Category Archives: Short Stories

December 31, 2025 · 9:38 am

Those were the days, or were they?

What makes you feel nostalgic?

A runny egg with toasted soldiers

Cute matching hats embroidered with “His” and “Hers”

Sledding through snow on a tin tray

Going to restaurants and not having to pay

Living the life free of worry

Never being told you have to hurry.

For what was I being trained to do

And everyday learning something new

Was to do things better than anyone else

To be ahead made so much sense

Except when I was left behind

And all I could do was remind

That in the past I had had a life

That was when you were my wife.

The End or maybe The Beginning.💘

2 Comments

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as ,

December 30, 2025 · 8:26 am

#HeadlineTherapy Naan: How the ‘world’s best bread travelled from Islamic courts to our plates

Thank you to Cherylann Mollan BBC Online News for the Headline

Yes I love Naan’s too, apparently it all started in the courts of Islamic Kings and not the Ayatollah’s viscious , cruel and corrupt courts that we all know from the news.

However, it is a far reaching proposition to say that only the Chefs of Islamic Kings made Naans, possibly their subjects were nomadic and didn’t have very good access to clay ovens or hygienic ways to prepare the dough and cook it but I’m sure if they had the wheat to make flour that the Nomads used to prepare them too. Possibly they put the prepared dough on the back of a donkey and travelled off to their next destination while the Naan puffed up under the hot sun and the warmth of the donkey’s back, only to be popped in a borrowed clay oven on arrival at their destination or possibly cooked on sunbaked hot pebbles.

Today Naan is made by combining flour , yogurt and yeast into a soft, malleable dough, these can be either baked in an oven, grilled or fried in a large pan. They are so easy to make.

The Naan is how I think of the Indian prepared bread and the Flatbread( a variation of the theme) is how the simple ingredients and method of making has developed. I am grateful that the Ayatollah had nothing to do with them which on first reading the Headline was what struck me. Silly me.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Leave a comment

Filed under Short Stories

December 30, 2025 · 8:00 am

All relationships.

Daily writing prompt
What relationships have a positive impact on you?
View all responses

In truth, in our increasingly digitised, alienised environment and dismissive dissing World any real relationship is of value because it is truly interactive and there is something to be learned from it.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Leave a comment

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as ,

December 29, 2025 · 11:37 am

#HeadlineTherapy Kosovo’s ruling party wins election after months of political deadlock

Thanks to Guy Delauney at BBC Online News Europe for the Headline

Oh Kosovo, Oh Kosovo,

Where art thou , Oh Kosovo,

Are you safe to go to now,

Or are things still dangerous somehow

I wish you Peace and Prosperity

And a successful term for Albin Kurti

After some months of uncertainty Kosovo have elected for a third term their Albanian nationalist Vetvendosje party on the basis that despite previous failed promises of the economy improving , it was finally decided by the voters that the other two parties probably wouldn’t make any better job of it.

It has taken a while , so let’s hope that Kosovo, which is surrounded on all sides by mountainous regions with Serbia to the North and East, North Macedonia to the Southwest, Albania to the Southwest and Montenegro to the West, hopefully can benefit from European and World Banks support which will allow it’s transitional economy to grow.

Their economy could be supported by the minerals that are within the Kosovo soil, but their mining industry is fragmented and although nearly 20% of the population are deemed agricultural workers agriculture accounts for single figure generated income to Kosovo’s budget. Though they make good wine which is mainly exported to Germany.

The success of Albin Kurti’s new term as head of Government depends on his ability to get some of the minority parties to support him. It looks increasingly likely that he will achieve that as stable investment is key to getting the investment that is needed in the infrastructure of the Country.

The people of Kosovo look to him to guide the Country so that they can all benefit from Peace and Prosperity.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Leave a comment

Filed under Short Stories

December 29, 2025 · 10:41 am

If you started a sports team , what would the colours and mascot be?

A this is second time around for me, think last time I fancied a kind of jockey outfit, but not with horses ,just the outfit as the colours are usually very nice.

