Part one of a new short story by kate glanville the birthday present

EVERY time I smell the sweet scent of September air, I am transported back to Alderley Cottage. I am walking up the garden path strewn with grass and twigs towards a faded blue painted door with a bro

MARCIA watched her grandson Matthew carefully as they toured the sumptuous interior of Moitlet Hall. To the other visitors, it no doubt seemed he was in awe of the opulent furnishings, wonderful artwo

HOW many handbags do you have, Gran?” Meggie was in the spare room at her grandparents’ house. She looked at the array of handbags on the bed. “I haven’t got that many,” her grandmother Rose protested

AFTER Louisa’s funeral, her friends and neighbours gathered together in September Cottage. Her home, just like the church had been, was full of autumn flowers. Louisa had been born in September, which

CATHY grunted as she struggled to open a jar of marmalade. Standing tall and athletic, amidst boxes piled high on the scarred wooden table in her new farmhouse kitchen, she inhaled the scents of woods

WITH more than a hint of nerves, I slide into an empty seat in the auditorium for my first university lecture. I look down the aisle hoping to see a friendly face, but there is no-one I recognise, whi