The carer arrive promptly, on the hour. On crossing the threshold she shoulders my duties for the afternoon. She drops her bulging handbag at Mum’s slippered feet. “Hello, luv,” she says to the tiny figure corralled by the zimmer frame. “Bye, mum,” I call out. My car keys in hand, relishing the hug of the…
Image by Jörg Peter from Pixabay The wind howled and blew sand in our faces as pebbles crunched beneath our feet. It was the second day of my family’s summer holiday and I had joined the local kids as they scoured the coast for treasure. “Listen to me!” shouted eight-year-old Lucy, brandishing a huge bag of pick ‘n’…
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…
Original Susan Tate Illustration by Michael N Green “Where are those extra thick socks?” Susan Tate had her head in the oversized drawer at the bottom of her wardrobe. Eddies of snow swirled around outside and a branch bashed the window as if it wanted to come in from the cold. Charles Dickens lay…
I slip in at the side door, the exit we used to leave by after Brownies when she was ten and I was seven, and I slink upstairs to the balcony. The peepholes are still here, small cracks in the wood through which we once spied on Brown Owl and her boyfriend as they canoodled…
It had been three years and in that time Alice had mastered numerous bits of technology, learnt to mow the lawn in under twenty minutes and shop for one. She decided now was the time to tackle the attic. She had ignored the rectangular shaped hatch door in the spare room ceiling for long enough,…
It didn’t add up. That’s what he thought. He checked his rule and his compasses and his angles. It was all wrong. He consulted his tables and charts. He made amendments to his calculations on the blackboard and scrutinised what he had written, the numbers and letters and symbols dissolving before his eyes, pooling into…
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…
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ROMANCE You fall in love with a voice, with a book, a beard, or lack of. You, who feel nothing, who is a wasteland in a woman’s body. You can’t let any of this show on your face, even when he gets into your dreams and sets them on fire,…
To think of you now is to remember what we wanted to be. Where we wanted to be. How we were together. Before we left, before you went to the great city and I did not. Before life took us. And you were what you wanted to be and I was where I wanted to…
The Casket of Fictional Delights newsletter delivers the latest brooch of the month, new stories and other Casket news.
No spam, ever – and we never use your details for anything but sending your newsletter. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us.
Follow on Instagram
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