Author Archives: (Not actually a Lady) Ruthless

I know how I’ll dress when you’re gone waist small as two fistslips laquered black,black as the pineI’ll rap with my knucklesto see you out, to see youspun into cinderson a loom at which Death toiledwith sympathetic fingersturning dustinto gold I know how I’ll stand meeting the shiftinggaze of any who thoughtI was a shadowfromContinue reading “A Funeral In Bangor”

Memories hurt more in the summeror mine do, at least;I can only speak for myself,myself being all that I know-human feeling has long beenother to me, each mood and whim returning as unfamiliaras the scent of outerspace;they say that it smells like char,and somehow that speaks to memore than people ever didbecause I knowhow itContinue reading “The Rhythm Of A Number”

They stood together, perplexed, staring at the door in the middle of the field. It was at least eight foot high, made of old old steel and reinforced glass, like something torn off the side of a machine. The kind of thing that fell from the sky in science fiction novels, only the door hadn’tContinue reading “THE DOOR FROM NOWHERE”

I photographed Erzebet Almo’s last exhibition, but I didn’t keep any of the pictures for myself, not so much as a thumbnail. Even if they hadn’t been highly censored as one of the most controversial moments in modern art history I wouldn’t have wanted too seek them out; it made me sick to look atContinue reading “The Last Exhibition Of Erzebet Almo”

I was nine years old when the voice first spoke to me. At first I didn’t notice it. Walking home from school on a balmy August afternoon there were a dozen clashing sounds: traffic buzzing on the sidewalk, other kids shrieking with laughter as they shoved by me, the saccharine, jaunty melody of an icecreamContinue reading “Penance”

Babysitting the neighbour’s kid when I was fourteen was the first job I ever had, and should have been the easiest, by far. I had three younger brothers I’d been left alone with every friday night until the last one entered middle school, and thus had childcare down to a fine art. Even before meetingContinue reading “The Caterpillar Man”

For two weeks my dog wouldn’t stop barking at the ceiling, but I only decided to check on the upstairs neighbour when the apartment above mine started to smell. I should have gone up sooner. I should have known something was wrong. But we’re all so used to keeping to ourselves, minding our own business,Continue reading “The Room Above Mine”

“It’s rejecting again, isn’t it.” It was a statement, not a question, flat and almost casual in delivery. The woman who said it lay sprawled on her back on a rumpled bed, rubbing the raised scar at her hairline with one hand, flicking ash off the end of a cigarette with the other. Both wereContinue reading “The Bad And The Beautiful”

“It watches me through my camera,” said Lilian. I glanced up, eyes narrowed, awaiting a punchline. Lil’s sense of humour was often abrupt and quirky, a trait she’d inherited from her late father. Dear old Don’s infamous one liners could silence a dinner table faster than a family feud, a trait amongst many of hisContinue reading “View Finder”

I work for the disposal sector of my city’s Department Of Public Works; at least, I used to, before it all went to shit. It was an easy enough job, although not particularly glamorous, unless scraping flattened raccoons and dead deer off the highway makes you feel fancy. Any time someone needed an animal corpseContinue reading “Road Kill”