Author S. K. Nicholas

x and i: a novel

a journal for damned lovers vol 1-3

DamnedLovers

  • Atoms of a Dead Man

    Basking in the light of the drawn veil, the branches of the trees reach for the stars. Pinching them with their leaves the same way a grandmother squeezes the cherub cheeks of a child, they pluck them from out of the sky before flicking them like marbles into deep space where no doubt they’re sucked… Read more

  • Dancing with Shadows

    She spreads the night as wide as she spreads herself, which is as wide if not wider than the sight of any open door I’ve ever known. Gazing at what her fingers reveal, the town in which I’ve spent so much of my life is torn to pieces before my eyes. It offers as much… Read more

  • With the town disappearing in a series of vast ripples, the tree carries us into a strange new world, and yet although changed, the light we seek remains the same. The whole thing reminds me of the music video for Come as You Are, by Nirvana. Those precious three minutes where everything exists in a… Read more

  • A Drunken Riot

    Lifting my fingers from the flesh of her shoulder, I trace them over the buildings either side of us. Smudging their outlines, I smear them upwards against the moon, giving the pale rock a ring to match that of Saturn’s, although this one is more beautiful by far. Smearing the road as well as the… Read more

  • Escape

    She seems mad. She is mad—now more so than ever. It appears as though the current chain of events has driven her to the point of ecstasy. Not a drug-fuelled one, nor one that’s purely sexual, but an ecstasy brought upon by how close we are to that which lies ahead. With her eyes spinning… Read more

  • Bombs of God

    Bounding along the street, the tree snatches at the sky with its branches as if trying to pull down the stars. It doesn’t succeed, but I do. On tiptoes, I wrap one arm around the trunk and with the other, reach as high as I can into the swirling, infinite sea of mystery. Or is… Read more

  • Messenger

    The tree stomps on a car caked with mud. Pulverised like a squashed mosquito, the glass from its windscreen shimmers before disappearing out of view. Up high, Hachikō howls, and whatever direction he turns his tail, so the tree follows. Hachikō’s keen, observing eyes are seeking a way through the urban maze towards the light… Read more

  • Rosemary and Fred

    I read the script and didn’t like it. Too wordy. Too grey. Her feet were dirty but biblical, so for a while at least, it was okay. She ate fruit from the holy tree and worshipped Roy Rodgers—read the comics and everything. Reading them beneath the sheets gave her papercuts, but she had a thing… Read more

  • Black Cotton Wool

    Staggering like a drunk, the tree lurches into the middle of the street. Pulling back one of its more prominent roots, it throws it in the direction of a sparsely illuminated car parked half on the kerb, half off. The car doesn’t stand a chance. Buckling upon impact, it flies upwards before briefly disappearing into… Read more

  • Never Flower

    As shards of glass rain down like diamonds on some exotic planet I know the name not of, the tree grumbles as if angry at the obstacles littering its path. Thrashing its branches at whatever dares halt its march, the force of them as they crash against the stained brickwork of the stores and cafes… Read more