‘CHANGE please,’ Cuan called out from under his hood as he watched a pair of heavy doc’s step by. A single drop of rain hit him on the nose and ran downwards, nesting on his lip. He was cold. The kind of cold that sat in bones causing a consistent dull ache and it had rained so much lately his clothes never fully dried. The smell of him alone would keep people away, but that wasn’t a problem these past few days it seemed.
Read More‘HAS it got me,’ the old bird asked. The skin around her eyes was as thin as tissue and detailed with faint little veins.
‘Yes,’ coughed Sally. Clearing her throat and saying it again. ‘Yes it has. The dampness in your lungs is making it difficult for you to breathe and your body is tired from fighting.’
‘Feckin Corona. So what do we do?’ The old bird asked with a fierce strength in her tone.
Read More‘CLASS dismissed, enjoy your weekend children,’ Ms Flannery called out, slamming her duster down on the desk.
A chorus of squeaks from chairs being pushed out erupted from the class and the distinct gleeful chatter that came at the end of every Friday could be heard. Coats were thrown on and as Finn zipped up his schoolbag, he quickly removed the knife and stuck it in his pocket.
Read MoreNEXT stop, Milltown. An chéad stad eile, Baile Muileann. The intercom called as the train eased its pace towards Dublin City. Declan sat leaning against the window of the luas with his arms folded tight as if to restrain himself. A couple of rows ahead of him two lads sat about the same age as Declan. Only they were leaning against each other cozily, one nuzzling the others cheek with his nose. Declan watched them closely. He watched to see if other people were watching them too; but nobody appeared to notice.
Read MoreSQUINTING through the curtains of rain that lashed on his windscreen, Liam steered his shitty little Nissan with one hand around the long bend towards Stepaside Village. ‘Fuck fuck shit shit motherfucker,’ he called out. He never paid attention to the little details, he cursed. Always acting before thinking, gut before head, that was him alright …. gut before fecking head. He needed help, he had concluded.
Read More‘Darragh!!!! Get up, I need help up at your Grandfather’s grave.’
Darragh twitched underneath the covers of his bed, the stench from his own body turning his stomach. It had not been twelve hours since he arrived back in Dublin, returning home from years away in Asia. The money had gone and real life beckoned he had supposed. He made good money teaching English in Hanoi, but spent it so fast he hardly got to touch it.
In one clean sweep he pulled the covers off himself and rose up; his lip pulling on the pillow a little, stuck from his own drool.
Read MoreTHE club was about to close. Donnacha and Gabrielle both knew that soon the lights would be turned on and the plug would be pulled on the music. Donnacha guided Gabriele by sleeve of his black button-up shirt and led him through Crawdaddy, across the dance floor towards the large smoking courtyard near the entrance; the echoes of the house-beats rippling after them into the cool night air.
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