Here we are at Week 561.
A few things have come to light throughout the past couple of weeks.
Firstly – Following on from Leila’s comments about the submissions we received a few weeks back:
Continue reading “Week 561 – Keep Your Distance, Gregory And Lawrence And Remembering The Hurricane.”
James IV, king of Scotland from 1488 to 1513, was a Renaissance Man. He was fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, Flemish and Gaelic. He ordered the construction of The Great Hall in Stirling Castle, arguably the first renaissance building in Britain. He issued the first ever compulsory Education Act (albeit only for the first-born sons of landowners). He introduced the first printing press to Scotland. And, like some other monarchs of the day, he appointed a court alchemist, one Father John Damian.
Continue reading “Kenny Drummond’s Parchment by Michael Bloor”
I am cursed with my very own personal psyops helicopter, a flying machine that takes me anywhere it wants to go, no matter how much I beg it to leave me be. Matte black, of course, updated constantly—the latest sensors, time travel, you name it. Highly sensitive to excruciating shame, humiliation, and social embarrassment. Fully automated, sentient, and merciless.
Continue reading “Helicopter by Marco Etheridge”
The Lemonade Stand materialized at the corner of Maple and Third like a memory made solid, and Cliff felt his foot ease off the accelerator. Through the windshield of his sedan, the sight struck him, not of this stand with its crooked cardboard sign and red plastic cups, but of something older and as familiar as his own reflection and twice as strange.
Continue reading “Seven Flowers for Lemonade by Daniel P. Douglas”
(Content that some readers may find upsetting – refer to the tags at the bottom of the page)
“Shut up the shutters, boy, and light up the pit.”
No more words were needed. The crowd in the parlour of the King’s Head heaved and jostled. Dogs were untied from table legs as their owners rushed towards a shabby staircase leading to a room below. Jimmy Brown, the proprietor, held his hand out for shillings as the cacophonous queue pushed past.
Continue reading “God’s Creatures by Jennifer Sinclair Roberts”
Dean cradles the pint glass like it’s the only thing holding him together. I don’t know how he survived losing Sophie and the baby in the same night, but eight months later he’s made it to The Lantern on Christmas Eve.
Continue reading “One for the Road by Neil James”
The Legend of the Devil’s Brew
Gleefully unfit for the beige, and honest to the marrow, Hugh Cron has had the Mature Content tag applied more often than any other writer on the site. Although I haven’t checked, I’m willing to venture that he has more of those than all combined writers on the site.
I think that is something to be proud of!
A lot of those tags are due to Hugh’s direct opinion on religion. His writing reminded me of my time in a tenth grade Mythology class I took at age sixteen. Upon reading myths from many societies I had to wonder why something as clearly mythic as the Bible (and Koran and etc) is treated as real and the others as fiction, even though they too had been real at one time. I was not the only one who wondered that–a classmate raised his hand and pretty much asked the instructor the same question. He smiled and said, “I’d tell you but I don’t want to get fired.”
Although Hugh does not need to worry about getting fired, I believe he’d say what he thinks no matter what. Another thing to be proud of!
Let’s ask a couple of questions:
Q-1: Although it didn’t happen here, you have often been attacked (well, in the wimpy online fashion) by Christians who object to you using your right to speak your mind. I’m all for people having faith, if it helps them, but what has been your reaction to those incidents?
Q-2: I think if it were possible, The Devil’s Brew would take over every pub and tavern in the land. Do you agree?
Hi Leila,
Thanks so much for choosing this and thanks for the questions – These are a blast to do!!
Qu. 1 – I just laugh!! Not for the reasons that folks might think. I have the same attitude to staunch supporters of politics or royalty. If they believe what they spout, then there is nothing that I could say that should bother them. If they believe that their faith or loyalty is absolute, then there is fuck all that I say should matter. I think on it this way – What causes more trouble, belief or opposing reaction?
Qu 2. If it would get folks back into pubs, what are a few souls to keep an old and once cherished industry flourishing??
My own Devil’s Brew is quantity not specifics. When I was younger I had a phrase about being ‘five haufs in’ – That meant I was at the stage where I didn’t give a fuck but was still in total control. Over the years, unfortunately, that has increased to ‘twelve haufs in!’ I do have the curse / salvation of the quick drinker – Three quarters of the night I’m sober, it never builds, one drink later I want a kebab and a sleep!!
Thanks again Leila, these are always fun!!
Hugh
A Kvetch
We have now officially opened the twelfth year of Literally Stories UK. And as it goes in life we have faced a recent challenge after we were listed (unbeknownst to us) by one of those publications that do such things. I do not know why such services still exist in the era of Google, nor do I grasp why people rely on such services, but the situation exists.
Continue reading “Week 560: A New Year Begins”
When Drea’s mother called to ask if she could take her to see Jerry, Drea clenched her fists without realizing it and dropped the phone.
“What happened?” Drea’s mother asked.
“Nothing,” Drea said loudly as she squatted to pick up the phone. She sat down hard on the floor and tried to breathe slowly, in for four and out for six, as her therapist had suggested she do when triggered.
Continue reading “Seeing Jerry by Susan R. Weinstein”
“Five in a row.” Kenny Langston sits on the front porch with his wife. “A couple were even threes.” The couple continue watching as their 10-year-old daughter, Alex, banks one in off the goal Kenny mounted to the garage.
Continue reading “Deadheads by David Henson”
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