Recommended by David Patton

Vivian has the talent to pack a whole romantic tale into just a few well lines. Yet another surprise for his girlfriend, and for Vivian's readers too...sweet..

OOHH! Clever. A short, almost monosyllabic interchange and yet conveys so much!

Now when I was young, if only my priest had an ounce of the genuine empathy and understanding Elizabeth has when dealing with a very afraid, but sceptical Casey perhaps I'd still believe.

Michael deals beautifully with the many issues in this wee story, loss, religion, hope, despair, without once being mawkish. He could have loaded this story with tears, hand wringing and endless puffery, but no, he keeps it to no more than the characters need to take us along with them.
He doesn't ask us to judge...we are the Watchers, witnesses if you like.

All's fair in love, war and job-hunting as our white, mid-western white applicant plays a very different race card.
In her desperation to be hired, she twists, turns and then ripostes as she exits and finally resorts to being a mid- western white woman once again.

Anyone who pokes fun at religion is OK in my literary analysis, and this wee monologue does it without being too disrespectful to the faithful.
Who would have thought that Saints had a shelf life?
Or that they would drift in and out of fashion? One thing is a constant however…revenge!!

A beautifully written, prosaic piece where a parent is forced to face the reality of his relationship with his daughter.
Initially, we're painted a picture of the life all parents would seek for their child. Happy, contented, successful, in a loving family. but best for who, and at what cost?

When his marriage disintegrates, his daughter leaves, he is forced to realise that the perfect life was perfection in his mind only and came at the cost of losing all that he held dear.
Finally, he takes some small steps to ease the pain of his failure.
loved this monologue.

Did she, or did she not?
Will he, or will he not?
Initially, the answers matter not, but their respective motives make for wonderfully uncomfortable reading and leave us, as all good cliff-hangers do, not only wanting more, but desperate now for those answers which do, we discover. matter after all.

Rarely do we have in real life or in fiction, a female mass murderer. That is not the only departure from the norm that the author employs in this deep and disturbing piece.
We are not invited here to hate this woman, nor are we led to feel her life of pain or sympathise with her views. We are Watchers. We are merely called to bear witness, and that, for me is what makes this piece so powerful. She admits to no crime, rather, as she puts it... I was their devil of mercy. Excellent!!

She nails it!!! Anyone, like me, who is an unofficial Uber for his Grandkids, will breath a sigh of relief that they are not alone dealing with kids with Mobilephoneritis.... for which, apparently, there is no cure, including hypnosis. Cleverly using time shift, Ali doth set a short comedic delight before us for our delight...and this is a delight. I chuckled all the way through!!!

Just...Fucking wow!!!! Sorry, I'm Glaswegian, and that's our go-to word when we're left with nothing. But what is there to say? This is such an incredibly powerful set up. The Dialogue, speaking across each other, is made all the more powerful for that. We're left wondering if this relationship could only ever have worked this way. That these two would be Baking Soda and Vinegar if this tale hadn't come off the rails early on.
And yet, this brutal beast, perhaps needing the safety of the glass, so eloquently pours out his hopes and dreams for his lost love.