“Why would I want a portrait of that stupid cow?” the fortyish, hard-as-nails woman in a designer dress snapped at the tiny sweet old lady, who seemed to shrink away in fear. “She might have given birth to me, but unlike her and Dad I managed to get away from this ghastly area, earn some…
Category: Coffee Break Stories
Frozen
How does it feel when you know you’re going to die? I found out on a cold drizzly autumn afternoon a couple of months ago. I had ascended the front wall of the tall block of flats and I’d reached the top floor of Harblow House, with the wind in my hair and adrenaline…
Just in Time
The fog was thicker now, and I was getting more and more frozen and miserable as I trudged home along the slushy pavement. It was one of those days when before the fog came down, I could see snow hanging around in the trees and on buildings as a sparkling white beauty pageant, yet on…
The Impossible Choice
I had just saved a man’s life, and I was deeply ashamed. If only I had killed him. The refectory for the staff of a large hospital is a desperate place in the early hours of the morning. Weary and miserable doctors and nurses were relaxing alone or in twos and threes, legs outstretched, chins…
The Model
“It’s awful! Ghastly! Oh Chris, what have you done?” My teacher and I looked at the portrait I was trying to paint of our new model, Maria. Peter was right. I’d done everything I could to catch the likeness of the face of the attractive middle-aged lady perched on the chair in our studio, but…
No Good Deed
“Oh Tony, you’re hopeless! Why do you always forget everything? Buying stuff, paying bills, remembering things we need to get?” “Sorry, I do try.” My wife was always reminding me how forgetful I am, and it’s true. When I’m doing one thing I get caught up in it and forget everything else, so the little…
Seeing Red
“I ran down this cyclist – knocked him off his bike and he may have been killed. It was dark. No one saw what happened and I just drove away.” As Malcolm had been talking, I noticed how dark it was outside, and just how claustrophobic and uncomfortable this tiny public house had become, especially…
Honourable Gentleman
The girl I had just had sex with screamed as we looked out of the window and watched the man strangle the woman to death. Panicking and terrified, all I could think of was to take a picture of his face on my phone, before he ran away. There was nothing we could have done…
The Last Hope
“I was sacked from my job, came home in the middle of the day and found my wife in bed with another man. So I lost my job and my wife all in one day.” “I’m so sorry,” said the stranger, who had joined me at the table in the corner of the room of…
Running on Empty
“Ann had depression and had tried suicide before, but this time she succeeded. I found her body.” “And after that the insomnia got worse?” “Yes,” I agreed with the psychiatrist. I had been at Marley Grange for a fortnight now, and they kept asking the same questions, thinking they were helping me. “Before that I…