Category: fiction

fiction5 Comments

Nets

Barry Lee Thompson

She puts on one of her favourites. She likes it very much, this song. So much that she listens to it every day. Every single morning, the same song, just to start things off. She sways at her window, in front of the nets. People go by, on the street, and they look towards the window because the music’s loud enough to hear as you pass, but they can’t see in. You can’t see in through nets. Not in the daytime, anyway. She knows this. Her mother told her. And she’s checked it for herself. She’s stood outside her own … Continue reading Nets

fiction6 Comments

Leaves

Barry Lee Thompson

Our afternoons were spent looking through the window onto a driveway covered in wet leaves. It seems now that this is all we did, every day, for the entire time we lived in that house. Surely there must have been more. I suppose we worked, one or both of us, for how else did we make money? And not every day could have had rain, and not every season has leaves on the ground. And yet, however hard I try, I can’t conjure an image other than the two of us at that window. We’re talking, sometimes, but mostly just … Continue reading Leaves

fiction6 Comments

Colours

Barry Lee Thompson

When he’s nostalgic, it’s pale blue like seaside cottages. Circling seagulls in morning harbours, old-fashioned cream cakes, the damp wood of rickety beach-huts. Ease is liquid green, like late summer afternoons. The lazy buzz of insects in settled heat, the sweet anticipation of the evening ahead. Anxious is the colour of commuters in a cold rush of urgency. It’s frantic, the sound of doors closing on a crowded train, the smells and tastes and harsh fabrics of commerce. Continue reading Colours

Every Second Tuesday, fictionLeave a comment

FAQs for the online launch

Barry Lee Thompson

Originally posted on Elwood Writers:
As we look ahead excitedly to Wednesday evening’s online launch of Every Second Tuesday, here’s a few frequently asked questions pertaining to the event. How much does it cost?It’s completely free, though you need to register to ensure you’ll receive the special Zoom link on the day of the event. This link will be emailed by Readings about an hour before the event starts. I love free things. Where do I get my ticket?You can book your ticket here. For more info on the event, click here. I booked a ticket weeks ago, but now… Continue reading FAQs for the online launch

fictionLeave a comment

Book Launch Invitation

Barry Lee Thompson

Originally posted on Elwood Writers:
We are delighted to have the Elwood Writers group – Jennifer Bryce, Margaret McCaffrey, Helen McDonald and Barry Lee Thompson – join us online to discuss?Every Second Tuesday. A new anthology of poetry, fiction and memoir, this kaleidoscope of stories spans the globe from the trenches of France in World War One to a dystopian Australia, via contemporary Harlem and the streets of northern England. The Elwood Writers will chat about their book and their group with award-winning local author Lee Kofman. Elwood Writers in conversation | Wed 9 Dec 2020 at 6:30pm from the… Continue reading Book Launch Invitation