Charles Corkery

“BAD LANDS” by Charles Corkery

BAD LANDS I swear, I never met a braver or truer man than Ranger Seth Cooper and it was my honour to ride ‘longside o’ him. First time I saw him, he was facing down four liquored up, armed men whose bravery came from a bottle and I observed all o’ this from the first floor window of an Amarillo saloon and whorehouse where I looked down upon the faces o’ those four men with my rifle trained on the ringleader. Of course, one by one those fellas started to realise that, though they outnumbered Ranger Seth that day, it was highl...

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“THE ESTABLISHMENT” by Charles Corkery

Detective Inspector Nigel Rose sat in his boss’s office on the top floor of Tintagel House, having explained the sensitive situation in full. Superintendent Mal Fuller, a northerner who didn’t like controversy at the best of times and hated the cesspit that was London, shook his head in disbelief. “Is she absolutely sure, Nige?” “Incontrovertible proof, sir”. “Hell’s bells! This is a very delicate one, I don’t need to tell you”. “No, Sir. That’s why I brought it straight to you. What do we do now?’ “Well, let’s not get ahead of our...

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“UNCOMMON GROUND” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #203

UNCOMMON GROUND The old man sat alone, unkempt, unshaved, on the promontory, looking out to sea. It was an uncommonly fine day and the sun shone brightly as he stared off into the distance watching the launch as it slowly approached. His turn for a fortnight on the mainland. At first, despite the differences in age, they’d been friends. Though they shared no common ground, apart from their jobs, they had both gone out of their way to be polite, make conversation, not antagonise each other in any way and he, Jonah, had found that cohab...

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“THE LAST DANCE” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #203

THE LAST DANCE “Welcome, welcome. Come in and make yourselves comfortable. The others are all here”. Joseph Rosenblatt, dressed in his finest clothes, ushered his final two guests into the apartment. “Naomi, it is thirty degrees, this evening. You feel you had to wear your fur coat?” “Oh, I just love to have an occasion to put it on. I can’t help it”. “Well, tonight, you have chosen the right occasion. This is a special evening as you will see”. As Joseph slipped the coat off Naomi’s shoulders, he cast a g...

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“MISSED OPPORTUNITY” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #202

MISSED OPPORTUNITY In September, 1913, at the age of eighteen, I left home to study art in Vienna. Ah, Vienna! Looking back now, decades later, it’s almost impossible to describe just how joyous a city it was in those days and I thrilled to be a part of it though my very meagre budget made it difficult to enjoy much of the delights on offer. I had enrolled at Akademie Schulz and, initially, I was intimidated, believing that my work inferior to my fellow classmates but, during intervals, I was able to sneak glances at their works and disc...

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“FRIENDS AND LOVERS” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #202

FRIENDS AND LOVERSHe was sure that this was the right way. It seemed familiar. The soft, damp moss beneath his feet, the weeds growing through the cobbles of this, once much used, boreen. Either side of him, the blackberry bushes, bearing their lush, ripe fruit, formed natural fences to the fields that lay on either side. Some memories never faded. He struggled slightly as the narrow lane began to rise gently the closer he drew to the end. Stopping momentarily, he crouched over and breathed heavily until he was ready to continue on...

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“THE TALENT'S THE BOSS” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #201

THE TALENT’S THE BOSS Bobby-Lee sat alone in the dressing room, the show long over, the crowds that had screamed for the Pussycat Imps long since dispersed, the other Imps departed having barely wished her farewell or good luck. As she stared around her at the incredible amount of mess left behind, it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that never again would all four of them perform in front of their fanatical fans. This backstage area was really such a small room, yet the Imps had left such a shambles of clutter for somebody else ...

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“WHAT'S IN A NAME?” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #200

WHAT’S IN A NAME? P.J. Flaherty, CEO of Dunphy, Murphy, Kilpatrick and Sons, the blue chip Irish American banking firm that occupied an entire block in the Financial District of Downtown Boston, slowly caressed his putter and watched as his golf ball rolled perfectly into the awaiting cup laid out on the expensive, Axminster carpet of his executive office. “Yes. Master shot!" His intercom buzzed. “P.J. I have Francis Mullins, Level 2, requesting a moment”. “Thank you, Bridget. Two minutes”. Leisurely, P.J. (short for Patric...

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“AND YOU THOUGHT ONLY HUMANS GOSSIPED!” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #200

AND YOU THOUGHT ONLY HUMANS GOSSIPED “Look, there’s no point in beating around the bush, Gloria. You didn’t get it. I’m so awfully sorry but the board voted unanimously for Rex and he will be the new Off-Planet CEO”. “But, I thought…with your backing…” “I know, I know. It’s as much a shock to me as it is to you. I had pinned all my hopes on you being selected. You’d have been my eyes and ears up there but, there it is. We just have to bide our time and try again in three years”. “But it makes no sense.&n...

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“PANDORA'S DIARY” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #199

PANDORA’S DIARY It was her fault I found the bloody thing in the first place so she only had herself to blame. I hated that stupid rug chest at the bottom of our bed because I kept stubbing my toe on it when I got up in the middle of the night to pee. But she insisted that it was chic, so, when I bashed my foot one morning and bent down to push the trunk back into position, you can hardly blame me for opening and reading the diary I found fallen between the baseboard and the chest. I mean, I didn’t actually know it was a dia...

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“FINAL CONNECTION” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #199

FINAL CONNECTION It was Matt’s first venture out after so many weeks in Manhattan General, followed by enforced convalescence at home in his apartment. Although he had been walking the block or so to his rehab sessions each day, this would be his first real excursion and he planned to stroll the six blocks to Broadway, slowly browse Rizzoli’s for his usual Christmas gift of a book for his brother, James, a tradition that he had continued since childhood, then walk back home. The time in Rizzoli’s would allow his body to recuperate ...

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“HEAVENLY LOVE” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #198

HEAVENLY LOVE Miss. Jo was her name. She came to us at the start o’ spring term, 1946 when I was 14 years of age. From the very first time I set eyes on her, I felt something. It’s hard to describe, even now, all these years later, but it was as if she could, somehow, see right inside one’s very soul. She weren’t pretty. No sir. But she weren’t ugly neither. She were sort of plain looking, if’n you get what I mean. But she had hair the colour o’ corn, long and shiny. So shiny ’t’were like looking at the sun. And...

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“TEA TIME” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #197

TEA TIME No.74. Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre, Bad Nenndorf, Lower Saxony, British Occupation Zone. July 1945. British officer, Captain Smith, sat at the conference table and continued to brief his newly arrived commanding officer. “So that’s two more in custody, sir. They’re both in denial of course but we shall crack them pretty quickly with the help of Klein”. “Ah, yes. This Klein. What can you tell me about him, Captain? I hear he’s been a tremendous help to us in the hunt for these Nazis”. “First rate chap, sir...

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“A SOHO TALE” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #197

A SOHO TALE Georgie was still feeling the affects of the, almost full, bottle of scotch he had polished off earlier. He’d never been much of a drinker. Semi-staggering into the Maccy Ds in Shaftesbury Avenue, he shuffled into a booth next to a window and, wiping the condensation from the inside of the glass, stared dazedly out onto the street, the darkness beginning to close in on the pathetic looking pedestrians as they made their way home after yet another shitty day in a depressing, dead-end job somewhere. As muddled headed as he was...

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