Submissions by Lozzamus
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
I compare poetry to painting, believing that I lack any drawing/painting skills but believing my imagination and training in writing has enabled me to transfer my love of visual art to the written word
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
20th Dec 2024 5:06pm
20th Dec 2024 5:06pm
Secrets - The Contact
Yeah, I have a secret journal. Case notes relating to you. After the crowbar attack, Lana asked me to let the past go – which I did. Maybe not entirely, though. When Lana left during the summer, I created the secret journal, encrypting the content for privacy.
The visit to your mother has got me thinking again.
The police, the possibility that they didn't follow through a crucial lead (according to your mother), and my own involvement with the police as an adult when I did something that I suppose would be against the law – technically, at least.
...
The visit to your mother has got me thinking again.
The police, the possibility that they didn't follow through a crucial lead (according to your mother), and my own involvement with the police as an adult when I did something that I suppose would be against the law – technically, at least.
...
#memories
#mystery
16 reads
0 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
14th Dec 2024 11:55am
14th Dec 2024 11:55am
Secrets - Haunted
I sleep badly, coming to often in the dark to the sound of banging pipes behind the walls and the night wind. Your mum's words to me at the house on Headersleigh Bridge replay each time I drift off, disturbing me again. You know perfectly well why the police came to see us, Alan. They had news for us. I wander over to the sink for a glass of water and switch on the television, leaving the volume on silent to avoid disturbing Robert. I sit wrapped in an old jacket, shivering. I wish Lana were here. I'm too tired to sleep, too tired to concentrate. I feel old.
I drift off again....
I drift off again....
#memories
#mystery
#risk
57 reads
3 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
9th Dec 2024 8:41am
9th Dec 2024 8:41am
Silent - Samantha
By the time I return to The Factory, the hall lights have come back on. I find Mel by the lift, fiddling with a fuse box, but there's no sign of Robert. I'm about to ask why Robert's upstairs on his own when Mel hears my footsteps, turns round and smiles. I nearly take a step back. The woman isn't Mel, just someone who resembles her, more in height than anything else. The girl, about my sister's age, maybe younger, has long dark brown hair and wears a blue top and pair of tight jeans. She has no shoes on. I would imagine she must be freezing.
'Hi there. You're new, aren't you?'...
'Hi there. You're new, aren't you?'...
#mystery
#risk
51 reads
5 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
2nd Dec 2024 2:22pm
2nd Dec 2024 2:22pm
Secrets - Vow Of Silence
They say the bike race was my idea, that you and the others would have preferred to stay indoors that August Bank Holiday Monday. In the shade where it was nice and cool. But your mum agreed with me. It's a lovely day, she said, why don't you go out and play in the park before school starts again?
Except I lied, according to the evidence. I suggested the local park; that's true. But once we got out, I came up with the idea of going in the opposite direction, to Whaley Hill. Our parents didn't like us going to Whaley Hill, especially the reservoir at the top. They thought the hill...
Except I lied, according to the evidence. I suggested the local park; that's true. But once we got out, I came up with the idea of going in the opposite direction, to Whaley Hill. Our parents didn't like us going to Whaley Hill, especially the reservoir at the top. They thought the hill...
#childhood
#memories
#mystery #risk
#mystery #risk
57 reads
0 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
26th Nov 2024 9:23am
26th Nov 2024 9:23am
Silent - The Dark
Bring back some chocolate anyway. Yes, and some red. If you're having a drink, so am I.'
'Sure.' I give Mel a mock salute and leave, taking the lift down to the ground floor. When I step into the entrance hall, the same creepy silence from earlier greets me, interrupted only by the steady tap of drizzle on the glass dome in the ceiling. I'm standing in darkness. All the lights have gone out. I try one of the switches on the wall. Nothing happens. Odd. For a second or two, I think I hear footsteps on one of the balconies. Light rapid ones.
'Hello?' I call up...
'Sure.' I give Mel a mock salute and leave, taking the lift down to the ground floor. When I step into the entrance hall, the same creepy silence from earlier greets me, interrupted only by the steady tap of drizzle on the glass dome in the ceiling. I'm standing in darkness. All the lights have gone out. I try one of the switches on the wall. Nothing happens. Odd. For a second or two, I think I hear footsteps on one of the balconies. Light rapid ones.
'Hello?' I call up...
#memories
#mystery
#risk
92 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
23rd Nov 2024 11:21am
23rd Nov 2024 11:21am
Secrets - Longing
Okay,' I say, rummaging through the postbox. 'We'll take the lift.'
We step out of the lip, onto the top floor and head right, to my flat. I attempt to open my door. Locked. Strange. I try again. The door opens. I must have left it unlocked earlier. Very odd. I locked it before I drove off to see Gordon Day in Burrington – didn't I?
Or, maybe, I didn't. I was upset earlier, right? About the visit to your parents. I left in a hurry, to see Gordon. I must have forgotten. I won't do that again.
I prepare a shepherd's pie in my flat and cart it over to Mel's...
We step out of the lip, onto the top floor and head right, to my flat. I attempt to open my door. Locked. Strange. I try again. The door opens. I must have left it unlocked earlier. Very odd. I locked it before I drove off to see Gordon Day in Burrington – didn't I?
Or, maybe, I didn't. I was upset earlier, right? About the visit to your parents. I left in a hurry, to see Gordon. I must have forgotten. I won't do that again.
I prepare a shepherd's pie in my flat and cart it over to Mel's...
#family
#memories
#mystery #risk
#mystery #risk
48 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
20th Nov 2024 9:31am
20th Nov 2024 9:31am
Secrets - The Drive Home
It's still early. We could go to see a film. What do you think?'
