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Spaceman 10 and Fast Food

The only reason I found out we were all going to die was because I fell in love pretty much as soon as I saw the mid-length bright red skirt and long blonde hair swirl across the restaurant. Then meander lithely around picking up cartons, bags and boxes and spray the red surfaces of the chrome tables. Within moments the place was pristine and ready for the next influx of diners who, as I watched, were already pouring through the doors to queue at the ordering screens and flick through menu options.    The place displayed an ambience of desirability. The lighting just right. Long tubes strategically placed within the high ceilings gave perfect illumination during long dark winter evenings. Big windows but positioned so there was no blinding light during hot summer days. Plenty of tables but spaced generously giving a sense of openness. Background music played but it was what I would describe as happy sounds, almost beguiling.      I had a seat in the corner way down towards the back w
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LIQUORICE STREET

  LIQUORICE STREET - A thrilling crime drama of theft, kidnap and murder is published. Buy -  https://www.amazon.co.uk/ Old Man is a barber but he has a secret with a dubious and very lucrative sideline. His past, though, is about to catch up with him. His son, Crispin, knows all about crime. It’s what he does. One problem: he’s about to get mixed up in murders and kidnapping not of his making. A body is found washed up on the river bank. DI Dave Simmons investigates and discovers a trail of events and murders that he struggles to connect. Crime boss Ron Draper is on the hunt for something - and those involved with it - and isn’t fussy how he achieves his goals. The results give Dave plenty to look at but nothing much to discover. Dave has history with both Old Man and Crispy, which adds to the difficulty of an already complicated case. How do a watch collector, a pair of twins and a thrill seeking city banker fit into the scenario? Struggling to make any progress Dave has to deal with
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Whisky Galore and a Reluctant Racer

  Whisky Galore and a Reluctant Racer Stanley is standing next to the horse holding the reins in his right hand with all the horse’s luggage and feed piled nearby. His wife, Clare, is standing next to him although by no means still as she is clearly agitated. Mr Wagstaff’s brother is leaving, travelling slowly down the road in his four by four pulling his old, dilapidated horse box, his right arm extended out of the window attempting a goodbye gesture that lacks sincerity. Clare is wearing a dubious expression, the sort full of a thousand apposite questions which she is striving to arrange in a coherent order before enunciating the most important. She opened her mouth intending to speak, a frozen moment when just her jaw moved. She then turned and moved towards the open front door, slowly at first and then with increasing velocity until inside. Then she slammed the door shut. Not much had been said except, “What’s that?” to which Stanley had replied, “I think it’s a horse, at least tha
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TAKING THE PLUNGE

My dad was a fella with an Einstein brain from a not so well off family. The way his brain worked was a wonder. It took him a while to gather his thoughts which kind of suggested he was indecisive which was not the case. When it came to it he made a choice and stuck right on with it. At fourteen he left school and worked as an apprentice bookbinder of all things. At fifteen he had enough to pay for night school. Electronics was the thing he thought. At sixteen his brother joined him. At eighteen they both qualified. At nineteen in 1940 he was in the RAF mending radios on bombers. His brother mended radios in tanks in the desert and Italy. In 1946 he got married on a whim to a nurse who nursed him. Nothing so romantic as a war wound. An in-growing toenail. In 1950 he was developing radar and early computers. His brother fixed TVs in South Africa after emigrating. What is all this about you might ask. A life history. In a way for sure but mostly it is about taking the plunge. In 1963 he
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A Chicken, White Tack and a Chimney Sweep

  Raphael Ravenscroft suddenly fires up and fills the speakers of the bedside digital clock. That riff. And what a riff. That infectious sound, a creation of pure genius by the coming together of one of the greatest saxophone players of the modern age and the burgeoning talent of ex busker and Steelers Wheel front man Gerry Rafferty. Eight in the morning and time to get up. Tommy Tucker, as is his usual practice, wakes but does not turn off the alarm. He always, most definitely always, listens to the entire track. Baker Street containing the best example of passionate saxophone playing. Ever. He bounces out of bed full of beans and into the shower. Then dressed. He wears his normal clothes which considering his natural buoyant exuberance are rather subdued. White T shirt with a motif of guess who, a young Raphael stencilled on the front. Black, white and a shade of grey. Hanging loose over a pair of everyday jeans, faded blue and part covering pale blue sneakers. The mop he calls hair
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The Sunbed and a Margarita

Quite clearly the way forward was do as the boss said. There was no question. He was always right. Lucy Turnbull was not happy though. The system they were installing as far as she was concerned was defective. It left them vulnerable. They had significant value in clients’ funds that needed a very serious degree of protection. The system should have a built in fail-safe but didn’t. That surely was a mistake Lucy had worked at the solicitors for a good number of years. The office manager. Organising, arranging, dealing with the constant stream of contrary and sometimes abusive clients that fell through the door every day. The practice was large with around twenty-six legals, that’s how she referred to them, covering a vast array of fields. And all their support staff, of course. They varied in competence. There were a few that were just simply a pain in the arse. The legal side of their work was fine, after all she did not get involved in that. The administration though, that was someth
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JUST WHO IS ELLIOT SHALLOT

  JUST WHO IS ELLIOT SHALLOT has been published -  A con man scams a lady but who scams the con man and who will end up dead.  CLICK TO BUY: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ VISIT MY WEBSITE: https://www.martindixonshortstories.com/ for details of this, other books and future publications. The First Chapter Can Be Read On My Website SHORT BLURB: Matt is a con man. And he’s a good one. But this time he’s picked the wrong mark. Maria’s mum has just handed over a priceless heirloom and the consequences are devastating. Now Maria needs to find Matt and recover the necklace before the head of the Family takes control. Although willing to allow Maria time, Family Boss Gianni has a backup plan. And from his villa on the shores of Lake Como, he’s putting it into action. When Matt is shot, he convinces Elliot to help him but has he made another mistake.
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