Category Archives: May 2023 – Commitment

A Darker Side of Life

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

‘Do you swear to never rat on any of us?’

‘I do.’

‘Do you swear on your mother’s life, you’re committed to the gang?’

‘I do’.

Harry just played along and said what was expected of him, it had all seemed like proper boy’s stuff until Adam pulled out his knife.

Harry’s lower lip started to tremble.

‘We won’t have any cry-babies,’ Adam stated as he used his penknife to initiate Harry into his gang.

Harry winced.

‘We’re blood brothers now, there’s no turning back,’ announced Adam.

Harry had thought that it would be fun to be accepted into a gang at his new school.  Now, after seeing the pleasure that inflicting pain gave Adam, he was beginning to have some doubts. 

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The Contract – Special Causes and Conditions

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

I have reached the age where wraiths of the dearly departed,-siblings, parents, babies lost before birth, partners, friends,- slip unbidden into the monochrome days and restless nights. They dart and hide at vision’s edge, ever eluding the spotlight of full consciousness. Yet as the procedure progresses, notwithstanding this lack of clarity, they appear more substantial, more tangible, than the creature standing beside me on hind legs.

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Cards on the table

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

It wasn’t so much that things had gone wrong, more that they were never right. So it was a great relief to get the metaphorical cards out and lay them, face down, on the table. Let us take a seat at this table, the better to understand the situation.

The first card to be turned up was Tom’s:  ‘ I’m so afraid of hurting you that I  tiptoe around things. I mean, I’d really love to play 5-a-side on a Saturday and have a few jars with the team afterwards. But it wouldn’t be fair to you, leaving you alone at the weekend.’

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Smoke Rings

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

I take a drag, the nicotine hit combined with the rush of seeing you again proving a heady concoction. My legs twitch with such an urgency to run that I fear they’ll carry me down the hill, unbidden, towards you. I force myself to remain seated, hidden from view.

You’re smoking now too, leaning against our tree, our connection as natural as thunder and lightning. I can’t believe you’re there. In the place we said we’d meet in twenty years’ time if things hadn’t worked out.

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Together

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

Back from the hospital Noel sipped tea hurriedly and Zoe said, ‘What about our anniversary?’

            ‘A couple of hours. Tonight’s a given.’

            ‘Doesn’t his solicitor have people who empty property?’

            ‘I’m not emptying it. Don’t you listen!’

            Why was he raising his voice? Today was be nice day. The death had spooked him, that was what it was. He noticed a solitary blade of silver in her fair hair. Thirty years together, through thick and thin, it seemed to say.

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Only six minutes late

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

“Where the hell is he?” growled Mike, as Lenny’s phone pinged with a message.

“It’s ‘im, it’s Dave,” Lenny said, unlocking the screen. “Says Be there in a minute, had another commitment to deal with.”

“Another BLOODY commitment?” Mike yelled. “Who’s ‘e fink ‘e is?”

“Itchy,” moaned Two. He’d also been christened Dave, and the group didn’t have much imagination.

“Oh, bloody shut up,” Graham snapped. “Don’t you think we’ve got better things to worry about than your sodding skincare regime at the moment?”

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A mother’s love

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

My love for her echoes the unconditional love she has for me. She has watched me laugh and cry from the day I was born and made sure she raised me as a sensitive, loving person.  There has always been respect for decisions I have made in life and she has corrected many mistakes I have made.  Her guidance has made me a more rounded person. The commitment I have for her will always be there.

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Commitment to the Cause

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

Light from the hallway shone through the glass of the door.  A signal to say it wasn’t safe.  She turned away straining to stay calm when time was running out.  The next place was easily a mile away.   Not too far in daylight, but in the dark and with what she carried under her cape it would be difficult.  Nudging the weight into a different position, she cautiously moved on, her arm numb.  The road was quiet, but sensing danger, she slid into the shadow of the wood.  It wasn’t much safer.  If she was caught it would be said that a woman alone at night was asking for trouble. 

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The Commitment

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

Opening my eyes, keeping my head still, thinking of the night before. Oh no, I agreed to take part in a fun run. Sliding out of bed I stand in front of the mirror, something I always try to avoid. I look like a gnome, skinny legs and a pot belly. Adam, my husband, walks in.

            ”Morning beautiful.” 

            Turning, blubbering, I tell him I’ve signed up to a fun run with the girls. Ever practical he tries to convince me that it will be fine and he will help me.

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The Twelfth House

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment
Woman holding taser - pigs in the background eating human remains. Pisces sign emblazoned in blood in the foreground.

Gerald and Cynthia stare at each other across the bare living room. Both are seated on dining room chairs pre-dating the Scandinavian conquest of British showrooms: dark split-cane curved into tense arcs ready to spring into injurious action at the loosening of a bracket. They were fine once, but now serve as little more than metaphors for the relationship playing out in this stark, damp room at the rear of number twelve Star Street.

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They call me “Father”

Posted on by under 2023, May 2023 - Commitment

They call me “Father”, for I am king of my own little world.

Why rule over these sheep? Isn’t it obvious? Better to be rich than poor, better to be adored then despised. I’ve robbed these fools blind, yet they still worship me.

And this job comes with so many perks.

I convinced a gullible girl to marry me, telling her: “An angel of the Lord proclaimed in a vision, that if you don’t become my wife, then Heaven will send a curse to kill you and your entire family!” and the weeping sixteen-year-old gave in, all because I was convincing enough.

That’s power I can never give up.

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