMORY

We’ve been practising our French, so it’s a minor disappointment when the owner of the gîte, Mr Brouillard, speaks perfect English. Our directions have taken us to the ‘manoir’, which turns out to be a castle. This is no ordinary pile of medieval rubble, but an entire fairy castle with slender turrets, topped with pantileContinue reading “A HOLIDAY MEMORY”

ERASMUS

I am ushered into the orangery to find Sir George and a man, who I take to be the artist, in deep conversation. I hold back in the doorway, flex my shoulders, bow my legs and circle my ankles to relieve the unfamiliar closeness of the clothes I am made to wear. They chafe andContinue reading “ERASMUS”

POINT ZERO

By D M Lowe Professor Adamson coughed. Everyone looked. In the current environment, she might have received less of a reaction had she performed a jig in the nude. She cleared her throat and took a sip of water. “This covid-19 pandemic couldn’t have come at a worse time for us. Labs abandoned, furloughed technicians,Continue reading “POINT ZERO”