Author / Colette

by Colette

Harplands

Written by Bobartles

Image Courtesy of Royal Berkshire NHS website.

Image Courtesy of Royal Berkshire NHS website.

Just down the street, at the edge of the town,
there’s a jumble of buildings, old and run-down.
Behind steel-plated doors a full three inches thick,
lies Ward Number One,
where the sick heal the sick.

There’s a man dressed in white with a comforting stance,
whose father disowned him for being a nurse,
and a sister in blue with a phone in her hand,
and twenty-five packets of pills in her purse.

The man with the clipboard and half-hearted smile,
whose girlfriend bled out after something he said;
the cleaner who sweeps down the halls all day long
to drown out the sound of the voice in his head.

The day’s rounds are done, but still it is known
that only the patients will truly go home.
For this huddle of boxes of slate and red brick
is Ward Number One,
where the sick heal the sick.

by Colette

This One! An Alexander Episode

Written By Dice

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The Chennai Mathematical Institute in India looks quite suitable for time travel. Which door will you choose?

“It’s this door,” declared Alexander gesturing to a white-wood moulded door, one of many in a seamlessly ending corridor which repeated in the same pattern of doors, plant pots and portraits of old men.

“I think you’ll find it is this door,” disagreed Zander demonstrating towards an identical door three doors down. Every door in the endless corridor was identical in every way. Having been led through a maze of identical, inter-crossing corridors full of identical white doors, Alex had no idea why these two should be different from any of the others. He decided it was best to ask Jennifer.

“This one is closer.”

“Who invented the room?”

“Who discovered its potential for inter-universal travel?”

Jennifer was the woman who he had met in the Impossible Room, which in turn had transformed into a replica of Number 10 Downing Street with this endless maze of corridors. Jennifer was the only one in the Impossible Room who wasn’t a parallel universe version of himself. She was slim with brown hair and a pretty face. She wore little make-up and had her hair drawn back into a low ponytail.

“What are they arguing about?”

“Which door leads to where we want to go,” she replied simply.

“But I thought we were, you know, travelling into the past.” Continue reading →

by Colette

Happy One Year Anniversary To Inkblots!

Anniversary 1

Doesn’t it just look scrumptious?

Hey Inkblotters,

It’s a wonderful time of the year at the moment as Inkblots and Typing Spots Magazine has officially been publishing content for one whole year! Although we did have a sneaky two months publishing breather, we have been organising content on a weekly basis for all our lovely readers for the past year, and we’d like to thank you for sticking by us, as well as our writers. So if you’ve been following our magazine from day one, week one or just yesterday, we’d like to personally thank you. It means a lot to us that we can publish our fabulous writers’ work, but it’s even better knowing that we have people who read their lovingly crafted poetry or fiction too. We’ll celebrate in style later, but you’re probably interested in what we’ve got in store for you to read this month.

August’s schedule brings many pieces from opposite ends of the scale. Readers will be pleased to know that Dice has written a sequel to Alex, so make sure to look out for “This One! An Alexander Episode” on the 5th. And since he’s such a great writer, Dice is featured twice this month with a piece about Writer’s Block – it’s comedic gold. We’ve also got some great poetry for you to get all teary-eyed over; one from our regular Haiku hero Blue-Eyed Devil called “You’re Home”, a touching story of a little boy, and another from writer Bobartles about a medical ward.

The Half Hour Challenge last month was ‘Serendipity‘ which proved to be quite popular among our writers, so we’ve got some stellar choices on the way for you reflecting that theme. But if you’re looking to write this month in our HHC, then make sure you submit a piece on the cute-as-a-button theme ‘Wishes‘. I’ve got something tucked away for this theme that I’ve been meaning to write for quite some time and, of course, we’re looking forward to receiving all your responses. Remember, you can send your entries into creativewritinginkwell@hotmail.com.

Thanks again to all our followers and have a lovely August!

– Silver, Inkblots Editor

by Colette

The Clot

Written by Terrestris Veritas 

misfits

We think these misfits would fit in quite well at The Clot.
Image Courtesy of E4.com

The following was extracted from media records in accordance to reviewing the actions of The Clot – dates have been marked in chronological order above each extract for easy viewing. 

Wed, 9th May 1990
Today marks the grand opening of The Clot: Mark Howser’s Child and Youth Correctional and Detention Facility. Three years in the making, it is expected that this centre shall calm the streets of the unwanted crime specific to…

Sat, 12th May 1990
Capable of housing over one hundred thousand wrong-doers at a time from birth all the way up to eighteen years, the challenge of creating a space of justice for young people has surely met its match.

