The Witch Doctor - teaser
"OK, sucker," Marty growled, brandishing the kitchen knife. "Only one of us gets out of here alive!" The pumpkin stared insolently back at him. Marty had drawn a scary face on it, with narrow, slit-pupilled eyes and jagged teeth, but he had yet to...
A Major Calls
We'd have gone anywhere for Captain ffox. The whole bloody lot of us. Anywhere except...well, I won't repeat what Barrie said once. Very crude, that boy. I was worried at first, when I learned I was being transferred to ffox's platoon. He...
Snoopy Verse the Red Baron
Below my little square of white Upon white fields, white poppies blow. White clouds surround my lonely flight Hanging black-bordered high and low. Somewhere beyond the frame he flies Where the white air meets the white mud Waiting to blaze across...
Bentley's War
Bentley Pringle ffox was woken by a kiss. He lay with his eyes shut, holding on to the sensation. The rough bristles against his cheek. The taste of tobacco. Gradually, he became aware of dampness seeping in through his...
Loganberry Hits a Hrair
Loganberry sighed and ran his paws through the tuft of fur between his long ears. He was tackling a particularly thorny passage of Old Lapine this morning, and even the plate of chocolate digestives at his elbow wasn't helping. The thought that he...
Bentley's Peace: I
On that first morning of peace, Bentley Pringle ffox woke from a dream of running across No Man's Land to a sunlit bedroom. He was wearing striped pyjamas that smelled of mothballs. A sporting print hung above the bed. He was home. He had seen his...
Teaser: Ping Pong Diplomacy
Tux had never flown first class before. He stretched his white feet straight out in front of him, spread his toes and extended his claws, but he still couldn't touch the back of the seat in front. "You wouldn't think the Commies would have first...
Freshers’ Week Friend
Sitting on the narrow bed, I performed an inventory of my new home: - Four off-white walls, awaiting posters. - One desk. - One chair. - One bookcase. - One washbasin. - Two suitcases. - Three cardboard boxes, two containing books, one containing...
The Tribes of Dog
The Alpha Pair begins the song Calling to the clans along the snow Whale-ivory sinew-strung on whiter pelts. The Old Man Tawny walks from the Dreaming On hard cracked pads; shakes off the red dust Curls his yellow tail, and sits. Two black-backed...
Wolf Break
Eleven o'clock; coffee time. I opened a pack of wolves. Fur white as icing, they surged through the office, staring and sniffing with almond eyes and chocolate noses. Flicking the crisp points of their ears, they crunched across keyboards dunked...
Maple Sugar
The young lioness let out an excited squeal, and her companion turned in the passenger seat to grin at her. They had reached a vast lake, the water so still it made a mirror for the summer sky. A cabin perched on the shore, alongside a jetty with a...
The Truffle Hunters
The 2CV bumped and skidded along the farm track, past olive trees and fields of lavender. Brioche trailed a paw out of the window and sniffed the smoky autumn breeze. "Aupres de ma blonde, qu'il fait bon, fait bon, fait bon! Aupres de ma blonde, qu'il...