the grind

We exist to give writers and photographers a voice and an audience that they may not have had otherwise. As we grow and evolve our primary function will always be to showcase the best short fiction and visual art that Scotland has to offer. Our inaugural edition contains contributors from the length and breadth of Scotland who have covered a fascinating spectrum of themes, genres, and styles. We are as delighted as we are privileged to showcase works from the kind of creative minds that make Scotland such an exciting, unique, and inspiring country to live in. Scotlands potential as a creative force is limited only by our imaginations and our self-deprication. All too often it becomes comfortable to get bogged down in negativity and nay-saying; to succumb to apathy and passiveness. In these times it is important to remember the words, rightly or wrongly, attributed to Alasdair Gray; Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation

The Grind was created by Gordon Johnstone, Declan Malone, and Louise Duffy, and produced with the assistance and guidance of John Farrell. www.the-grind.co.uk @thegrindjournal facebook.com/thegrindjournal

Contributors TV Eye Photo is Memory Glasgow John Farrell Hattonrigg Pit Disaster 1910 Bellshill Bryan M Ferguson The Scissor Bandit, Strange Cocktail, The Damaged Mannequins Trauma, Wrapped in Plastic Glasgow David Flood Ghost Stories 1 - 7 Glasgow Seonaid Francis Dreamscapes South Uist Rachel Irvine - Redistributive | Nectar | Feared, Bedsitters | Smooth | Registered East Kilbride Emi James - Plenum, Parts for Sale Glasgow Rita Johnston Surfacing, The Fisherman, The Bride Edinburgh Declan Malone - Gallowgate, Grey Dunns Biscuit Factory Glasgow Jamie McFarlane For the Love of Lomo Perth Katharine McFarlane A Waulking Lullaby, I See Mull, A Blessing for The Bard, Kilmacolm Brogan Ramm A Study, The Rehearsal, The Nothing, Remnants of Life Edinburgh TS Rosenberg Bait, I Wanted toExplain Why I Was Crying, Unsent Edinburgh CD Shade NMDA Glasgow Stephen Watt Caterpillar, The Saltings, He Lived In The Halfway House Old Kilpatrick Anthony Webster - bigbadllama Glasgow Full artist statements and further details of the works are available on our website.

JAMIE MCFARLANE Dont Look Down

JAMIE MCFARLANE SLEEPING GIANTS

JAMIE MCFARLANE TIME TO TANGO

JAMIE MCFARLANE ABOVE THE CLOUDS

STEPHEN WATT

Balconies of perfumed plants above legions of Amsterdam commuters express aromas of lemon and frankincense. Muscles black out, allowing old rituals to catapult into the nervous system, the pistils of the mother plant lilting hedonism as though she were Queen of Netherlands herself. Honey-sticky, fox-tail buds cling to thick, indicia leaves. A dense cocktail of mint-green centipedes and caterpillars become drowsy on white widow flowers sprouting from litres of soil. Light flushes out the bittersweet hours where cursed unemployment loves to toil. Time dilates, draining impulsive thoughts. Skin tissue softens while hair whitens like candlepins wrought by lack of vitamins. Poison cocoons me in technicolor curtains. Euphoria bubbles inside the shoulder blades until the rapture of wings fulminates like a hand grenade relieved of its pin, and arcades of meaning stencil templates and pattern.

the saltings
Salacious waves tongue iron-silver stacks where columns of pirate planks splinter and shatter in the tangled rape of seaweed and biodegradable crabs. Dolphin carcasses are gulped clean, spitting bones of polythene bags like brittle teeth inside shoreline gums. Trailer flags beckon the seabirds anthems. I screw the lid back on the vodka bottle. The metal bridge hangs overhead, keeping vigil over the dead buried in the Clyde, shawled by crayon scribbles; addict needles. A flicked cigarette blushes, then cancels, and my capsules tame the glass-eyed tide.

CATERPILLAR

STEPHEN WATT

he lived in the halfway house

Four hours a day, he sits at his bench. Salvation Army-donated clothes drape round his hunched shoulders. A breath of mace imprints the wind; chowder stains in the white spaghetti snarl on his chin. Already, laboratories want him. Dogs dodge. Like a man repenting sin, his face buries into torn, moleskin gloves, massaging his Godless temple with blackened ribbons of skin. The oceanic horizons hold aloft a mirror like an answer to atheism. Sliced cobwebs dangling from play-park swing chairs lets light shimmer through like solemn prayers, perhaps; splinters of ice caps prolapsed from nightmares of shadowed sky. His deep, swollen groan becomes a rovers lullaby. Slumped on the arm, restless crows pilfer lukewarm scraps at his feet. Autumn leaves bleed into the nearby pond, turning it bronze and honeysweet. The park leaves him to sleep with his demons; occasionally tutting at such an inconvenience.

STEPHEN WATT

WAULKING LULLABY
O the hunter he is returning Descending slowly from the mountain Locks as dark as the bellowing stag He carries homeward for you my child

I SEE MULL
I see the island, softly creeping Oer wind whipped waves and sun splashed seas. I see big mountains, gently reaching Rock clad peaks and wind lashed trees I see the shoreline, quietly forming Seal splashed rocks and hoary sand. I see the waters, brightly sparkling Peat dark lochs, enchanted land. I see the fireside, brightly burning Rowan logs burn hot and true. I see the heart-song, gladly rising Happy Id be to stay with you.

