Monthly Archives: March 2012

Dad goes up everyday sits beside her bed Mam makes meals and smokes Paddy won’t catch Frankie’s eye Frank’s still chewing over what Dolly said everything’s topsy turvy and he can’t ask anyone why. Frankie writes in his diary before … Continue reading →

is velvety green soft and fat. Inside are creamy pages blank as he feels lots of them, it burrs as he flick the leaves. Corinne says It’s a New Year’s Present, forra new start she gives him a thin-nibbed gel … Continue reading →

Frankie tells Corinne: Paddy’s got a face like a smacked arse, Dad’s got thunder in his eyes and Mam just sits and smokes and flicks through magazines. I feel half asleep most of the time. Corinne agrees: I caught my … Continue reading →

Frankie turns Aunty Dolly’s words over in his mind, he understands they want to keep it quiet about grandad but he thinks they’re lying to themselves. They can’t face it; but Frankie can, he knows that something’s changed a little … Continue reading →

a tube taped into her arm a clear mask clamped to her mouth. Her skin is tinted blue, her eyelids flutter, her breath comes in slow rattles, chest barely moving; her body has a shrivelled look her bones have shrunk … Continue reading →

is chewing her nails, fingering a tab she cannot smoke in the waiting room. She’s got a stiff neck, a headache coming on, she wants to be gone. There’s been too many hospital visits since Christmas, and she’s got no … Continue reading →

he’s wired trying to piece the facts into a picture he can understand: So, he looks at Dolly, Does me Dad know all this too? Dolly stands, spreads her hands then shrugs, I don’t know. Like I say, we never … Continue reading →

Corinne makes them all mugs of tea, they settle back as Dolly explains: Mam told me the night before my wedding. Grandad came from a small place called West Sleekburn, between the Wansbeck and the Blyth, not far from Ashington … Continue reading →