In Wales, We Call March Tuesday

For three years, the paintings had been stacking up against the walls of Rhys’s studio. Mostly landscapes: the Preseli Hills under lowering skies, the Teifi estuary at low tide, the Pembrokeshire cliffs captured in thick, honest brushstrokes. Everyone agreed they were beautiful. The bank statements confirmed they were unsellable.

The Bwthn Colony had eight members left. There had been twenty, once.

She walked in on a Tuesday in March, her bright American accent cutting through the warm, sharp smell of linseed oil.

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Gloria’s Gifts

I must admit, I hoped Gran might leave me her jewellery. Instead, on her deathbed, she passed me a box with a shaky hand and said,

‘Melody dear, take this to Chris at Hedgehog Aid. Oh, and this is for you.’

Now, this did look interesting. An ornate gilt-edged diary.

            Her death was peaceful, or at least it looked that way from where we were sitting, on three wooden chairs dragged in from the kitchen. I was perched between my Mum and her estranged sister Alice, engulfed in their icy silence. The moment Gran passed, a warm glow filled the room, easing the tension and even some of the grief.

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A SPECIAL GIFT

Adam Taylor bounced out of the office, a ruggedly handsome man. His life revolved around getting that sensational story that would guarantee his fame and fortune. Life had other plans, he would become famous just not in the way imagined.

Adam had been working on something secretly for months. He was getting close and the lady Audrey, his snout,  promised it was the real deal, she had inside information. Walking to the quiet gardens in Kensington he smiled to himself. At last it was going to happen. He was writing the story in his head.

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The Gift of Kambo

Martha Ferris didn’t see herself as a bad person, never went out of her way to hurt anyone. She just made a point of looking out for number one and if that meant trampling on other people, too bad.

When money was tight, she had a trick to save on food bills. Namely pinching grub from the fridge at work. Taking pride in her quick sleight of hand, as she grabbed her can of coke, she’d shove Rachel’s mini sausages or Nigel’s rice balls into her handbag, but it was Holly Blackbone she loved to steal from.

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A Rapporteur on Fairyland Writes

There have been a number of striking changes in the parallel world known as Fairyland over the last century. Two have been a dropping of dress codes for fairies, and the admission of a number of affiliates, including fairy-adjacent beings and proxy fairies. This loosening of moorings can be illustrated by the raging controversy over Cinderella’s coach being formed from a perfectly edible pumpkin which led to the retiring of the title of Fairy Godmother.

Under new management, the Fairy  College has now abolished its single sex entry policy and welcomes overseas fairies with open arms and swelling coffers. This has led to a broader and more diverse approach to the curriculum.

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Prompt for February 2026 – The Gift

HOMEWORK for deadline Thursday 10pm, 19.02.26.

TASK: ‘The Gift’. Write 500 words or fewer about ‘The Gift’. Your story title isn’t included in the 500 words.

Homework to be in by 10 pm at the latest, Thursday 19th February 2026. (This time deadline will be helpful to both Martyn and Pat).

Meeting at 1.30pm, Sunday 22.02.26, Waterstones Bookshop, top floor [via stairs or lift], Oxford Street. Finish about 3.00pm.

Please send homework to Pat O’Connor, or message us via the contact page

Cutting Room Floor

Remember the Saturday morning queue,  standing  outside the local flea pit waiting for it to open? I used to get there early so I could get a seat somewhere about 8 rows back and in the middle of the stalls. It was magic, and I’d watch just about anything – twice if I could get away with it.  The Pathe news was a bit of a struggle but even that, and the adverts, had their moments. I can’t say I was drawn to the acting side, but the mystery in the making of films really thrilled me. Just wonderful.

 The projectionist running films from his high box looked like a good place to ask questions, so one Saturday I knocked very gently on the box door and found a kind looking man.

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ANOTHER TIME

Looking around the empty room, Cara and Helen were lost in nostalgia. The room still held the smell of lavender, their mother’s favourite polish. Clearing their childhood home had been heartbreaking, and now there was only the attic to clear. They climbed the stairs, their heavy steps echoing through the space. Neither had set foot there for many years. 

The door creaked loudly, startling them. They saw a room with boxes packed neatly, cobwebs hanging from the rafters, and a chill air caused them to shiver. Both peered about looking for any sign of rodents. There were no sounds and their breathing relaxed. They checked the first box full of childhood toys, which looked forlorn and slightly grubby. They touched them, smiling, memories of happier times stirred.

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It’s a fake?

Mrs Jane Hastings, aged fifty-three, felt nothing but childish envy for Ms. Julia Parkhurst. Ms. Parkhurst’s cardinal sin was being pretty. Very pretty actually. She was (to hell with delicacy) a bosomy, twenty-three-year-old, who’s bright smile and cheerful disposition made the acne encrusted boys of Roverbank Comprehensive grunt with longing.

Still professionalism had to be maintained, because today. something alarming had been brought to Hastings’ attention. And when she called Ms. Parkhurst into her office, (resenting how gracefully the young woman sat down) she coughed and said “Julia, we don’t pry into the staff’s personal lives, it’s just when a sex tape is leaked to the public, you may have to resign.”

