Two NewYear Haiku
From Robert
Kingston
old year’s night
the clatter of pots and pans
louder than ship horns
Happy new year to one and all!
new year’s day
a robin sings
from the same branch
Copyright Robert
Kingston
We are a diverse group from all walks of life. Our passion is to write; to the best of our ability and sometimes beyond. We meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursday each month, to read and critique our work in friendly, open discussion. However, the Group is not solely about entertaining ourselves. We support THE ESSEX AND HERTS AIR AMBULANCE by producing and selling anthologies of our work. So far we have raised in excess of £9,700, by selling our books at venues throughout Essex.
From Robert
Kingston
old year’s night
the clatter of pots and pans
louder than ship horns
Happy new year to one and all!
new year’s day
a robin sings
from the same branch
Copyright Robert
Kingston
By Len Morgan
“Back!” he yelled. They turned and ran, but the shadow struck a third time, and only two remained. It struck again instantly and again so fast it was a blur Jamie couldn’t believe what he'd witnessed.
Catching sight of an enormous black paw raking towards him, he turned to flee. He felt a stabbing pain in his tail. He frantically gripped the lip of his hole and hauled himself in; leaving a blood trail in his wake.
A younger, leaner, fitter cat the humans called ‘Midnight’ had arrived. They were already learning what that meant. Several days later, Fuzzy Whiskers went out through the cat flap and never returned, while ‘Midnight’ licked her lips in expectation of many more mousey morsels.
Midnight was not
particularly evil, she was so incredibly swift, an instinctive hunter who loved
to kill. Oh, it was nothing personal of
course, she was quite indiscriminate.
Just as happy killing birds in the garden, mice in the house, or
any living thing that crossed her path.
She met her match with a pack of three
Midnight! The bringer of death had in one week decimated their population. She had produced more mouse corpses than both the electric fence, gas, poison, and old FW, combined. So the mice took to traveling through the cavity walls, making their appearance close to their food source. Even so, the unwary continued to fall prey to the Black Assassin. There she sits, meticulously preening herself with a silly grin on her face. Confident in the knowledge that, dogs withstanding, there was nothing that could match her speed or vision, day or night!
“Something must be
don’t!” Grumbled the disgruntled and
discontented surviving members of the group.
“Jamie is our leader. It’s time he did something about Midnight.”
“But even if he gets rid
of her tomorrow, there will be a younger replacement within days.” Kibbie
reasoned.
“But, something has to be done…”
Jamie was at a loss. He
didn’t have a clue what they could do about Midnight. She roamed the house physically or with her
sharp senses day and night, her toll on the mouse population was
unremitting. In her short time at 17
Cedarwood the mouse population was reduced by a third. Many of his own family had gone missing, they
had fallen foul of the c-a-t. He could
scarcely bring himself to think of her for fear of invoking her presence.
The humans were the key,
they could get rid of her, as they had Fuzzy Whiskers. He felt anger thinking of all the beautiful
young mice, whose short lives were ended prematurely because…
“That animal!”
There was nothing the mice could do to stop Midnight. But there must be a way… Maybe something that directly affected them would bring about her demise; maybe something that affected their own young one…
.-...-.
“I’m sorry Sean, that cat
is far too eager to kill, indiscriminately.
We had the house sanitised a year ago, and there is no evidence of
re-infestation. Yet she continues to
spread multiple dead things on the back doormat, mice, frogs, birds. It’s so upsetting for Malissa, she is very
impressionable and she’s afraid to come into the kitchen until I first check it
for dead things.”
“But, it’s a cats nature, they are hunters June, that’s why we got her in the first place. To keep down the rodent population.”
(To be
continued)
Copyright
Len Morgan
by Richard Banks
Annie was not in love,
of that she was sure. Love was something that happened to young people, other
people’s children, not a forty something woman married to a man twenty years
her senior. She had once loved her husband and the embers of that love still
remained, but only the embers, the excitement, and passion were gone. She told
herself that love was unimportant, just a phase, the consequence of a
biological process soon to expire.
