Author S. K. Nicholas

Crushing a half-smoked cigarette beneath my shoe as I waited for the bus, a pile of dead leaves came to life. Others were standing around me, but none of them seemed to notice. The leaves danced to a song I couldn’t hear, and as they climbed high into the air, I could taste the magic Read more

Almost two years since this relationship began—again—and all that’s left is a handful of what-ifs and some photos on my phone of a time that feels a million miles away. There was an initial period of mourning. Now though, all I’m left with is a familiar sense of strangeness. It’s not unduly unpleasant, and yet Read more

Outside the train station, some guy handed me a leaflet about God. I haven’t read it, but I will at some point. I’m not much of a believer, but I enjoy reading the words of people who do. It doesn’t matter what they believe, as long as it’s something that has a hold of their Read more

Earlier today, I sat on a bench outside the church in the town where I work. It’s the same church where my uncle and auntie married back in the ‘80s. I was a page boy. I was naughty and misbehaved, pulling faces in all the photographs like a right little shit. It’s the same church Read more

I spent most of the day boxing up books and other such personal belongings. It didn’t make me feel sad, just a tad lost. The end of this relationship has been coming for months. It’s been bunk for such a long time that to walk away from it brought nothing but relief. But still. The Read more

In the morning, I wake to the sound of drowned birdsong. The streets. The town. The cities beyond. All of them drowned. My mouth is dry. This brain of mine rattles in a skull that feels too tight. Stretched. Like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of someone’s shoe. Rolling about with the Read more

The day resembles a stopped clock. It’s raining, and I have toothache. Another relationship lies by the wayside, but I’m indifferent to pretty much everything that doesn’t fit in with my way of seeing things. I pen words that speak of love and the soul and then sit in silence for hours on end, unable Read more

On the ground by some bins on my way home from work, I spied a pigeon with a club foot pecking for crumbs. It didn’t seem sad or in pain, but what would I know about that? A few days earlier, a newsagent I visited every Sunday as a kid had its windows blown out Read more

Skirting the edge of nowhere, the day dissolves like a dream upon waking as the beads of rain clinging to the window remind me of everything I’ve lost. Or, more accurately, everything I want but can’t have. It’s cold, and the heat from the radiator doesn’t get close to warming my bones. Instead, it escapes Read more

If I close my eyes, I hear the crashing of waves and feel the wind of lost youth on my face as we prepare to venture into the night in anticipation of the culinary delights that await us. There’s an Italian restaurant not far from the beach, with a view of the stars and faraway Read more