Monologues

14 hours. Not a long time, say, a nice long family day out? A long journey in a car from Cornwall to Scotland with a nice long break somewhere? Or 14 hours of sweat, fear and hell… I’ll tell you about it. It’s 1999 and I’ve been sent to Pristina, in Kossovo, Yugoslavia. I’m sent because I’m a RAF fire fighter and I’m part of a team which keeps the airfield open as there are no qualified fire fighters at that time (indigenous ones at least). My arrival in Macedonia (no military aircraft were allowed at Pristina airport – thanks my Russian friends) saw temperatures below –20 degrees, its cold ... more

I have often wondered how housewives of today would cope if they exchanged places with the housewives of the World War 2 years. Today we have everything we want, washing machines, fridge freezers, vaccuum cleaners, electric irons, central heating, instant hot water and as much food as we can afford to buy, with most of it prepacked, frozen, ready made meals and more. The housewives of 1940's had none of these luxuries I remember growing up during this time and watching my Mum and Grandma doing their everyday chores and shopping. Instead of a washing machine the laundry was done in a dolly tub ... more

Setting............... Indoors, on the sofa, outside it's a lovely Spring day, so why am I sat here brooding. ANGRY... I'm fed up of being a victim, to life, to love, to health and depression, I want to turn the clock back. Sequence.............. October2002, I am looking after my mum, when she has a stroke, six months of hell watching her losing her dignity, speech and memory.She died in my arms on May 27th, just like my dad in 1996. My ex-partner "A" walked away every time I cried. June 2003. My daughters wedding, a lovely June day, I was so proud of you, I wish mum and dad had been there to ... more

It has become something of a personal tradition that I mark every century of reviews with a rare piece of fiction writing. As much as I've enjoyed review writing over the years, I've always worried that once I allowed my imagination free rein to travel where it wishes, it would discover it doesn't really have anywhere to go. But I've found that I enjoy creative writing just as much as review writing and so, some 3 ½ years after my first attempt and just shy of 2 years after my second, I choose to mark my third century of reviews in the same way. And who knows what may happen if I ever make it ... more

My daddy worked in a factory. He left school at fourteen and started work in a factory, in a job sponsored by my uncle. That's how it was then, in 1950. He worked for the same man, with my uncle, for the next twenty years. When the owner retired, he made everybody redundant but my uncle and my father used the redundancy money to buy the machinery and set up for themselves. Their old boss made them a good deal. He was fond of them. My daddy's factory smelled of hot metal. It was dark and dirty and… heavenly. Inside, they bent long pieces of tube, worked on big, big sheets of metal. Sparks flew ... more