She had much to be thankful for, a
comfortable existence, a tolerant, undemanding husband, and yet life seemed
lacking, incomplete. She was only halfway through her life and yet it seemed
over. Other women of her age had the consolation of children. She had none. Her
life was empty, without purpose. There had to be more, she reasoned. She needed
more.
Had she been able to define the ‘more’ she
so desperately sought, a solution to her unhappiness might readily have been
found. The absurdity of her situation appalled her. How could she find what she
lacked, if she didn’t know what it was? Where should she be looking? Would she
know ‘it’, if she saw ‘it’?
To her surprise, the answers to all these
questions were waiting for her at the Lambeth College of Further Education. Her
enrolment there for pottery classes was merely intended to fill her Monday
mornings, her highest expectation was that she would make a half-decent vase.
Then, the mystery of ‘it’ was solved.
‘It’ was six foot, two inches tall,
twenty-six years old, with the complaisant good looks of someone well used to
admiring glances. ‘It’ was Mario, the potter, their tutor, made in
He had come, he said, “to improve his
English and to teach the art of pottery, the Neapolitan way.” He smiled broadly
at this revelation and paused as if inviting a round of applause. Contenting
himself with the nervous simpers of some of the younger ladies in the class, he
proceeded to expound the “ancient mystery” of Neapolitan pottery in a peculiar
fusion of several languages that rendered the mystery safe from discovery.
Mario concluded his discourse with an
expansive wave of a muscular arm and asked his audience if they had any
questions. “You ask, I answer,” he added, for the benefit of those unfamiliar
with the questioning process.
Annie had several questions that she
thought best kept to herself. She wondered if the tattoo on his upper arm
extended onto his shoulder and why a man with such a luxuriant head of thick,
curly hair had none on his chest. While her view of his chest was restricted by
the buttoning of his shirt, the pedant that hung from his neck appeared to be
resting against nothing more than smooth, brown skin. Perhaps, he shaved it
like he shaved his chin, she conjectured, or maybe he …. Her train of thought was abruptly halted by
the sound of Mario’s voice.
“Mrs Turner, you have question?”
She adjusted her gaze upwards to find
Mario’s dark brown eyes gazing quizzically into hers. She realised this was the time for quick
thinking. She needed a question, a really good question, preferably something
about pottery, something that would impress him, attract his interest. “Will we
be using real clay?” she said. The alarm bells in her head told her this was
not enough. “I mean, I mean… will we be using the real clay of Neapolitan
Italy?” Yes, that’s it, she thought, that will do. The stares of her fellow
students suggested that it did not.
Mario, however, appeared to be giving the
question serious consideration. A troubled expression clouded his face. He took
a deep breath and shifted uneasily from foot to foot. “I ask same question. How
can you make Neapolitan pot without Neapolitan clay, but man up the stairs say
too expensive, we have clay,
Annie attempted to shake and nod her head
at the same time. Finding the sensation unpleasant she decided to use her
voice. “No possible, absolutely,” she said. “I mean, you can’t make a cake
without eggs.” She pulled a face to further express her disapproval.
Mario reflected on the relevance of the
cake and eggs. Fearing his students were about to desert him for the cookery
class next door, he flung out his hands in a desperate appeal for their
support. “It will not be easy. You think it not be done, so do I, but we try.
We try together, yes?”
Annie managed to suppress a whoop of approval.
Wow, she thought. What an emotive subject pottery is. Who would have thought
it? This was her road to
Mario observed the animated faces of his
students and concluded they would be continuing in the class. He seemed near to tears. “You make me very
happy. I make you happy. After tea break, we make pots together. Good pots,
strong pots. You and me together, yes?”
Annie felt a pleasant little shiver pass
through her body, she curled up her toes to stop it escaping. Pottery with
Mario was obviously going to be an experience not to be missed. She pictured
herself at the potter’s wheel with Mario reaching around her to steady the pot
she had started, but which was teetering out of control. His hands on her
hands, guiding them, caressing them, as the pot again spun with symmetrical
precision.