Perhaps the team sport of playing tag in bright orange and purple jockey gear with the peaked cap and posh riding boots( nicely polished). With my little dog as a mascot, jumping around not quite understanding the rules.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Leave a comment

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as ,

December 28, 2025 · 4:32 pm

#HeadlineTherapy Investigation Reveals Thousands of Russians Fraudently Gained Romanian Citizenship by Descent.

Thanks to Moustafa Daly, IMI Cairo and Le Monde for the Headline

Fortunately Romania does not have a channel for people to cross in boats and look to gain Citizen rights in their Country. No newspaper headlines or promises of one to one exchanges.

They do however have a different problem caused by their descent laws.

As a remnant of border changes going back to 1918 ; territories which use to be part of the Kingdom of Romania that either due to conflict or as the result of the aftermath of World War Two; changed hands ; and are now either Russian satellites or indeed occupied by Russia.

The Kingdom of Romania’s territory between 1918 and 1940 included land that has now( under a Law passed in Romania in 1991), given the residents of those territories during that period the right to apply for Romanian Citizenship and subsequently entitlement to a Romanian Passport. Romania being part of the EU, this is a valuable asset to have. Giving freedom of travel and the ability to do business within Europe to the passport holder.

Hence , sometimes with the aid of crooked Romanian Officialdom, the addresses have been used of locations within “descent countries” and passports applied and given to Russian Nationals. The Romanian Authorities now estimate that over 18,700 citizens from the former Soviet republics have now registered under the “descent” criteria, with fake genealogy and using genuine addresses where they have never lived in order to obtain a Romanian passport.

I can’t help but wonder what was behind the “descent law ” that has been in operation since 1991, did Romania genuinely want some of the people they had lost back. Is there just simply not enough people in Romania and they thought that with a Romanian passport these people would choose to move back?

Sad to say , this admirable gesture has been abused by a criminal fraternity , advertising Romanian Citizenship for sale on the internet for thousands of euros, and in these instances the likelihood is that there is no benefit to Romania, indeed there may be harm.

Thankfully , the Romanian authorities have ascertained what has been happening and are now taking steps to prevent it , the” active citizens” did not appear in towns where they were registered and thus they are back to square one with their plan to embrace their population from the “Old Romanian Kingdom”

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Leave a comment

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as , , , ,

December 28, 2025 · 2:35 pm

They haven’t.

How have your political views changed over time?

I’ve always been a bit confused by Politics and Politicians. They harp on about being Public Servants, but the ones that get to the top are on the whole megalomaniacs, who initially may have had a plan to do good, but with the onset of the status quo of a crashing economy, low growth prospects and aggressors coming at them from every angle , they choose the path of least resistance and the one that helps them line their pockets. Let’s face it if we were in their position we would do the same.

When I was young I was at their mercy , now I’m older I still am. Politics and Greed solve nothing. Politics and the People just causes confusion.

When did a politician ever ask you what do you want? They wouldn’t dare, even if they wanted to they could never give it to you.

Being called a great politician is like calling someone a great real estate agent. Everyone needs them but no one loves them and everyone thinks that their job is easy whereas they are at the beck and call of the market. There are potentially big gains , but then the bottom can fall out of the market just as easily as it was flying upwards when it hit a ceiling. They then look foolish and are left with no sale and no commission.

There is no requirement to trust a politician, because you simply can’t . They have a system and they are part of it. What the people want or need is irrelevant and perhaps all they are is a necessary evil, elected individuals whom may have won fairly or unfairly. There should be legislative structures in place to protect us from their corrupt actions, but these can be dismantled and are hard to replace once they have gone.

When the people are not represented we still have Politicians, and those Politician’s will insist that they are protecting democracy. They are not , they are protecting themselves and their hangers on.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

2 Comments

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as , , , ,

December 27, 2025 · 4:52 am

#HeadlineTherapy All the parts of England facing snow for 12 hours-and it will be 2 inches deep.

Thanks to James Rodger Content Editor at Birmingham Live for the Headline

Apologies to those of you in the World who have serious snow. As you can see by the headline, we in this part of the United Kingdom are worried at the threat of 2 inches.

This is genuine concern as there may well be a shortage of grit, the grit delivery lorries may be in for a service or in truth the drivers may have been made redundant having refused to agree to changes in their employment contracts which the local Councils have imposed in order to save money from already restricted budgets. There are always good reasons why things don’t happen.

