Wednesday 13th December Caught Charles Dickens scratching the front door mat just as the postman pushed through a padded envelope addressed in the familiar bold, italic handwriting of Aunty Mary with her trademark mismatched collection of stamps. Inside was a pack of 12 Christmas cards with a cheery red robin perched on a snowy twig,…
It’s February 1st. Valentine vibes throb through the air. Mr. J. announces we’re reading Romeo and Juliet and I shoot straight up in my seat. Grip the sides of my desk tight. My scalp tingles and sparklers fizz inside my head. I hardly hear my classmates groan. Then Mr. J. says ten page essays are…
1901, the year Queen Victoria died, would also prove to be the death year for the less famous but well-to-do Jericho Adams, Esq. of 8 Ash Grove, (named for its complete lack of Ash trees) in Birmingham. The day began auspiciously, with the usual pair of kippers with toast served by Rose, the in-between maid….
Envy consumed him. He lay motionless in bed, longing for sleep that refused to arrive. He had turned the spare bedroom into mission control, creating exquisite storyboards of garden designs, works of art in themselves. At work, he had received his final warning for being ‘on planet chuffing Titchmarsh’ and if he used the ‘chuffing…
They were an odd group, the delegates who attended the conference. Old and awkward, with a puzzling assortment of aides. They had travelled considerable distances to the isolated hotel, high up in the mountains. One gentleman insisted on stabling his six reindeer in the hotel garage while several had arrived on horseback, one on a…
6th December My Dear Caitlin, Here’s hoping you are enjoying the big city. Granny says how was the chicken she sent? It’s the usual frost and storms here. The ballroom flooded, what a mess. But we are cosy in the kitchen and plenty kindling since the stables blew down. Talking of wood, Uncle Kenny is…
“…and the final item is this hand-crafted, fused-silica glass measuring jug,” says the auctioneer, holding it up for show. “Formerly owned by the recently deceased Snow White and auctioned on behalf of the executives of her estate, the Seven Dwarfs. This jug has a one cup capacity, with gradients of one-quarter one half, and three-quarter…
Things have gone downhill since new management took over. I had to reapply for my own job. Honestly. Who else can they get as Cupid except… well, Cupid? So I’m still in place doing my best to get folks to fall in love; appropriately or otherwise. I had an episode of it myself a while…
“Have you checked the messages this morning?” “No signal boss. Joyriding around the mast again. Complete disregard for all the health and safety briefings. One or two of the new recruits still haven’t passed their ‘Knowledge’.” “We have the new satnav to fall back on. Our distribution windows are too tight for error.” “I’ll check…
When Miffy came in backwards through the cat-flap, they feared it would be like the time they had prise half a baby rabbit out of his jaws, burying it after dark behind the shed. Angie distracted the cat with a piece of red Leicester. His trophy lay squirming on the kitchen lino. “If that’s one…
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Text & stories © Joanna Sterling
Stories © various authors
Editing by Joanna Sterling & Alyson Faye
Audio by Menna Bonsels
Brooch photography by Mark Colliton
Website by Brighton WEBtech