Her daydream was interrupted by the
realisation that the other ladies were filing out the door en-route to the
canteen. She rose to join them. Mario stood by his desk, waiting to lock the
room. He was smiling, looking towards her. Was he thinking what she hoped he
was thinking?
“Mrs Turner,” he said, as the last lady
left the room. “Thank you for what you say. It is good you are so enthusiastic.
Maybe you also interested in this?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a
twice folded slip of paper, which he pressed into her hand. “We talk later,
yes?”
Annie smiled what she hoped was an assured,
sophisticated smile. Play it cool, she thought, as blood came rushing to her
cheeks. She retreated to the ladies’ toilet and locked herself in one of the
cubicles. For a few moments she dared not look at the scrap of paper she was
clasping in a clammy hand. What had he written? She took a deep breath,
unfolded it and discovered a leaflet, with Mario’s name in bold capitals. There
was smaller lettering below. She held it up, until all the printed words were
in focus. ‘Mario Pozzuoli’, she read, ‘Personal Services for the Sensual Woman
- discreet and confidential.’ At first she was horrified, then embarrassed. She
pulled down the lid of the toilet seat and sat down.
Annie stared blankly at the cubicle door
and then again at Mario’s leaflet. She wondered if he also provided services
for disconcerted women. The thought raised a smile, then a giggle.
“The young rascal,” she murmured. Whatever
made him think she would be interested in… The thought remained unfinished. Of
course she was interested. Hadn’t she been drooling over him like a teenage
groupie. So the young man’s favours came at a price. What didn’t? Could she
blame him. Could she blame herself if she… That pleasant little shiver
returned. She had only to say yes. Why not? she thought. It would not be love,
of course, but who needed love, it had let her down too many times. The
emotional helter-skelter was no longer for her. She needed something steadier,
uncomplicated. A chance to play, to take pleasure without the lows that love
always brought. She slipped Mario’s leaflet into her handbag. For the first
time in a long time she knew what she wanted, what she needed, nothing could be
plainer.
Annie joined her fellow students in the
canteen. She bought a coffee and sat down beside a woman she had spoken to at
the beginning of the class. Mario was there, seeking eye contact, waiting for
her to communicate her agreement with a knowing smile or an unobtrusive nod of
her head. She decided to keep him waiting until the end of the class. How good
it felt to be in control.
Copyright Richard Banks
By Len Morgan
“How fare you,” asked the father Abbot.
Aldor sighed, “Another Conjunction has come
and gone and Bedelacq’s brood still remain on the eastern shore of the
Stalbech.”
“It is good to hear that.”
“What of his Brides, the ones we are holding?”
Aldor asked.
The Abbot’s face wrinkled in a frown, “it will
take time,” he replied. “The main
problem is, their bodies are not of this time.
When he withdraws his power from them their physical body ages rapidly they shrivel and die. The first four are already gone only, these five remain, Efelel amongst them.”
“Are any yet ready for return to this world?”
Aldor asked. Two could be rehabilitated
but of course, their bodies are gone,” said the Abbot.
“Show me,” said Aldor.
He was led to the roof garden, where five
globes rested in cups atop their individual posts set in the middle of a
pleasantly aromatic herb garden. Aldor
sniffed appreciatively.
“It aids concentration” the Abbot explained.
Aldor smiled.
A brother, clothed in the red habit of their order, sat cross-legged
before each globe meditating intently. Which is Efelel? He gazed over the shoulder of her observer, at swirling deep black
clouds.
“That one, Efelel, I’m afraid is beyond redemption, she
rages against the universe. It’s been
more than a month and the clouds are darker than ever. We really should be considering releasing
her to return to the wheel…”
Aldor gazed intently into the globe; his face
became fixed. The clouds slowed visibly
in their race, then gradually, they began to clear. He plunged down and down, down into the
darkness plumbing their depths. Just as
he began to doubt his senses, he heard an embryonic scream. It reached down into his depths churning his
innards, causing retching nausea, his head spun and he began to freefall. The scream repeated, much closer this time,
momentarily he thought to flee, but this was not the physical world, where
could he go? Then without warning the
beast attacked, with fiery breath, tooth, and claw. The pain was very real.