So when you are stuck on the Motorway and your cell phone signal has stopped due to the cold weather be grateful that you were warned about this situation and you were told to travel only if your journey is necessary. Was it necessary? Do people just randomly hop in their cars and go somewhere without reason. Are they prone to snow blindness or just plain stubborn?

The article was a bit naughty really on two fronts. I think it was written to make me read the adverts and generate revenue and also the weather maps the journalist refers to say the worst snow will be in Ross and Cromarty which is in Scotland not England which might have ten inches of snow. So a mere two inches seems pretty miserly.

In truth there is no guarantee this snow will happen, I think actually it’s just something to write home about. Still “Snow Day” isn’t until the beginning of January when everyone will be going back to work after their holidays. Maybe they just want to depress us even further with the thought of having to scrape the outside of the car ( for those of you without heated windscreens) or topping up the windscreen wash in the freezing cold. Never mind having to fit winter tyres or snow chains as those in Serious Snow Countries do.

Oh well we shall have to wait and see.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Leave a comment

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as , , , , ,

December 27, 2025 · 4:16 am

There is no Perfect Space

You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

Reality is there is no perfect space, there are always irritants. The light is wrong, the boiler blew up , your perfect room has no heating. The red marker has exploded all over your desk and stained your favourite napkin which you use to wipe your lips after slurping your home made soup for lunch. Today you forgot to defrost the soup so not only is your bright white napkin covered in bright red blobs , but you have no lunch.

The battery on your lap top is dying, you have unpaid bills and your cat has just decided to poo in the corner as you forgot to clean out the litter tray downstairs.

The cleaner left in disgust three weeks ago and the windows are beginning to rattle as the frames are rotting due to condensation and the force 10 gale outside.

Your ideal writing space that once was, is desolation, however, there is one thing that will never change, you have a notebook and you are jotting down ideas. Now that is perfection.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

3 Comments

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as ,

December 26, 2025 · 10:25 am

#HeadlineTherapy This 56-year conflict still pauses for Christmas.

Thanks to Nick Alipour, news reporter for Sky News Online, for the Headline.

My initial thought was I wonder where that is and I was surprised to read it was the Philippines. Yes a rarely reported fight between Maoist Insurgents and the Phillipino Government has been going on for 56 years with the numbered dead being 60000 as a result of the conflict.

Each Christmas Day during those 56 years they have respected the locals need for a day of Peace and have had a ceasefire. One year a period of four days was proposed, however, there seems to be a theory that either side can use the ” Christmas Peace” for propaganda purposes, the people on the ground whose daily lives are affected are by the conflict are so desperate to have peace that the protaganists use the “Christmas Truce ” to persuade the people that they “care” about them.

Once Christmas is over, however, it’s back to the fight for their beliefs and the conviction that they know what is best for the population and to fight is necessary.

The article explains that there are more “conflicts” going on in the World than anytime since World War Two. It’s a sad fact and I don’t need to tell you which one’s grab the Headlines. The Peace Research Institute in Oslo has identified 61 conflicts that were active in 2024 so most don’t reach the eye of the general public .

The pain and suffering for the populace in those conflicts, not covered by the Global Media Machine, may avoid sensationalism of the suffering of the population ; but are those that are not covered , not covered because it is not in the Global Interests to do so? After all who owns the media? The old adage follow the money works well here.

A rural skirmish which enables land , oil or mineral rights to be distributed elsewhere, or picked up at a knock down price may be the real reason behind not reporting the facts. Land that would otherwise be fertile and farmed with a good water supply may be cleared of people for the sake of mining. Rural farming is inefficient and we need to progress. We need growth, more than we need the people to grow.

These may be the Global Goals of enterprises who have long lost the promise of Empire and now rely on their business partners and interests to maintain the status quo. Using Global resources to fill the coffers of their bank accounts to have financial security and have a banking industry that will offer self- perpetuating finance to those whose next project/ fight is on their to do list.

Meanwhile the people just want Peace.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Leave a comment

Filed under Short Stories

Tagged as , ,