"Invited by Roy, I take his wife, Barbara"
A house indistinguishable from the others on the street – that was my first impression: ordinary brick, ordinary curtains, an ordinary front garden. Yet the man who opened the door was greeting anything but an ordinary visitor. I had come...
"Two friends go through life together - but one day changes their future."
It all started with our mothers.During the post-war slum clearances, our mothers were displaced along with their parents. Fate placed them side-by-side in a terrace of new council houses. Their friendship blossomed quickly and endured, even after they married and...
"Dora is wracked with guilt and thinks she has damaged her relationship with Michael."
I have messed up, really messed up. It's been five days since we came back from Brighton – and Michael hasn’t touched me once. I think he’s in love with Carrie.Yesterday was the worst day of my life. I couldn’t...
"Dora takes Michael to visit her lesbian friend in Brighton. Not everything goes to plan."
I can’t stay cross with Michael; he does everything for me. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little irritated when he told me about Penny. How she supposedly seduced him — or so he insists.But that’s behind...
"After an evening out Michael, Dora, Nigel and Penny come home for some extra fun."
Looking at my reflection in the tall mirror, I can’t help but giggle at the absurdity. A sixty-nine‑year-old woman dressed as a mediaeval wench — or rather, the modern fantasy of one. My plain, dark blue bodice and skirt are...
"Alone in a strange land, Moira finds redemption and a new life."
I understood no one was coming to rescue me. If I wanted to survive, I had to think. And the first clear thought was a simple imperative—walk. So I left the boat and my life on Ngumba behind.Outside the harbour...
"Special deliveries make Christmas"
20th December: Ding dong!Hurrying along the hall, I open the front door. On the step, a neat rectangular box waits to be claimed. I scoop it up and glance around for the delivery driver—they’ve already vanished, but I hear the...
"Moira's time as a royal concubine comes to an abrupt end."
Two days after my first audience, the call came again, for me to go with Fatima and Carla, who was the chosen one this time.Everything was the same, except on the terrace, Carla was the one who needed to be...
"Moira discovers the reality of regal power."
My time with Daisha and Mafalda had left me exhausted and sated. I slept soundly until a morning breeze stirred the curtains at my window. Sunlight poured onto my closed eyelids, and I stirred.Dragging myself from the bed, I slipped...
"Moira discovers what women in a harem do while they wait for their lord's command."
The tugboat lurched and rolled as it made its way towards Ngumba Harbour. I sat on a bench behind the wheelhouse, glancing back at the ship that had been my home for the past week as it receded into the...