Other short stories
The Wardrobe
A ghost story.
‘From ghoulies and ghosties,’ he whispers, ‘good Lord, deliver us!’
A desolate child, a cold father, a cruel sister … and the wardrobe. What’s in the wardrobe?
Highly commended in the Monash Short Story Competition
The Cosmonaut’s Child
The first spacewalk. As the cosmonaut ventures from the safety of the mothership, he reflects on the imminent birth of his child back home.
My growing child, who swam and tumbled inside his mother, now feels the womb wall close around him. But I have cast off gravity, float weightless in the boundless void. The silence is absolute but for the hammer of my heartbeat, the whispering tide of my breath.
3rd prize in the Chorley & District Writers’ Circle Short Story competition.
This Devil Ship
A former KGB agent expresses his guilt at his involvement in the tragedy of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.
‘Remember: an open coffin,’ he says. ‘Think of me sometimes, won’t you?
Sunset Cruise
A black comedy.
Shona always did go overboard … Don’t get me wrong: Shona’s events were monumental, unforgettable. Each bore her individual stamp, from the elaborate costumes and props to the themed refreshments … In hindsight, I should have been more wary when she booked a ‘Sunset Cruise: a romantic experience for two’ to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
Anna By Lamplight
The night hangs still and expectant. Anna hears the familiar ring of steel-capped toes echoing through the street. Max strides into view, swinging his black leather briefcase in the iron grip of his black leather gloves.
Set in Berlin 1938, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht. A tense psychological mystery with a hint of the supernatural.
Alison Knight, Author. 