'I want to go home.'
'And you're sure about that?'
No answer.
'Okay, but say if you change your mind,' I say. I get into the car. 'We can go anywhere or do anything you like.' I reach over to help fasten his seatbelt, but he tenses, so I back off.
Poor kid. He must be hurting so much. Robert acts as if his mother never existed, refusing to talk about her at all. I don't blame him, really, although the extreme reaction concerns me. Like what do we do about...
'I want to go home.'
'And you're sure about that?'
No answer.
'Okay, but say if you change your mind,' I say. I get into the car. 'We can go anywhere or do anything you like.' I reach over to help fasten his seatbelt, but he tenses, so I back off.
Poor kid. He must be hurting so much. Robert acts as if his mother never existed, refusing to talk about her at all. I don't blame him, really, although the extreme reaction concerns me. Like what do we do about...
#family
#mystery
#relationships #risk
#relationships #risk
64 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
13th Nov 2024 9:42pm
13th Nov 2024 9:42pm
Secrets - Robert, Aloof
Lunch with Mel. Read of the newspapers.
Quarter to three. I set off to collect Robert from school. The other kids have gone. Robert's standing by the whiteboard with his teacher Miss Lyons, who greets me with a warm smile.
'We had a good day, didn't we Robert?' she says.
The boy nods and clutches his bag.
Miss Lyons tosses back her light brown hair and gets ready to leave. She's in her mid-twenties, pretty, with an open face and green eyes. 'I'm very confident about Robert,' she says. 'He's made a very promising start. I'm convinced...
Quarter to three. I set off to collect Robert from school. The other kids have gone. Robert's standing by the whiteboard with his teacher Miss Lyons, who greets me with a warm smile.
'We had a good day, didn't we Robert?' she says.
The boy nods and clutches his bag.
Miss Lyons tosses back her light brown hair and gets ready to leave. She's in her mid-twenties, pretty, with an open face and green eyes. 'I'm very confident about Robert,' she says. 'He's made a very promising start. I'm convinced...
#family
#mystery
#relationships
77 reads
5 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
8th Nov 2024 10:24am
8th Nov 2024 10:24am
Secrets - Meeting With Gordon
I recognise him straightaway. Gordon Day, even though he looks nothing like the Gordon Day you and I knew once. Back then, Gordon was a small boy, ruddy faced, with a mop of reddish-brown hair – lovable, in a way, but impish, I suppose. The guy in the gym looks like a tough nut capable of taking someone round the side and laying into them. He's wearing a blue gym vest with the gym logo on, the sort of vest that shows off serious muscle, and his cropped hair and the grin make him appear more youthful than a person in their mid-thirties.
He stops talking to the henna hair...
He stops talking to the henna hair...
#childhood
#conflict
#friendship
#memories
#mystery
58 reads
0 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
2nd Nov 2024 10:22am
2nd Nov 2024 10:22am
Secrets - Gordon Day
Burrington is full of coffee houses and arts and craft shops. Shoppers and tourists amble across the cobbled walkway, towards the market square, some with walking boots and maps, one gentleman with a beard and glasses smoking a long pipe while studying a map.
I still haven't got used to the slow pace of life and doubt I ever will; in London, everyone rushes everywhere. I spot a war memorial in the centre of town and a natural health centre tucked away in a mews with dried herbs hanging in the window. The surrounding hill countryside is steeped in folklore and a history of locals...
I still haven't got used to the slow pace of life and doubt I ever will; in London, everyone rushes everywhere. I spot a war memorial in the centre of town and a natural health centre tucked away in a mews with dried herbs hanging in the window. The surrounding hill countryside is steeped in folklore and a history of locals...
#friendship
#memories
#mystery
62 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
29th Oct 2024 8:12am
29th Oct 2024 8:12am
Secrets - Doubts
He weren't there, lad,' your dad says, as if guessing my thoughts. 'Our Scott's looked into it. Vince Macarthur never went into the woods that afternoon. He only popped out to go to the corner shop and that took no longer than five minutes and then he fell fast asleep in front of tele. He were woken up later when the police came.'
'How does Scott know that?' I say, hoping my question doesn't come across as rude.
'Never mind how he knows. Are you going to tell us what really happened?'
'I already have.'
Your dad stands up. 'Okay, lad, that's it....
'How does Scott know that?' I say, hoping my question doesn't come across as rude.
'Never mind how he knows. Are you going to tell us what really happened?'
'I already have.'
Your dad stands up. 'Okay, lad, that's it....
#childhood
#memories
#mystery #risk
#mystery #risk
68 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
25th Oct 2024 11:09pm
25th Oct 2024 11:09pm
Secrets - The Conversation
I wonder whether coming here was such a good idea after all. Maybe I should have written a letter instead. I ring the bell and wait. Movement inside, footsteps. An elderly woman answers the door and stares flatly at me.
'Mrs Winters?' I whisper.
No way. I'm so sorry, Craig. What have I done? Why did I make this visit today? And should I even be telling you this? Your mum's long ash blonde hair has gone, along with the perpetual smile that you and your brother inherited. She used to blow kisses at us when we were children and buy us fruit from...
'Mrs Winters?' I whisper.
No way. I'm so sorry, Craig. What have I done? Why did I make this visit today? And should I even be telling you this? Your mum's long ash blonde hair has gone, along with the perpetual smile that you and your brother inherited. She used to blow kisses at us when we were children and buy us fruit from...
#anger
#grief
#mystery #risk
#mystery #risk
89 reads
5 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Lozzamus
