Maria Thomas

I meet the werewolf at a noodle bar in Soho. Chain Reaction’s playing on the radio, and he’s using chopsticks to drum the beat, a tangle of beef chow mein in a bowl.   I’ve been drinking, but that isn’t why I’m queasy at the slices of carcass-pink beef peeking through ridges browned in dark […]

Later, you’ll sit at the kitchen table gazing at the perfectly portioned Victoria Sponge your daughter made and wonder why you didn’t say ‘yes, of course’ when she asked if she had time for a second slice.   Later, you’ll glance your palm across white cotton cloth, feeling atoms of cake beneath it, before clenching

Grandpa called her Tiger and would take her on his knee and whisper tales of splendour and beauty, of the camouflage of long grass, the silence of stalking, of strength and resilience.   Grandpa called her Tiger and when they went to the lido, he distracted her from curious stares by showing her how tigers

Longview Academy Accident Book   STUDENT NAME Peter Williams CLASS 7B DETAILS OF ACCIDENT Bruising to left arm. Student clearly sore, moving with difficulty. Student says he fell in the playground. REPORTED BY Mrs Daniels DATE 10th September   STUDENT NAME Peter Williams CLASS 7B DETAILS OF ACCIDENT Student has livid red marks encircling both

She’s a bit of a hoarder, my mother, her tiny house now littered with graveyards of collections. Her latest, latest, fads. The sitting room, the one we never sit in – we keep it for best darling – is full of glass cabinets, pottery, and porcelain and earthenware. Clarice Cliffe, Josiah Wedgwood, even the odd

It’s a lettuce-crisp morning when Belinda finally visits the allotment, the first time since Richard was found prone amongst the cabbages and rhubarb. The sun hasn’t yet burned off the dawn and Belinda needs to be sure she’s doing the right thing in passing on this patch to someone else. Malcolm from next door has tried