When men fight and children have to be strong. A short story. — We were at the train station for ten hours. The first three were the worst. Marshalled on the freezing platform, wrapped up in our warmest clothes, we expected the train to arrive every minute. The smallest child in our group was crying, a reedy, miserable sound that persisted with no…

In answer to the writing prompt — “How about a little hope?” — The HR department’s string of emails insisted I take my annual leave this year. I ignored them pretty successfully from June to September but then the phone calls started. “No, they’re right.” My boss waved me away when I appealed to her. “You spend too many late nights and weekends…

A short story — Eliana’s mother placed the last of the rinsed plates on the dish rack. “May I dry them, Mama?” “Of course. Let me fetch the chair for you to stand on.” Eliana climbed up and stretched out her arms obediently. …

A short story from Siberia — “Doctor, I’m sorry to disturb you. Alexey Voronkov’s grandson is asking to see you.” Vadim’s secretary hovered uncertainly in the doorway of his office. “He says he doesn’t want to come in, but could you come out to him?” Intrigued, Vadim rose from his desk and followed Katya into the…

This is how I’m doing it; with a sprint, not a marathon. — First, a disclaimer I’m not a doctor. I’m not even a patient — yet. But I am a 54-year-old-woman who has gained fourteen pounds (6.3kg) since going through menopause, and I now weigh about thirty-five pounds (15.8kg) more than my average adult weight. Close to home Several members of my family have developed type 2 diabetes…

A short story — The happiest man in Moscow is not Russian at all, he’s Cuban. But his wife, Yelena, is Russian, and this story begins with her. When Yelena was nineteen she had one passion in life and that passion was for dancing. Since the age of seven, she had taken dance class…

A short story — Tap. Tap. Tap. The noise swam into my sleep but I pushed it away. This dream was far too good to abandon. The tapping came again and I made the laughing girl in the red dress click her heels on the dance floor. Hanging on, just hanging on. “Eduardo, wake…

Adventure and uncertainty ahoy! — If there’s one thing we can count on in life, it’s that we can’t count on anything. We’ll allow the exceptions of death and taxes, as Bullock and Defoe wrote, and Franklin made famous in his letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy. … in this world nothing can be said to…

The gift of a sunrise from my son — How many sunrises have you watched in your life? Have you ever seen the sun rise over the sea? My answers to those questions are ‘not enough’ and ‘only once.’ …