Wed, 21st Oct. 1992
The first youth who was released from The Clot has gone the last six months without resorting to her former self. It is reported that she has acquired a job and is of working class status. Originally sent there for a series of petty theft, The Clot is acclaimed for her remarkable turnaround in this climate of…

Fri, 30th Oct. 1992
Since the successful release of Clara Hawkers, a former petty thief, parents have been sending their children to The Clot in droves. From babes to adolescents, it’s clear…

Sun, 9th May 1993
In the three years since The Clot has opened, the crime rate on the street has dropped to an all-time low and has been that way for the last four months. The Voice of the Law himself applauded their statistics and proclaimed that The Clot has been a turning point for society. He also stated that, despite certain policies within The Clot, it has proven to be an effective measure against…

Wed, 24th Aug. 1994
This morning it was discovered that a suicide has taken place within The Clot. The sixteen-year-old male attendant was discovered in his bed having taken his own life. The Clot is a hive of activity trying to uncover the reason behind his death. Mark Howser has yet to comment on this tragic…

Thurs, 26th Aug.1994
…uproar within the city about the suicide. The identity of the youth has not yet been released but his initial crime was stealing domestic animals and killing them in mad rituals. Officials are now starting to question the attendant’s state of mind at the time of the suicide rather than suspecting the policies employed by the staff in The Clot. Continue reading →

by Colette

Maybe She Needs A Bigger Table

Written by Fantasy Girl

dining table

The table will be set for three at exactly 7.24pm every evening.
Image Courtesy of http://www.dailymoderation.com

Tea will be served at precisely 7.24 pm, just as it is every evening. The table will be set for three around the small square at which they will eat. Three meals will be put on the place mats. Only one person will be there. Only one person will eat.

She never changed her routine, even after the incident. She still bought clothes for the other two. She still washed them. She still ironed them. She would even put them away for them. She would have conversations, seemingly with herself; about what they should have for dinner, about what was on telly that night, or what film they should go see at the weekend. Nothing changed. It never changed.

It’d been ten years since the incident, ten years since they died. The car went under. She was the only one to get out. Why couldn’t she save them? Why didn’t they let her die too? Because she’s a survivor, that’s why. She had always been a survivor – when her parents died, when her husband and child died… funnily enough in the same way.

Or maybe that was the point – that she was meant to be alone – that they were all meant to die, and she was meant to survive? But what kind of survival is this? Living in the past, believing they are still alive, believing that they will one day be home for dinner.

Because that’s why she sets the table, you know, not because she doesn’t know they’re dead. Of course she knows. But because she believes that one day they will return, and be home at 7.24 pm for dinner. And maybe they will bring mum and dad too… maybe she needs a bigger table.

by Colette

The Tawarkelion

Ankou

Ankou ‘The Legend of Death’ – his presence is near.

Written by Eruantien 

Within Arachnos does darkness rise
And Ankou shall watch as hope dies
For in his lands his power shall fall
And lo they shall roam, not one but all

No more shall light the dark hold back
And no safety shall be on the track
Five shall leave to tread on wood and stone
With one to pass through fire alone

Now on the fields shall they be arrayed
With the hosts of hate against them played
Arms of steel to their aid shall come
Yet through pain of loss are lips struck dumb Continue reading →

by Colette

Alex

Written by Dice

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Time. A tricky topic for sure, but incredibly intriguing.

Alex was your average mid-twenties young professional. He was tall, slim with short brown hair and blue eyes. He worked nine to five every weekday before returning home to his one bedroom flat to watch TV or browse the internet.

Today was different, lo and behold he had turned off the TV, finally bored of watching the same old rubbish. He sat for a while staring at the black screen, glancing occasionally at the remote which sat within easy grasping distance. He glanced at his watch: 9:58pm, that new comedy would be starting soon…

Alex was brought out of his battle of will by a knock on the door. Confused at who would visit at this hour, but glad of the distraction, Alex peeled himself from the sofa and made his way to the door. He stopped at the sound of another knock. The knocking wasn’t coming from the front door, but the door to his bathroom. He sighed, clearly he’d left bathroom window open.

“Come in,” called Alex joking to himself. His laughter was cut short when the bathroom door opened and a man who, in nearly every way, looked exactly like him. Apart from the clothes, the Alex doppelgänger wore an expensive grey suit which fitted to this man’s clearly more toned body.

