Half and Half

Carefully he placed the buttered bread on top of salted tomato slices and pressed down. With his sharp knife he cut the sandwich into a perfect half and then cling filmed the two halves separately. He put one half in the fridge 'for later', and put the other in the front half of his shoulder bag.

He half ran half walked to the bus stop and boarded his transport to the ground. He got off halfway there as he preferred to walk the last mile merging into the growing crowds.

The first half was exciting with his team playing well but when the whistle went for half time he got up from his seat and left the ground to avoid the crowd departing. Boarding a bus he rode halfway home before getting off.

On the spur of the moment he decided to stop at the Halfway Inn for a hot drink to warm himself. As he sat at the vacant table in the window he saw the waitress approaching with a mug and two jugs one steaming with hot liquid the other beaded with the chilled milk.

'How do you like your coffee?' she growled.

He turned to look at her before replying, 

'Black'.

Breaking with Tradition

The Veer family had a long record of failure, it was a family tree grown from feeble roots. They had had many opportunities for success but at the first hint of difficulty, the first signs of challenge they would give up and shrink away. Once things got hard they just gave up and generation after generation had done the same.

Standing in the church and seeing her new baby boy in the vicar's arms Catherine prayed that this child would different, this child would finally break the hereditary spinelesness. This child would succeed where all the others had just thrown in the towel.

She was woken from her thoughts by the sound of the vicar christening her offspring. She saw him drop the water on the baby's head and heard his voice baptising him with his new name - Percy Veer. Could this child be different?

What's in a Name?

Anna sat quietly considering how everything had changed. She nursed her gin and tonic as she remembered back to when she was the ‘it’ girl. When everyone was talking about her. Now, things had changed, now she was yesterday.

Suddenly there was a lot of noise at the other end of the club with people shouting out greetings. She had heard of the new girl, Welsh and Italian parents making her exotic. Everyone loved Di, their lives were better, clearer. What a welcome, what a reception.

Finally she was brought over to be introduced. Anna stood and tried to get the creases and lines out but it was no good. She heard the voice say, -  'Anna Logue, this is Di G’Ital'

Things would never be the same

A matter of life and death

Dear God, it was tougher than he had ever imagined. Young chickens flying at him from every direction with only one thought on their minds. He dropped down behind a tree stump panting and trying to figure out how he would make last few metres to safety.

He knew tactics were going to be useless. He was just going to have to run for it and just duck, dive and hope. He slowed his breathing, calmed himself then jumped up and just ran. 

The noise was deafening as the young birds flew at him. Jumping, crouching, running he made the fence and slammed the gate behind him. He sank to ground as the young chickens hit the wire mesh.

He'd done it. He'd read about it and seen those films where heroes somehow unbelievably escaped death but be had done it in real life. He had dodged the pullets.