Author: Lauren Thomas

The vase had never held flowers. For a while it had held chopsticks from when she had ordered takeaway every night for a week. She always had to use a fork to eat it. Another time it had held her paintbrushes, but that passion had died as quickly as it started. Most recently it had…

The day of the fire was the worst day of her life. Not because anyone was hurt. The fairground had been abandoned for years, left to rust and rot at the hands of the elements. Sometimes she would walk past on a windy day and briefly think that the rain had turned red before she…

If anyone asked her why she had followed the footprints, she wouldn’t have been able to tell them. They wouldn’t have believed that she had heard the footprints speak, that they had told her her future lay at the end of their path. They wouldn’t have believed that she had been gone for two months,…

“I know you can do it.” “I did, and it’s no big deal. Really.” “What are you so afraid of?” She hated that question. Everything scared her, and she was even afraid of the people who were afraid of nothing. Because that made them impossible to understand. Strangers. She scrunched her toes against the rough…

It had rolled in overnight and now it was everywhere. She turned out her pockets and it fell to the floor. It came in on the cat’s paws. It would lick them forlornly whilst throwing an accusatory glance her way. This is somehow your fault. It had filled the plant pots and the flowers were…

I’m sorry that I somehow managed to burn the peas, a job you were so sure I couldn’t possibly mess up. You know I like a challenge. I’m sorry I was adamant that it wouldn’t rain and dragged you out for a walk until it began to hit the side of our faces like splinters…

Her head was filled with voices from the past. The teacher who told her she was bossy. The boy who called her frigid. The men who said “come ‘ere little cutie, we won’t hurt you.” The boss who told her he thought she would have more of a sense of humour. They would turn up…

They had driven for hours in the dead of night to reach the coast before sunrise. Months in the planning, they had kept a meticulous eye on the forecasts and were convinced that Mother Nature was planning a dazzling display. When the sky began to lighten, it became clear that they were facing a heavy…

Every time she tried to laugh, the creature in her throat caught it in his hand and pulled it back. Everyone assumed she had no sense of humour. She developed a reputation for being overly serious. A kill joy. She couldn’t tell them the truth. Who would believe the thing that she herself had never…

She loved to run more than anything. On her regular route along the river with her friend she would sometimes open up and leave her behind, sprinting until it felt like her heart would turn into that of a hummingbird’s, a buzzing in her ears. On a day when the geese took flight from the…