The Forester’s Daughter

The Forester’s Daughter

When he is getting into his car, a stranger who holds his cards close to his chest approaches. ‘I understand you have a dog you’d sell.’ ‘A dog?’ says Deegan. ‘Aye,’ he says, ‘a gun dog. Do you still have him?’ ‘Well, I do.’ Deegan is set back on his heel but he...
The Heart In Winter

The Heart In Winter

On Wyoming Street in the evening a patent Irish stumbled by, some crazy old meathead in a motley of rags and filthy buck-skin, wild tufts of hair sticking out the ears, the eyes burning now like hot stars, now clamped shut in a kind of ecstasy, and he lurched and...
Courting The Wild Twin

Courting The Wild Twin

What is life like when you don’t know what it is you’re marrying? Harshly put, it implies you are naive. Gullible. Didn’t read that small print. A terrible deal occurs in the fairy tale The Handless Maiden, when a father barters away his daughter to a demon by not...
Case Study

Case Study

I continued to pass my evenings in the parlour, but I had grown impatient with the drivel I read. There seemed no reason why I could not do better, or at least have a stab at doing so. I began to write little sketches of the characters I encountered at work. Then for...
French Exit

French Exit

“I’ve just been out riding my bicycle,” Malcolm said. “What bicycle?” “Frances bought me one for Christmas.” “That’s sad. Where are you?” “Next to the canal. Want to know what I’m looking at?” “Not really. All right.” “Right in front of me there’s a boatload of...