The two-week wait on the kiln was doing her head in. Once it’s in, it’s in—and that’s it. Nothing to do but wait, which she’s never been any good at. Hands already on the next idea before the last one’s finished. So she needed something else to get on with. Bro was coming down for […]
tuck in my head like an alarm on snooze — why did she latch? She sat there for weeks. Free rent.And the longer she stayed, the louder she got. Not loud in the way people talk.Loud in the way someone moves. Never still. Never settled. She gets agitated doing nothing.Hands always busy. Always halfway through […]
The last week was worse than watching paint dry. It was watching grout dry. A version of a shower had arrived.Hot water too. Hot water had been a fight—willpower against space. We won. Just. A week earlier we’d been jumping around like kids. High fives. Laughing as hot water came through the kitchen tap. Now […]
It took a moment to realise what was happening. As my eyes adjusted, I could see my breath—like a kettle left boiling. Cold on my lips, while the rest of me was wrapped in warmth under the duvet and two dogs. Winter had arrived. The fire had gone out. Frost traced the window above the […]
It was cold enough in the evening to relight the fire. It had been off all summer. Now, for the first time, we saw its glow properly—warm orange light filling the space we’d built. The smell of melting dog fur cut through it. They hadn’t worked it out yet—curl up too close, and you singe […]
This was my second explosion, but this one was close. Not from afar. The volume and intensity left me rattled. The smack from the oven door felt like I’d been kneecapped, and across the boat the front doors were flapping open, the bolts snapped clean off. Their face was total surprise. I know they like […]