7:52am

It happened for the fourth time.

I’m sitting at the kitchen table, a spoonful of cereal halfway to my mouth, milk dripping into the bowl, when everything freezes. Mums hands stop, poised over 3 half-packed school lunches. Louie and Tamara sitting beside me at the table are also frozen, mid-argument, a last bite of toast caught between Tamara’s small sticky fingers. I can even hear Dad’s ele...

I have a secret,

yes I have a secret,

a pretty little secret indeed.

My secret makes me smile

when i’m feeling a frown,

it warms my heart when it bares its teeth.

I hold my little secret

in my cold little hands,

and stroke it’s quivering scales

until it falls asleep.

When someone hurts my secret

my eyes go wild,

my chest feels big,

and scary,

and loud.

no one shall touch my secret.

no one ...

Frayed lace brushed the overgrown path as Saerci walked towards her grave. Her delicate steps picking a careful path through the still, grey grass. Today was the one night a year she was allowed to be anywhere in the mortal world, and she chose to stay in her graveyard. It was deserted. All the others were out, seeing family, visiting relatives, finishing honeymoons. Saerci reached her tomb and sa...

Eggs.

Flour.

Milk.

Honey.

Eggs.

Flour.

Milk.

Honey??

Shit. Shit. Why did I add the honey - That was meant to be for the end. I open the cutlery drawer to find a spoon. I need to get the honey out, it can still be saved. The drawer is stuck. It’s jammed by a tea towel. The honey is starting to sink into the milk and eggs, and the tip of the flour mountain in the bowl is beginning to cave. I’m yank...

Icy wind whipped around Alessia’s face, her whispy hair plastering sporadically to her face. She extended a hand and touched one, hanging down ominously from the ceiling of the cave. It was cold to the touch. Freezing, in fact. It was also wet. A drop of icy cold water ran down Alessia’s hand and up her sleeve. She shivered slightly but kept her hand where it was. It was sharp too, she touched the...