Tales From The Town #228: The Worst Spellings Ever

“Wednesday,” said Claire. “It’s just stupid.”

“It’s no stupider than any other spelling,” said Ethel.

“It is!” Claire said. “You don’t say half the letters.”

“I do,” said Daniel. “I say ALL the letters. Ever.”

“He even says the y,” Tina said, as Daniel stretched the word out beyond a third syllable and into a fourth, and then somehow a fifth and a sixth and a seventh as the Y went on and on and on like a note in a song that never ends. It was beautiful. By the end everyone was in tears (except for Claire who, unsure whether Daniel was proving or disproving her point, had left the room in a rage).

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Notes:

1. Written on January 10th, 2026

Tales From The Town #226: Mince Pies

January snow blows in. Rivers freeze. The town is cut off from the outside world. Supplies dwindle, diminish. Soon will come starvation. Soon there will be death.

And still the mince pies sit on the supermarket shelves, prices reduced to 23p for a box of six, unbought, unneeded, unwanted, uneaten.

We would rather eat Easter than finish off Christmas.

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Notes:

1. Written on January 6th, 2026

Tales From The Town #225: The Kite In The Tree

The kite in the tree yearns always to be free.

The kite in the tree cannot be retrieved. The kite in the tree cannot be dislodged. The kite in the tree is impervious to decay.

The kite in the tree yearns always to be free.

The kite in the tree watches birds fly above. The kite in the tree watches balloons float away. The kite in the tree sees the clouds, the sun, the stars, the moon.

The kite in the tree yearns always to be free.

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Notes:

1. Written on January 6th, 2026

Tales From The Town #224: The Glass Lake

Everything is perfectly preserved in the glass of the lake. Shoals of fish, fronds of weed and fern, frogs, frogspawn. Sunken boats, lost footballs, fishing nets, shopping trolleys, a small fortune of coins.

__________

Notes:

1. Written on January 3rd, 2026