Retirement. A personal view

Gone are the days when we all believed that we knew our own preordained retirement date. Constant tinkering by successive big governments carelessly messing with people’s lives put an end to yet another certainty as we understood it.

The Playground

It was early Saturday morning. Actually it was really early on Saturday morning. In fact it was so early in the morning that the cockerel had not yet crowed and the blackbird was only just beginning to clear his throat as he prepared to lead the dawn chorus to greet the brand new day.

Tiffy and the Mermaid

“I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied.”

‘Sea Fever’ by John Masefield

Tales of mermaids have been around for centuries, and form a large part of seafaring lore, especially round the coastal areas of Britain. Their sighting was thought to be a bad omen, foretelling storms and rough seas. There are numerous folk tales describing their interaction with humans.

Aleysha and the Unicorn

 “Now I will believe that there are unicorns…….”
— William Shakespeare —
(The Tempest)

Sta-Na the unicorn walked here for a while, he stirred the imagination, and revived the dream. This is a short story which tells something of his time amongst us and how he came to meet Aleysha, but to get to the heart of a story you have to go back to the beginning.