Surrounded by onyx waves, the island that for years has been my home and prison. There’s a myriad of doors, all leading to the same place differently. To a room with walls studded in paintings of stormy oceans. To another submerged, eggshell corals growing on window sills. My favourite opens up on the beach. Burgundy grains of sand, engraved with […]
‘Bienvenue chez le Ch’tis’ is a 2008 comedy directed by Dany Boon, who also has a role in the film. Philippe Abrams is our main character, a director of a post office in Provence, France. He decided to pose as a disabled man to be transferred to the south of France, as they are prioritised. But he is immediately caught, […]
Who will be the next…ladies and gents say it with me…Temporary Monarch? Prologue. Temporary Monarchs: the most followed gameshow of all time. Every family tunes in once a year to watch it, but not mine, not this time. It was yesterday when my brother threw my bedroom door open and hurled one of my stuffed animals at me. ‘Look up.’ […]
A fortress in a desert of ash, where a family like no other lives, alone. A staircase in the shape of a seashell takes up the whole palace, a door for each floor, but they cannot be opened; nothing lays beyond them. Eyes shine behind its only window, looking down at the three children covered in cinder, who have been […]
‘There’s creatures in my wardrobe.’ I say. Not people, creatures. Their skin and hair melt into one another, both made form the same cloth of glowing darkness. Only their eyes are visible, they burst out of these sentient murks. They’re dim, yellow stars. There’s dozens of them, keeping still, staring. One has its limbs wrapped around the door, keeping it […]
I couldn’t burn it or someone would smell it. I couldn’t bury it or it would be noticeable, or throw it away, as someone would find it. I had no other choice. I grabbed it and pretended it was moth wings. Night fell as I slowly ate, and midnight came as I finished it. ‘Heart eating a heart.’ I could […]
My immediate thought was that I needed to get rid of my dew water. It was going to take me weeks to be able to fill up the whole jug again, if not longer. He smiled at me, still holding her heart. ‘Cœur.’ He said. ‘Seems fitting for you to be the one to catch me.’ ‘Only an idiot wouldn’t.’ […]
False violet, Robin runaway, Star violet. Dewdrops. I have always been fascinated by dew, ‘The waters which spring from the heart.’ I had always thought it a metaphor, or a legend to explain it, emerged from a less scientifically developed era. Many people of the past viewed dew as an elixir for immortality, a substance that originated from the tree […]
Catching moths is surprisingly easy. I learnt this as a child after my brother cut the palm of my hand open with our dad’s swiss knife. He licked the blade clean and left me to bleed out in our kitchen. Our parents were both out, I can’t remember where but I know we had run out of plasters. Afraid of […]
Wings for breakfast Dewdrops for lunch Heartstrings for dinner at midnight.