“Thanks,” replied the doppelgänger whose voice was also exactly the same as Alex’s. Alex stood perfectly stunned, after a short silence the new Alex held out his hand and spoke, “I’m Alexander, good to meet me again.”

Alex fainted. Continue reading →

by Colette

It’s July And Inkblots Is Back!

july

Happy 4th July Everyone!

Hey Inkblotters, we’re finally back from our two-month break, have you missed us? Well, we’ve certainly missed giving you great content on a weekly basis to read, that’s for sure. And as July is setting up to be an absolute scorcher for a month – if the start of this weekend is anything to go by – then we’ve got some hot, hot, hot material to feast your eyes on. But before I get to the good part, there’s a few (possibly quite boring) bits the Inkblots team need to address first.

There’s been a few changes to the administration and editing team for our website, and as sad as we were to see Sparky go, he’s gone off to pursue his dream as a Maths teacher and will be starting his PGCE in September. He’ll still be around, but only as a writer not an editor. With Sparky gone, the position needed to be filled, and luckily Doishy was up to the job. He’ll be starting this month to upload and edit Inkblots’ content, and we’re sure he’s going to do a cracking job.

Another slight change to our regular content is with regards to The Friday Frenzy – although very successful, our writers also have very busy lives and sometimes a night out on the town is just too hard to resist! But the Frenzy hasn’t disappeared – we recognise a great concept, after all – so it’s had a bit of a name change and is now The Fiction Frenzy! The competition and its rules have changed somewhat as it’s now taking place either quarterly or tri-annually throughout the year – we haven’t decided yet! When The Fiction Frenzy does take place, however, it will be over the course of the third or fourth month, so you’ve got a bunch more time to send in those entries. We’ll update those details in a blog post further down the line.

We also have a new event taking place this weekend – short notice, we know – but if you remember back to our two-month breather post, we mentioned that a Review Day would be taking place in the summer. Well, summer is here and so is SWORD (Summer Writing Open Review Day) which will take place on Saturday 6th July, midnight to midnight. The aim of this event is to encourage writers to submit their work for review and return the reviews (or critiques) to other writers who have also submitted work for SWORD. This event is strictly happening on The Inkwell, so if you’d like to read more about it, you can do so here.

I realise this post is now becoming extremely long, and if you’re still with me, I’ve got to thank you with a virtual cupcake: *hands through the screen*. While you’re chomping that down, and before I finish my tea, Inkblots has seven posts scheduled this month. From some incredibly deep and emotional poetry from Lost in a Dream and Dizzy Dazzle, to some great and dark short fiction from both Fantasy Girl and Lumberjacktom. And last but not least, the HHC theme for this month is SERENDIPITY – as always, if you wish to enter this month just send your entries into creativewritinginkwell@hotmail.com. Remember, you only have half an hour!

Thanks for sticking with us Inkblotters, and we hope you enjoy our content this month.

– Silver, Inkblots Editor

by Colette

Two-Month Breather for Inkblots

keyboards_wallpapers_39.jpgHey Inkblotters,

We’ve got some disappointing news to share today as myself and Lilith have decided to take a two-month break from uploading content to Inkblots. This is not to say that we will be staying away indefinitely – in fact, it means quite the opposite. We’ll be back in July to schedule content once more and you’ll be able to feast your eyes on inspirational fiction and poetry.

We’ve been uploading content for almost a year to this website, and although we love it, we’ve decided it’s high-time we take a break. Our personal and work lives are starting to increase on our free-time day by day, and it’s just not fair to our readers when you get sloppy content. We want to rectify this in our time off, so we’ll be sorting out and reviewing The Friday Frenzy as a monthly competition. No details have been set for the Frenzy yet, but we’re looking to hold it quarterly throughout the year. Continue reading →

by Colette

Friday Frenzy – “The Orient”

The Orient is a spectacular and fascinating topic just waiting to be explored! Image Courtesy of http://www.sewandso.co.uk

Look at that Inkblotters, it’s our fourth Friday Frenzy! The monthly challenge has taken off with tremendous success and it’s all thanks to our writers that participate each month. We love reading your submissions and oh boy, do you make it hard for us to separate you all to choose a winner. So keep your entries coming in – details of how you can enter can be found here, or at the end of this post.

So, what’s in store this month?

Friday Frenzy Theme – The Orient

 April’s theme is considerably different to the ones we’ve had before (and even our half hour challenges). The Orient is something that I, in particular, find fascinating and I’ve never seen it fully explored within any of The Inkwell’s members’ writing. The East is exotic, intoxicating and completely foreign to our Western Culture. Continue reading →