Short Stories

Sweet William (Part 2) Continued... Every Sunday morning, Mum and Dad dragged us, kicking and screaming, to church. They'd done so ever since I could remember. We hated going, but had to put up with the boredom. No choice to it in those days. Mum's word was law and she had the devout Christian ethic of the true eyes-closed, heads-up believer. Dad used to go along with her to keep the peace more than anything else. Most of the year there’d be no more than fifteen in the congregation. Two expatriate Irish families, my lot and the Kellys, plus a [...]

Sweet William Memories from a troubled childhood “Tom?’ I asked as Simon and Garfunkel’s 'Cecelia', one of my favourites, faded into Mungo Jerry’s In the Summertime. “What’s up, baby brother?’ He called from the top bunk. I hated it when he called me that and he knew it, which is why he carried on doing it, of course. “Turn the radio up a bit, I can’t hear it.” Tom had bought the radio from saved pocket money, and so controlled the volume. The sound level decreased. He could be a real pain in the bum sometimes. A few minutes later [...]