The tower: a tall tale

The stone steps she climbs loop round and round and round without end. Each day she imagines finally reaching the top but is destined to trudge on without reward while ever she acquiesces to do so...

short story long: road

I remember it as if it were yesterday: a beautiful bright morning in October, anti-cyclonic in fact. Birds were hopping about among the rusty leaves, with only the earliest of risers fortunate enough to see them at play. I was making my way down towards the office when, amid the hustle and bustle and buses, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, something rather unusual. The sight quite stopped me in my tracks. “What on earth was she doing here?” I thought. And I gave chase, eventually catching up with her some way further down on the other side of the street. Slightly breathlessly, I shouted down towards her, “Why ever did you do that?” To which the chicken responded “Simply, sir, to gain access to the other side of the street.”

Character assassination: unfinished portrait

His face resembled an unfinished portrait: as if the artist had lost interest half way through. A weak chin sat beneath unremarkable pink lips, the uppermost of which supported a collection of dark hairs that may one day develop into what would be a moustache. The nose, perhaps the most noteworthy feature on his façade, was larger than the average and boasted a slight hook as it progressed. His eyes were small and the brows above them were not dissimilar from the hairs positioned above his lip. He was outwardly unremarkable. But in his briefcase he carried the secrets of the universe...