Chapter 4 – When It All Changed

"The first time she calls him Sir"

Saturday morning arrived, and I dedicated the entire span to cleaning my house. Not that it was filthy or anything, but in the solitude of my own company, I managed to find dust bunnies I had previously missed. After several...

Donna Lee

"A freedom-seeking American expat encounters an unlikely kindred spirit"

Paris, 1962Inside Bohemia After Dark, patrons squinted through an ashen haze at the nightclub's featured combo. Stained indigo under mood lighting, a quintet of animated ebony carvings whisper-shouted wordless, haunting languages. Cigarette embers winked; wine glasses clinked; heads nodded with...

One-Strike Again

"Becky's friend disciplines her own chummy daughter"

My life continued under the guidance of my chummy mummy girlfriend, Becky, who knew I was annoyed when she told me that her long-time college friend Claire was coming over with her chummy daughter Hayley for the afternoon.Hayley was twenty...

Mrs Stokes’s Double Detention

"Jenny was a parent but when she acted like a naughty schoolgirl, she still thought she would always get away with breaking the rules"

Jenny Stokes walked towards Room 6, having been given a double detention. Jenny was thirty-seven and Emma's mum. Emma was sixteen.Today was parent participation day when six parents were invited to sit at the back of the class and so...

Kristina’s Holiday Week

"Kristina's office job came to seem more attractive than her holiday."

Kristina carried Mrs B's case up to the large second bedroom with its ensuite bathroom. Once there she unpacked the case, checking Mrs B's tops, skirts and dresses weren't creased before hanging them in the cupboard. One top and one...