Category: Stories

One of our members, Richard Gillies, presents this short piece, which he assures us is not entirely autobiographical. And That’s Not All When you are young, your personality is new formed, and if there is anything wrong with its construction you take a long time to accept there is any need for improvement. That is […]

David Carson, chair of the Nethergate Writers, has written this moving and highly topical piece. Mohsen leaned against the tent pole.  It was cold and hard.  He looked inside at the crush of women rummaging through boxes.   Hands stretched out and seized tins of soup, jars of spices and bottles of water.  A tall figure […]

One of our members, Ray Kinsman, has two short pieces that muse on mortality in very different ways. John had taken the doctor’s advice to visit the clinic, confident that with their help he could stop smoking. Thinking of his new life without this addiction, he smiled as he crossed the road towards the clinic, […]

Two of our members, Aileen Cook and Craig A Mudie, commute between Dundee and St Andrews. Here are two different takes on their daily journeys. Fellow Travellers I yawn as I take my place in the queue, just as the bus pulls up to the stance, a sigh of air as the pneumatic doors swing […]

Roddie McKenzie gives us another poem about poetry, amongst other things… Giving the Gifts that Keep on Giving Teaching, a giving that rewards twice. They gain the knowledge, which of course, is power. And then, in scaffolding the dull thick, facts into a cathedral, I pause and appreciate the marvel Of how nature works. Poetry […]

The Scottish Book Trust run a monthly contest to write a 50 word story on a given theme. Last month, it was mobile phones, and a few of our members decided to give it a try. Here are our attempts. My Waterloo The visiting dignitaries glared. There’s a suppressed smile from Sweden at the vibrating […]

Every morning I wake in a vacuous home, I have burnt every page, In his subjugate tome, I lay in the mist like a malevolent ghost, While the living continue, As the parasite’s host, Some give in to my demons that grow, As Prometheus cries, In the Hell that is hope, To live as I […]

It was the day the eyes of my girlfriend`s dog glowed acid green. My worst suspicions were confirmed. Yet true love really can conquer all. Marina and I had been together just six months when we decided to move in together. It made sense for both of us: shared expenses. London rental prices in the […]