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189 entries in this archive

Monday 20 March, 2023

Just Good Friends (a five-minute-read)

Sometimes when we are on our travels an idea occurs and I reach for my iPad and begin tapping.

Most of these snippets don’t ‘take’ and languish unfinished.

Looking for something else in my iPad library, I found this one and thought it worth polishing.

I hope it might amuse, over a morning coffee?

Sunday 19 March, 2023

What tomorrow brings (a longer read, about an hour)

This story comes from a Writers’ Circus challenge entitled - ‘The Day After’.

Indeed for most of the time I was crafting this, I called it ‘The Day After the Night Before’ until a different title suggested itself from the dialogue.

It is set in 1955, in the West of Scotland, in Motherwell which at that time was a thriving steel town.

The characters are middle-class, twin sisters competing for the best of two brothers.

In true Peoples’ Friend style it is full of twists and turns and flew easily from my noddle onto the screen, keeping me amused as the story told itself.

I hope this fun comes across and that you enjoy it too.

Sunday 19 March, 2023

Zephyr ( a longer read, about an hour)

This is a tale about a an ordinary man who buys a boat.

The boat is odd and holds secrets which make it the target for others, who want to take it from him.

It is set mainly on the West Coast of Scotland and the Irish Sea, centred on Ardrossan, Largs and Ayr.

Give it a try, why don’t you?

Friday 3 March, 2023

Take your chances (5,000 words, a twenty minute read)

This story was scribed while in Gran Canaria, while people-watching, in a local restaurant.

Beside us at the next table, a lovely American couple ordered a bottle of expensive wine. (You can read about this in the final few paragraphs.)

The chap looked to me as if he was an ‘academic’.

He and his lady companion, both in their fifties, were ‘too friendly and polite to each other’ to be married, was my take.

I was intrigued.

Read on....

Monday 27 February, 2023

Oor Nikki (an eight-minute read)


An insight into the life of a modern entrepreneurial Glasgow girl depicted in a stream of consciousness telephone monologue.

Delivert in Glasgow vernacular, so it is!

Thursday 19 January, 2023

Drew and the Lost Glove (ten-minute read)

Drew our seven year old grandson was heading for footie training but he had lost his gloves.

Reluctantly he choose another pair from the Hat and Glove box but he was not happy.

This is a tale which tells what transpired.

Wednesday 11 January, 2023

The Devil’s Elbow (5,500 words, twenty minute reading time)

This tale was penned for our Writers’ Circus group on the topic: “the room was cold”.

It is about a group of retired friends who share a passion for wildlife photography. They make a journey from Yorkshire to a luxury eco-lodge north of Inverness in search of stills and videos to exhibit at the January meeting of their photography club.

Although the weather id dreadful, they keep going, determined to make the most of their short winter break to the wilds of Scotland.

Note: There is another Devil’s Elbow in Scotland, on the dangerous high pass route between Glen Shee and Braemar, a road subject to frequent closures during winter.

This story is about a quite different Devil’s Elbow.

Tuesday 8 November, 2022

Claim to Fame (a coffee time tale, five minutes or less)

This madcap tale was written in response to a Writers’ Circus challenge which gave us the theme:

UNBELIEVABLE

Read on, every word is true!

Thursday 13 October, 2022

Twinned (at 6,300 words, a longer read, perhaps 30 minutes)

This story was written in response to a Writers’ Circus challenge on the topic of ‘dreaming’.

It was largely tapped out on my iPad while we were on holiday at Siverdyke Caravan Park at Cellardyke, one of a string of coastal villages which form the East Nuke of Fife and a short walk from the village of Kilrenny which features in the story.

Kilrenny (with nearby Anstruther and Cellardyke) is ‘twinned’ with Bapaume, a small industrial town in North-East France.

The story is about a spinster lady who lives in Kilrenny. She is down on her luck but still struggling to keep up appearances.

Read on.

Wednesday 14 September, 2022

Boomerang (4,300 words, a fifteen-minute read)

This is a story about two young people who become close friends at university.

Then, after a long separation, they meet again.

It is set in Glasgow and the Isle of Barra.

The tale was sparked by a Writers’ Circus topic: “Harvest”.

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