“I’m bored,” said Claire. “Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored
__________Tales From The Town
Tales From The Town #209: The Big Pigeon, and other stories
The Big Pigeon, by Daniel
The big pigeon wasn’t just big, he was huge. When he landed in the playground the whole school trembled. When he flew up into the trees it was like a hurricane passing by. When the pigeon ate dinner it ate at least seventeen times as much as a normal sized pigeon ate for dinner. No one knew why the pigeon was so big but he was that big so all anyone ever talked about was how big he was even though that was the least interesting thing about him.
The most interesting things about him are: his name (Alphonse), his age (10 million years), his favourite olympic event (wrestling)
The New Clocks, by Ethel
No one noticed the new clocks at first. They looked exactly like the old clocks. But these clocks had one crucial difference. They were… EVIL!
Episode 1: The Ever So Slight Slowing Of Time
In this episode, The New Clocks wreak havoc by making a single school day last forever. It’s up to Ethel to save the day, and by saving the day, save the world (and the summer holidays)!
Why The Last Day At School Is The Worst Day At School, by Claire
I could be at home now I could be at the park I could be at Dad’s I could be anywhere but I’m not I’m at school writing stories and it’s awful.
Simple Summer Haiku, by Tina
just to be clear
six weeks of summer rain
won’t spoil a thing
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Notes:
1. Written on July 19th, 2025
__________Support An Accumulation Of Things
If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi. Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more). Thank you!Tales From The Town #208: Ethel Investigates… AI!
AI is the word for what computers do. It’s like thinking, but worse. In this essay I aim to learn all about AI.
Phones
Phones have the most AI of anything, except for our phones, which don’t. Our phones also don’t have any games on them, except for that awful game about dinosaurs that Daniel likes, and Tina’s spelling game, which isn’t even a game, it’s a dictionary. (Claire’s phone is broken and now she keeps nicking my phone which is why I’m writing this with a pen.)
Robots
Robots have AI instead of brains. Perhaps this is why Daniel’s robots keep falling down the stairs.
Videogames
When you play a game against the computer the computer characters are controlled by AI. Sometimes they are good but most of the time they are not very good. But they’re still better than Claire!
Music
Dad says one of the clever things about AI is that AI knows what you like better than you know what you like. This is why Dad let’s AI choose all his music for him and everything he listens to is AWFUL.
The Thermostat
When the man came and replaced the boiler he said our new thermostat has AI in it even though Mum specifically said she wanted a thermostat without AI in it, and there was nothing he could do about it, because that’s how thermostats work now, it just is. This means that when we have a bath we never know if the water is going to be hot or cold, which is an improvement on the old thermostat, where when we had a bath the water wasn’t hot or cold but lukewarm.
Daniel really likes the word thermostat and once said thermostat so much he forgot what thermostat meant. I bet an AI couldn’t do that!
Conclusion
When asked directly about AI, Mum says AI is “bloody useless”, which is a bit rude, and Dad says AI is “the most important invention ever”, which is a bit unlikely. Oya says that she “can’t really see what it’s there for,” while Anna said it’s simply “regurgitating stolen lies”.
Tina told me AI is “antithetical to poetics”, while Claire says AI is “stupid”, and that it only beat her at chess because it was “cheating”. Daniel said that if you said AI like it was a word instead of like letters it sounds almost like you’re screaming.
The witch cackled wildly when we asked her about it. (We don’t think she understood the question.) The cat has no opinion on AI at all.
In conclusion, AI is sometimes good (according to Dad) and sometimes not (according to everyone else and all my observations).
_______
Notes:
1. Written in June, 2025
__________Support An Accumulation Of Things
If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi. Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more). Thank you!Tales From The Town #207: Ethel Investigates… The House!
Our house is weird. Everybody says so, especially Claire, but also everybody else. Once when we were looking at photos, we discovered a picture of the house and the house was tiny. Mum looked really happy and Dad had a beard and long hair. Now everything is different and in this essay I will try and discover why.
Bottom Floor
Kitchen
Mum sits in the kitchen and listens to the radio all day long. We don’t know why. The only explanation we can think of is she is guarding the fridge like a troll.
Living Room
The living room is full of books, toys, chairs, chargers, old photos, coffee tables, dolls, cat fur, and arguments.
Hall
The hall runs from the back porch (wellies or sandals) to the front porch (coats, shoes and scarfs), and has two sets of stairs that both go upwards for some reason, and also there are doors leading to the living room, the kitchen, the room between the kitchen and the living room, the slide under the stairs, and Luke’s mirror.
Luke’s Mirror
Luke’s Mirror hangs in the hall. It cannot be moved. Luke lives in the mirror in the past, but presumably not our past, because our house was much smaller in the past, and yet the house in the mirror is exactly the same size as it is now.
Claire once tried to explain this anomaly, but it didn’t make sense.
The Room Between The Kitchen And The Living Room
This room has ALWAYS been empty and NEVER been used for ANYTHING. Daniel once had a dream that a hen lived there and laid its eggs in the fire and that’s how phoenixes are born.
The Slide Under The Stairs
There’s a slide under the stairs. Nobody else has a slide under the stairs as far as we know.
Only Claire uses the slide under the stairs because no one else trusts the slide under the stairs nor knows where it goes.
Middle Floor
Mum’s Room
Mum’s room is very purple. It even smells of purple.
Spare Room
There is too much furniture in the spare room. Nanny sleeps in here at Christmas and the cat sleeps in here whenever she wants.
