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Chris High has been writing for some 25 years and has built up quite a
collection of work. Why not check out some of his short stories here?
Here at www.chrishigh.com we will be including a new tale by Chris and
other selected guest writers on a regular basis.
Chris would really love to hear your comments or questions about any of the tales available here, please leave your - FEEDBACK
Written by Chris Dale.
"We lay nestled in our crisp, translucent blankets, desperately trying to sleep despite the press of bodies all around. I had been awake for hours. In fact, everyone in the packet had been kept up by the petty, incessant squabbling of my brothers as they tumbled with one another against its sides."
DOWNLOAD 'SWEET' (Rich Text File).
"'Unghh!'
Groaning, I press off the alarm's inane morning chatter and roll gingerly onto my back. An arm is lifted to rest across my eyes, blocking out the weak sun that's burning through my thin curtains; my head is pounding; my back is aching; my lips are cracked and feel swollen when I run my tongue across them."
DOWNLOAD 'BEATEN' 12.5 KB (Rich Text File).
"It was a mistake that I'd had to catch that bus at all. I'd been delayed at work, typing, and missed my usual 44A. As I waited for another to arrive, it began to rain. Luckily - I use the term sparingly - a bus headed towards the depot from which I could catch another taking me almost to the front door of my house, arrived soon after. I boarded it, grateful for the shelter and the warmth."
DOWNLOAD 'FAIR' 10.5 KB (Rich Text File).
"Mike couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Must be sunstroke or something: sixty-seven? That’s got to be a mistake?
But there it was, in black and white. The house he and Tammy had been looking for and at an unbelievable price.
He took his mobile from his grey trouser pocket and hit the button that would put him through to her. As he waited, he wiped sweat from his brow and caught an unpleasant whiff coming from beneath his arms."
DOWNLOAD 'HOUSE' 76.6 KB (Rich Text File).
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SETS. NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Television screens display this message the world over in different languages and dialects. From Adis Ababa to Zelonograd screens first fuzz over, speakers hiss and the message fades until replaced with a single yellow circle criss-crossed by a double black lightening bolt."
DOWNLOAD 'EYE' 23.0 KB (Rich Text File).
SUBURBIA
"The sound of the radio-alarm clock's siren
penetrates his brain as efficiently as though it were a pneumatic drill
hammering through concrete from inside his wardrobe. Only by reaching
a heavy hand from beneath the cold covers, did Reg silence its summons
with a hard slap."
DOWNLOAD 'SUBURBIA' 39.5 KB (Rich
Text File).
"It was as if he could hear the steam rising from his mug of coffee as he'd entered the room and sat down. As always, the air had been full of pre-conversation tension and he'd wondered why this had to be the case. He'd been growing used to it, but none the less, it was all so unnecessary. Neither had meant for this situation to arise and both had been powerless to prevent it. "
DOWNLOAD 'DISTANCED' 19.6 KB (Rich Text File).
"Black walls, black ceiling, black floor. The world is black, inside and out, light does not exist. It cannot intrude here.
In the distance can be heard an insistent hum, rolling and rocking in seismic rhythm with a world rotating on its axis. Continuous. Monotonous. Unignorable yet breathing safety, warmth, comfort."
DOWNLOAD 'SLEEP' 6.37 KB (Rich Text File).
"It was like coming out of a dream in many ways. Doreen wouldn't be able tell anybody exactly what had happened only that she had not meant it.
The blade of the bread-knife clamped by its pink plastic handle in her wrinkled hand, still dripped with blood. Usually all that it ever dripped were suds from her washing up bowl or crumbs from the whole loaves he preferred."
DOWNLOAD 'ARNOLD' 26.1 KB (Rich Text File).
A poll on this site asking which CdeB song would you most like to inspire me to write a short story revealed 'Ship To Shore' to be the clear winner, thank you to all who voted and hope you enjoy the results, best wishes - Chris High 2004
"Now what was he going to do? The ship was going down fast and he was stranded on board. On the distant shoreline he saw his family waving to him and Donald had never felt quite so powerless before in his entire life, as he did at that moment.
He had risked everything in agreeing to this trip."
DOWNLOAD 'WRECKAGE' 15.9 KB (Rich Text File).
"The cold was thick enough almost to be sliced like a chocolate cake; though the air was still enough for breath to almost be heard to crystallise as it was exhaled.
At the foot of a hill somewhere in England, three men have gathered."
Written just for Christmas and available from FRi 19th Dec - 'SHEPHERDS'
"Sitting at her desk near the back of the classroom, Kate stared out of the closed window. The room itself was stifling and a sheet of sweat caused by the temperature, meant that her white blouse had become uncomfortably stuck to her back, beneath the fall of her long black curls. Her eyelids felt as though wet sandbags had been tied to them, such was the struggle she was having keeping them open."
DOWNLOAD 'DAZE' 11.7KB (Rich Text File).
"It's cool in here, away from the heat of the sun outside.
It's quiet, relaxed, chilled almost. This is a good place to get away for a moment. What better place than a church could there be? In fact, what better place than a Cathedral could there be? If you're going to pick a place, pick a big place. As big and as old and as worn in as possible."
DOWNLOAD 'PROGRESSION' 23.5KB (Rich Text File).
"Mist crawled amongst the headstones and swirled upward like smoke from an unseen fire whilst before him loomed the gothic structure that was the church. Ivy crawled up its walls and ferns poked from cracks in the masonry. No flag flew from its pole at the height of the bell tower and the instrument inside omitted a dull throbbing resonance that echoed dully in single chimes."
DOWNLOAD 'REALITY' 11.4KB (Rich Text File).
"A house, for the most part, is just a building. Four walls, a floor and a roof. That's all that houses are, in principal at least. Somewhere in which to come and rest, to play with your kids, to relax and unwind in. A place in which to feel safe, once you've locked the door behind you."
DOWNLOAD 'BUILDING' 17.4KB (Rich Text File).
WISHFUL
"There's
a man I knew, he lived down my street. Sometimes I'd see him in the supermarket.
He'd be getting in his shopping for one, judging by the meagre amount
of goods that would be in his basket. Sometimes I'd see him in the pub
or in the café. He'd always be alone when I saw him, though he
did sometimes get involved in conversations. Mostly, he just kept himself
to himself and mostly I'd see him at his work."
DOWNLOAD 'WISHFUL' 18.5KB (Rich
Text File).
DISCOVERY
"Awake
at sunrise.
All
night he'd lain ill at ease in his bed. Twisting his heavy covers into
a mess of uncomfortable knots. His mouth had been dry. Sweat had drooled
from every available pore, causing him to rise on several occasions to
quench his thirst, only for the sand to reappear in an instant on his
throat.
"
DOWNLOAD 'DISCOVERY' 14.3KB (Rich
Text File).
MEMORY
"Just
a mound of clay uncared for and abandoned, that's all that is left now.
No stone. No pot even for the most wilted of flowers.
Just a mound of dug over, ageing, greying clay.
Few come. Fewer seem to care."
DOWNLOAD 'MEMORY' 7.59KB (Rich Text
File).
break the rules as I see fit.” - Chris High 2003.