Michael lit a cigarette and smoked it in silence. The others spoke haltingly, in sentences with atrocious syntax, accents so off she hardly recognised some words, but they went on. Aside from the obvious one, this was the real difference between them. They had the confidence to be foolish, to be wrong. She asked Michael […]

Maeve had sandbags in her belly. When shit had happened before, she’d only had to share streets with the other side. But that morning she’d be sharing the air she breathed. And there was Aoife to think about. When she’d first moved to the town from the Free State, she’d been pure clueless. Maeve had […]

self-portrait: at sea I’d like you to sing, he said.  We don’t sing, Mr Lloyd.  But I need something to focus on. Counting or singing.  Not in this boat.  I read in a book that you people always sing while rowing.  Not a very good book then, is it, Mr Lloyd?  I came here because […]

Näinä viime kuukausina, siitä lähtien kun Maitomies-juttu oli alkanut, olin saanut huomata, miten suuri vaikutus minulla oli ihmisiin, vaikka en tiennyt heidän edes huomanneen minua. “Se on kammottavaa, perverssiä, jääräpäisen määrätietoista”, pitkäaikaisin ystävä jatkoi. “Tässähän ei ole kyse siitä, että joku silmäilisi kävellessään sanomalehdestä tuoreimmat otsikot tai jotain. Kyse on siitä, miten sinä sen teet: […]