“Aaaah!
He cried out in anger recalling his own incarceration. The beast retreated. He saw a feint green glow, to one side, and
moved towards it. As he drew nearer he
saw a young female child, within the glow, and a menacing green dragon towering
over her. Its tail curled around
her many times, marking her as its possession.
“Approach at your peril,” the dragon warned,
belching flame and acrid smoke in his direction. The child’s wide blue eyes beseeched him
soundlessly, but her words popped into his mind.
“Please release me from his clutches,” she
begged.
Aldor looked at the dragon he was conjured
from her own mind so he thought to deal with it without too much trouble but,
when he felt its breath he beat a hasty retreat. Fortunately, it showed no inclination to
chase after him, contenting itself to stay close to its charge. He cursed his arrogance; he hadn’t even
taken the trouble to discover her birth name, before entering the globe. Now he discovered there was no mind for him
to read, least none he could enter in his present state.
“What is your name” he called out.
Her answer was drowned by the volcanic roar
that issued from the beast. He returned
towards the green glow under cover of the black smoke and in its centre was the
girl, still encircled by the dragon; she looked to be twelve or thirteen. She had straw coloured hair and bright blue
eyes sparkling with intelligence. She
was slim and waife like, giving the impression of being resigned to her fate,
he detected an overriding melancholy.
She looked at him and as their eyes met waves of sadness and loss flowed
from her to him.
“Help me,” she implored. The beast's grip tightened around her waist
forcing a gasp from her lips.
He realised as he had never done before that
it was Bedelacq’s creature and not of her creation. His forehead began to throb, he rubbed at
the distraction, and it seemed as though he had rubbed a scaling from his third
eye; the jewel.
“You have no weapons that can harm me,” the
beast mocked.
In answer he visualised his sword; his alter
ego. As it materialised the beast blew
a stream of green flame in his direction.
The flow increased steadily but Aldor pierced the stream with his sword
and the heat was dissipated.
“Then you will not be afeared to leave the
child in order to deal with me?” he said.
The creature detached itself from its charge
and swept rapidly towards him. Aldors
forehead opened fully to reveal the imbedded jewel. The beast roared and attacked.
The flames became more intense a glaring white
lance. Aldor stood calmly, ignoring
it. The beast stopped and stood in
disbelief. The jewel turned a deep
violet and returned the flames it had ignored; beam after beam of blinding blue
light the beast stood against it briefly and then it was gone.
Aldor rubbed his forehead and turned, away
from the globe, breaking contact.
“It’s clearing, there’s a young girl inside,
she is smiling, and speaking,” said the priest.
‘She was a child of thirteen, all memory
of her association with Bedelacq had been wiped away, all they lacked was a
body of the appropriate age.
He heard her thanks repeated in his mind, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ ’but, he was already gazing into the next globe.
(To be Continued)
Copyright
Len Morgan
By Jane Scoggins
It’s upsetting when you lose something you value, isn’t it? And it’s not always about monetary value. Oh no, it can be of sentimental value or for its usefulness. I know, because I lost something recently that was important to me. I've hunted high and low, but to no avail. I tell myself to put it behind me. It’s not as if it is a diamond down the plughole or granny’s wedding ring. No, I tell myself, stop fretting about it. It's gone and that’s the end of it. But I really do miss it.
I am usually a pretty
sanguine sort of person. You know, nothing much gets me down and I don’t sweat
the small stuff, and in the light of things these days, this is small stuff.
But I guess that like so many people in these strange times I have been
affected in unexpected ways. And the last eighteen months or so have been
strange haven’t they? Of course, I am talking about the Covid 19 virus that we
were hit by back in January2020. It spread across the country and in fact the
world in a way never known before. It made people very ill indeed, the
hospitals were full to bursting and many thousands of people died. Not just
people who were vulnerable or with existing medical conditions. Not just the
frail elderly, but younger apparently fit people too. The government called
upon the best scientists to develop a vaccine at double quick time. But even
with the vaccine jab rollout, we were not at all safe and the numbers of cases
escalated weekly like wildfire. We were all instructed to keep two metres apart
from others, wash hands all the time, use antibacterial hand gel, wear face
masks, avoid meeting with groups of friends and even family outside our
immediate household. The mantra became Hands, Face, Space. Things got worse.