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The Macbethinator

Will leaned back in his creaky wooden chair, steam from his green tea curling around his beard. With a theatrical groan, he tossed a stapled stack of A4 papers onto the table.

“They want a rewrite, Ben,” he sighed. “The script editor, a man with the soul of an old shoe, and the imagination of a month-old brassica, says the pacing is problematic.”

Ben Jonson took a sip of his espresso, suppressing a smirk. “Problematic, Will? What exactly did he say?”

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No Yesterday

Rejection emails are processed differently, Jade had learned. She scanned the text for the now-familiar key words, which leapt off the screen directly into her heart.

            ‘Re: Your screenplay, Tomorrow… whilst we enjoyed… unfortunately… highly selective…’

            Jade slammed the laptop shut, as though the message couldn’t hurt her if it wasn’t witness to her tears. When the images of the Netflix parties she wouldn’t be hosting started flashing through her mind, she turned to red wine and The Beatles.

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Prompt for January

HOMEWORK for deadline Thursday 10pm, 22.01.26.

TASK: ‘The Movie’. Write 500 words or fewer about ‘The Movie’. Your story title isn’t included in the 500 words.

Homework to be in by 10 pm at the latest, Thursday 22nd January 2026. (This time deadline will be helpful to both Martyn and Pat).

Meeting at 1.30pm, Sunday 25.01.26, Waterstones Bookshop, top floor [via stairs or lift], Oxford Street. Finish about 3.00pm.

Send all homework to Pat

Use the Contact Us page to get Pat’s email

The Anti-Santa

“Anti-Santa!” scoffed Mr. Cushing “Dear me. Can we even admit that regular Santa isn’t a real thing.”

Mrs McCulikn merely stirred the pot on the hob, humming to herself as she did around 5:45 when Mr. Harding would sneak into the pantry and shove his hands into whatever jar he fancied, Mrs. Harding would have words with the staff when he did so but if the pantry was locked Mr. Harding would have words instead. At times such as this, it paid to be deaf.

“According to little Christopher” explained Mrs Marks “the anti-Santa is for bad girls and boys. How does it go again? Good girls and boys leave offerings to Santa Claus.”

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Bad Fairy

It was here, in this very spot, that I met him last year. I was taking a cigarette break in between tooth-collecting stops, admiring the view of the town below.

            Only one house was close enough to see inside – log fire burning, Christmas tree aglow, presents piled beneath it. A couple clinked wine glasses on a squishy sofa.

‘Cheers!’ I muttered, raising my cigarette aloft. I had my own present haul in a bag beside me. I’d only taken a few gifts from the children’s stockings while I grabbed their teeth. I called it a Christmas Eve bonus, although it was mostly tat.

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The Outback Mysteries

“Fucking mozzies” muttered Bob half asleep as he swatted another of the bastards with his hand. “And fucking flies!” he yelled, batting away another attacker.

Can’t stand it here, he thought bitterly, knowing he couldn’t voice his hatred of this new homeland out loud. Surrounded by Sheena’s Australian family who were all thrilled to have her back, had put paid to that. Christmas here was all wrong. Blazing sunshine, barbecued seafood, chilly salads – where was the tradition in that? He missed carol singers, his mother’s crispy roasties and the possibility of sledging in the snow. What he’d give for a Baileys to hand, the EastEnders Christmas special blaring and a box of Quality Street to while away the afternoon.

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Christmas Lights

‘Twas the night before Christmas. You could tell this from the furiously furtive wrapping activities and mince pie production-lines and excited children pretending to be well behaved whilst sneakily stealing chocolate baubles from the tree.  Whilst I’ve never uttered ‘bah, humbug’ out loud, Scrooge’s words do reflect my feelings about being comprehensively ripped off by myth-making so flexible and so divorced from its origins that even Tommy Yaxley Robinson Lennon can seek to exploit it with some level of impunity.

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Illumination

Sorcha was thinking of her ‘A’ level exams in the summer. She really wanted to go to university; find herself. She stirred the gravy as her mother moved around the kitchen, busy. Last night Mum had spent an age on the food, this morning longer.

‘What do you think?’ her mother eventually said.

‘Are we done?’

‘Yes, I’ll tell your dad we’re ready to eat.’

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The Christmas Story

Owain Pritchett struck a match, and the crumpled newspaper beneath the coal caught, flames curling over the black diamonds. A dented tin pan of chestnuts waited beside him; he hadn’t roasted any in years. This year, he was determined to do everything right.

Rime etched the window as Owain hobbled out for more coal. The snow crackled beneath his slippers, and Jack Frost nipped his nose, as it did when he was a child. Back then, he would linger outside in the chill air until his mother’s warm voice called him indoors.

Inside, the house was quiet except for the burble of the radio in the kitchen. A community choir sang a carol he recognised before he could give it a name, just as if his mother’s humming tucked itself amongst the harmonies.

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