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Poem: Something Amiss in My Engine
There was something amiss in my engine: a new water pump needed, I thought; I booked my car into the garage – for a service, a see-to and sort. The message came back from the garage: your water pump’s fine – working well – And your motor now waits on our forecourt, it’s running as…
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Carol Carman’s Writing Club Prompt: V is for Vehicle
Happy New Year, one and all. Writing Club across BBC in the East of England is off and running again, and this time your prompt is ‘vehicle’. According to the dictionary, vehicle is a general term for anything by means of which people or goods may be conveyed, although always more commonly used as a…
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Short Fiction: Digging The Allotment
‘COPS HUNT MISSING ARISTO’ read one of the more down-market headlines. Ella didn’t need a newspaper to let her know what the police were doing. They were on her allotment, trashing a year’s worth of growing and tending as they searched for a body. She watched, raging but helpless, as they ripped up sweetcorn, climbing…
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Carol Carman’s Writing Club Prompt: U is for Uniform
Lots of different people wear uniforms – not just the military services, but nurses, emergency services, police, commercial pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, some shop workers, posties, schoolchildren, restaurant staff, hotel workers, some construction workers, athletes… I’m sure you can think of more. You might say that standard business suits for both men and women…
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Poem: Not An Inch Of Space
My daughter’s bedroom’s full of toys – There’s not an inch of space. And so I thought I’d clear some out And give them to a place Of charity, where others might Then take them home for play And raise a bit of money for A good cause on the way.
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Carol Carman’s Writing Club Prompt: T is for Toy
We’ve all played with them, watched others play with them, seen them given or thrown away or bought them them in charity shops as well as toy stores. Sometimes we can’t bear to get rid of them, because they represent so much of our growing up and the fun of our younger, carefree selves. And…
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Poem: Have A Look In The Chemist’s
We don’t just do prescriptions – we’ve many other things – We’ve pick-me-ups and calm-me-downs, we’ve bandages and slings. There’s ointment for your skin, hay fever tablets by the score; Warming creams and cooling gels for muscles feeling sore. We’ve syrups and we’ve powders to help with ’flu and cough; Body-building pills if you can…
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Carol Carman’s Writing Club Prompt: S is for shop or shopping
S is for Shop. Anything to do with a shop, or shopping, or a shopkeeper – so there’s plenty to go at. It could be a character shopping for something special – how easy is it for them to get the perfect present? What could go wrong? Maybe your character hates shopping… does online shopping……
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Short Fiction: The Cobra Crown
Sweat dampened her hair and trickled down her neck as she slung a shoulder bag across her body. The red light in the darkroom didn’t help, intensifying the heat surging through her. Urgency drove her racing pulse, and the vital importance of her mission made her clammy hands tremble. She looked at the timer, willing…
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Carol Carman’s Writing Club Prompt: R is for Round or A Round.
Plenty of choice with this word. You could write a piece involving something that’s round. Easy as that. Think of all the various things that are physically round – in one dimension at least. For example, a carousel is round, but not spherical. Similarly, one of those giant water chute tube things. And if you…