Next came PM Boris Johnson’s difficult decision to announce a lockdown. No gatherings, pubs and
restaurants closed, weddings and holidays postponed, churches closed and funerals attended with only a
handful of people. Babies born without Grans and
According to the famous
designer and artist, William Morris, all our possessions should be either
useful or beautiful. Well, my lost possession was both beautiful and useful and
greatly valued in the last year. It was a face mask made of beautiful silk
fabric, with three layers to fully protect me from viral germs. It had the most
comfortable elastic to go behind my ears. Believe me, I have tried a variety of
face masks and this one was the best of the best. Useful and beautiful, I could
have worn it all day if needed. Isn’t that so silly of me? Please don't laugh. Strange times have made most of us re-evaluate what is important. And that has to be about keeping safe from Covid
and treasuring and protecting our own health and wellbeing and that of our family
and friends. For we have been harshly reminded that life is precious, and we
don't know how long we will have each other. That face mask had become a symbol
of safety. I am on the hunt now for another one that will have all the same
qualities. Keep well, keep safe my friends; the danger is not at all over.
Copyright
Jane Scoggins
By Rosemary Clarke
Hi, there fellow readers & writers,
Did you know that there really is
a Santa Claus and he lives in the North Pole Alaska! He used to be a
police chief and became a child advocate for abused children who called
him Santa. The people of
By Len Morgan
The Young ones looked on in horror and disbelief. They were tearful, how would they break the news to the others… To Kibbie… Turning their backs on the scene, in the flap Kibbie’s ears had turned white, she gazed out into the tall grass. Her ears turned pink once more because there, just ten feet away, stood Jamie a broad grin on his face. He gestured for them to be silent as he walked slowly towards them, leaving FW frantically seeking through the long grass wasting his time in a fruitless search.
“Always change direction as soon as you are out of his sight, or hide motionless. Always give FW the respect he is due, never make the mistake of thinking you can outsmart him, he’s bigger and cleverer than you think. Forget it and you will become his lunch.”
Kibbie smiled and kissed him brazenly, “run along now,” she said ignoring the fact that she was only a few months older than them.
The following morning, he took it upon himself to brief the scavenging parties before setting out in search of food. “Finally, on no account nibble! If you do, there will be a trap, poison. Or the cat waiting for you on your next visit, maybe all three. Take crumbs, lumps, or whole pieces of food, and your presence will go undetected then you will be able to return again and again. If you are unsuccessful others will return with enough for all. Never be lazy and pick scraps from the floor, they don’t get there by accident. If you ignore this rule, it may cost you your life and the lives of those you share with. The only exception to this rule is the food in FW’s bowl, but be sure somebody is on the lookout for him at all times. Okay! Off with you…”
.-…-.
Kibbie & Jamie quickly
produced a litter, and then another.
Several groups moved on at the appropriate times, and all was well at 17
Cedarwood Terrace. Sadly Barnabus passed
peacefully sometime between his fifth and sixth year, and Jamie became the
oldest surviving mouse. Yet Frizzy
Whiskers was old even when Barnabus was young as he never stopped telling
them. It was true that FW had been in
residence forever, but of late, Jamie had noted a marked slowing down and a
tendency to sleep longer, Ever since the fence was removed and the smell of gas
cleared from the air, the younger foraging groups began treating FW with
disdain, passing unnecessarily close.
Jamie cringed, FW hadn’t slowed that much.
Then, without warning half a dozen mice disappeared in a single night.
Life wasn’t so easy anymore, mice all stayed below ground the following day. Late in the afternoon, Jamie took a cautious
peek. Seeing nothing untoward he slipped
into the kitchen to discover two bowls of cat food…
(To be continued)
Copyright
Len Morgan