Toilet Room
This room has a toilet in it but no sink. The patterns on the wall are in red velvet that have been cut out of some red velvet wallpaper.
Sink Room
This room has a sink in it but no toilet. The patterns on the wall are cut out of the red velvet wallpaper that the walls are wallpapered in
Bathroom
Daniel calls this the bathsinkroom because it contains a bath AND a sink.
Doll’s Nest
The doll’s nest is between the walls. You get to it through a tiny door that’s so well hidden we’re the only ones that know it’s there (except for the dolls, who use it all the time).
Anna and Oya’s Room
We’re only allowed in here with permission.
Anna and Oya’s Bathroom
We’re not allowed in here at all.
Not A Room
There used to be a room on this floor that was the lodger’s room but now there’s not even a door there let alone a room. No one can explain this and even if they could you wouldn’t want them to. What if the lodger’s still in there!
Therefore we do not talk about this room.
Top Floor
Our Room
Our room has: four beds, three windows, two doors, one desk, two window ledges, three bookcases, four wardrobes, three bedside cabinets, two clocks, and one chair.
You can see the moon through the window in the ceiling sometimes and that’s the best thing about our room. The worst thing about our room is [Claire’s name has been scribbled out here].
Loft (above Top Floor)
The only things in the loft at the moment are a strange old mirror and dad’s computer chair that creaks whenever you spin round on it. Tina sometimes calls this room “the psychomanteum”, but only when Daniel’s not around now, because the first time she said it he said that sounded “spooky” and wouldn’t go up there again (until eventually he did).
Claire claims that the slide under the stairs comes out here, but it doesn’t, obviously, because that would be impossible.
Basement (below bottom floor)
The basement is found beneath the house. You have to climb down a ladder to it, which you’d think would be quite exciting, but it’s not exciting at all because it’s dark down there and full of boxes of dad’s old books and records and computers and hats and nothing else. Dad doesn’t even wear hats any more and none of his computers work.
Garden (Front)
There’s not much in the front garden. Mum once made a little kennel for the bins but it blew down.
Garden (Back)
The Tree
The tree isn’t the only tree in the garden but it is the biggest tree and by far the best. One time we saw an owl in the tree, so now we always look for the owl in the tree whenever we go out there, but we’ve never seen it again. All we ever see are crows (and pigeons).
The tree is definitely older than the house because it was already huge in the old picture of the house we found where the house was really small. Yet now the house is big and it’s the tree that looks small (but not that small).
Verandah
Only mum calls this the verandah, and only when she’s drinking tea. Otherwise it’s “the decking” or “outside the back door”, which is where we’re supposed to leave our muddy shoes but Claire never does and just stomps into the kitchen making a mess and then we all get shouted at and it’s not fair at all.
The Swing
The swing is under the tree. I probably could have put this under the tree heading too, but I didn’t, I put it here instead.
Shed
The shed is always locked. Mum says Dad has the keys. Dad denies this. Who should we believe? (Mum!)
The Well
Everyone is scared of the well, except for Claire, who is very quick to tell us she isn’t scared of the well at all, actually, she just hates it. A lot.
Garden (Round The Sides)
Weird Old Fence Panel We Lean Our Bikes Against
We lean our bikes up against this weird old fence panel that isn’t attached to any other fence panels at all. Tina says it might not even be a fence but a trellis. Now Daniel keeps saying trellis and it’s annoying.
Tap
Why’s there a tap outside?! And why’s the water so cold.
Slug Hole
This hole has slugs in it. From its position and internal trajectory, we believe the hidden slug factory within must be located somewhere beneath the verandah.
Conclusion
No one knows why our house is so big. Nanny says it used to be so small no one even knew it was there. Mum says it’s all Dad’s fault. Dad refuses to say what happened, although he did once admit that “things got out of hand” and that “he’s sorry”. Anna and Oya say it’s not that big but at least it’s quite cheap and we aren’t too annoying too often, which is nice. The dolls contradicted each other, twice. The cat just purred.
__________
Notes:
1. Written in June 2025
__________Support An Accumulation Of Things
If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi. Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more). Thank you!Tales From The Town #206: This Is Our Punk Rock
“QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQSIHGSYUEYGXEJHVSJHWWGHS!”
“What on earth is that noise?” Agnes asked, as an insistent sort of metallic shrieking shook the kitchen and presumably the rest of the house and also much of the rest of the town beyond its walls.
“It’s Claire,” said Tina. “She’s playing the trumpet.”
“Who the heck gave Claire a trumpet?!”
“Dad,” said Ethel.
“Your father gave Claire a trumpet?! What possessed him to do such a thing?”
“It’s our birthday on Monday, Mum,” said Daniel. “We’re going to be TEN!”
“I know it’s your birthday on Monday, Daniel,” Agnes said. “But… a trumpet?! What did he get the rest of you? Machine guns?”
“What would we do with machine guns, Mum?” Tina asked.
“He bought us all trumpets,” Ethel explained.
“We’re forming a band,” Daniel announced, pulling a trumpet out from behind his back somehow even though Agnes could have sworn he definitely didn’t have a trumpet hidden behind his back moments earlier. “Toot!”
“Toot!” agreed Ethel.
“Toot!” Tina harmonised.
“SIHGSYUEYGXEJHVSJHWWGHSQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ!” Claire added from upstairs.
__________
Notes:
1. Written on June 3rd, 2025
2. The title is stolen from this wonderful album