Car Free Day in Brussels

  • Trickledown

    Ben popped the champagne cork to oooh’s and aaah’s from his selected gathering. His colleague Mark with his wife Julie. His long-time friends Colin and Anya. They had gathered in his kitchen-diner, designed by Ben using 3D Computer Aided Design software which itself cost a tidy sum. The celebration was a long time coming, Ben…

  • Baby Bear

    I’ve been here since I was eight months old. I can remember mom saying the men on her side of the family lived for twenty six or twenty seven years. The bears here make it to twenty, they say it’s a hard life, hard on the bones with these cold stone floors. I know what…

  • Pigs vs Wolf

    A play. The Actors: Judge: A wise old horse of good standingThree Little Pigs: A group of property owners alleging wilful destruction of their estateThe Big Bad Wolf: The accused Montgomery Mole: Construction industry expert.The Jury: Three sheep, five chickens and four foxesPublic Gallery: Two cows, various ducks and geese, and a disinterested ginger cat…

  • The Bill Splitters

    The waiter went around the table, each couple paid their part of the bill as was customary in the country where they live. It had been a boisterous night, the conversations about who had what were blurred with alcohol-soaked jabs and jibes. The waiter went around adding up each person’s meals and drinks, Peter and…

  • Souvenirs

    See that snowglobe of the Windsor Castle? That was the first one, I don’t know why I said it, it just came out. Jimmy explained his souvenir collection to Olivia. It started with Emma when he was a student. He had told her the snowglobe was exactly like one he had as a child, he…

  • Hits and Misses

    Ian fiddled with his watch, he couldn’t get the step counter to synchronise with his smartphone. Mike teased him that the watch couldn’t handle any more connections while his wife was using it to track his whereabouts. Mike knew Ian was worried about his wife leaving him, they had been arguing a lot – more…

  • I, Pornbot

    After his divorce and a string of failed relationships, Bruce deleted all his dating apps, and cancelled his subscriptions. He gave up, he couldn’t see what he was doing wrong, he didn’t understand why his wife left him. He just wanted to be like everyone else. Then he saw a news item about the banning…

  • Marla’s Legacy

    The will was read, she had left everything to Carmen, her nurse. The nurse didn’t appear at the reading, she knew this would be difficult. She had talked it over with her husband, her idea was to divide everything between Marla’s children and maybe keep a share for herself. Her husband convinced her to keep…

  • A Song and Dance

    A True Story. I’m in a writers group. I had missed a meeting and they told me that a music producer had been there, looking for lyrics writers. I got the contact details and made an appointment. I met with the record producer, a bitter, twisted old man. I was surprised to find he was…

  • The Marriage Lottery

    I awoke on a park bench. There was a wedding party by the fountain, wedding parties usually came here for the picture shoot after the ceremony. I sat up and squinted to get a clear look at the bride. I was engaged once, working in an office, free coffee, lottery pool, we had everything. It…