Oh ho ro ho my darling baby Oh ho ro ho my only love Oh ho ro ho my darling baby And cry no more for hes coming home
O the hunter he is returning Feet fair weary from the moor Cheek as white as the wild swan He carries homeward for you my child O the hunter he is returning Homeward coming from the stream Eyes as bright as the leaping trout He carries homeward for you my child O the hunter he is returning Swiftly clambering on the rocks Lips as red as the spear-struck seal He carries homeward for you my child

Ch mi Muile, dthaich mige, Far beinn mhr bho churraich ce, Eilean maiseach thar an aisig, N mi fuireach ann rim bhe.

A BLESSING FOR THE BARD

May the grey green ground rise up to take you. May the wind whipped wraiths be at your back. As you lay down words awaiting May the stone lie heavy on your breast. As you lay down in the grey green dark May the stone lie heavy. May the rushes of your bench be as a seaweed bed. Tide rocked bringing no rest. No rest for you. Gnawing doubt at your side As the creatures of the sea at mine now. As seals serve watchmen oer my grave May the corbie turn its bright eye to yours. Little as I had of your soft words Little as I had of your honey kiss Dark eyed Alasdair. h shibhlainn leat As the grey green rises.

KATHARINE MULVENNY

I I tumble into waters cold and dark, green with filtered light. Shoals of words drift past, red and purple. Hampered by long skirts I struggle upwards through frozen ice-green phrases sheer walls I cannot grasp. II I awoke with a poem in my mouth, a ball of white tragacanth choking me, and I pulled and pulled, viscid tongues of white until my hands were overflowing with words, scraps of sounds and letters, unspoken, and still my mouth was gorged with silent sentences.

dreamscapes

SEONAID FRANCIS TV EYE PHOTO IS MEMORY

NMDA

In the beginIn the beginIn the beginIn the beginIn the begin- peace, then there wis war, cleansing, scouring, cauld sillery war, wi guns fir the dum-dums, the dum-dums. But thae cudnae kill us aa, Naa thae cudnae kill us aa. Theres a chemikal buzz thats lockt in the heid a rhythmic jigger a synaptic rap protein trigger receptor micro transmitter N-M-D-A N~methyl D~aspartate N-M-D-A N~methyl D~aspartate N-M-D-A N~methyl D~aspartate aa tuned tae the glutamate. Glu-ta-mate~ whit a glumchous ward tae descrive the substance that nurtures our thochts. Complex~ Naa. Its bio magnetic simplicity Een a poet kin unerstaun its chem-mystery. Its the wallie stank o ideas whar notions tryst til survive an whar liberty dunts intil the oligarchs, the autocrats an the sel anointit meritocrats. Meritocrats whaed hae the lave wi nae mind o ava. Its war babies anoint yersels~ NMDA.

A syn-a-snap

Nae spairk, nae revolt, Aa, aa generations maun kick agin thir ain particlar pricks~ NMDA O.K. Then thar wis war, cleansin, scourin, cauld sillery war, wi guns fir- the dum-dums, - the dum-dums. But thae could nae kill us aa so thae set about colonising our heids. Little Johnny foreigner, yoofs, you have no culture, no history, no lifestyle, no literature: until we educate you- NMDA~ O.K. An aft telt lie sticks lik keech til tweed. Pictur a Westminster ante room wi a brace o 18th century ad men, Satchii an Vendetta. A jolly fine wheeze wis in the air; hou tae lift a leid- or in their parlancehou tae purloin a language. Cultural colonialism; NMDA~ O.K. Havering am I? ~Headline~ August 1999 English Dictionary seeks Scots words Seeks! brings tae mind postcairds in clairty telephone kiosks. Miss Whiplash seeks raw meat. A Mr Reg sic- Proffit the dictionarys principal editor exclaimed that he expected Scotland to be a rich source of new words, NMDA~ Oh ay? The wards are nae new tae us, thaere no een Inglis wards, then agin the Inglis dictionary is fou o fremmit wards. Maybers wi cud cry it the Scotsd, d, d-d-dit-dit-a-dee. Cultural colonisation/ Liftin a leid; NMDA~ O.K. Scots is only a dialect, therefore theres no such thing as the Scots language. Tharfir, theres aawise a tharfir. Syne whit maun I be screivin in. Inglis?

Yes but using Scots words. Gin the wards are Scots hou maun it be Inglis? English dialect. Leids the warl ower tak a loan o wards. Then aa leids maun be dialects If Scots is Inglis... Whit maun Inglis be? Latin, French, Greek or Catalan, Single, whipped or double Dutch, Erse Basqued in Gallic Flem, Welsh, Swahili or Urdu verse, Fragrant Aramaic Mandarin, Navaho o a Swedish source, Songo, Sora, xotic Spanish Swift clacking Swaka Africans, Or maybers, just maybers maybers Inglis is maybers braid Scots? NMDA- O.K. Flame wi out reek or is it reek wi out flame Asteep in the harn pan an troke o consaits, leids, langues, lingua systems are aa but an electro blast in the bio nano sphere. NMDA N~methyl~ Methyl? a hypothetical radical o the monocarbon series, its the base o wuid spirits, absinthe, absinthe, o my darling absinthe. D-aspartate~ saut o the yirth or asparagine; nitrogenous (4/5th air), aa in the mynd, its a krystallizable compound fun esp.~ in asparagus, a primary malic diamide. Malic acid? get fae (malum)aipples an berries o the rowan tree. Diamide? -twa molecules o ammonia whar the hydrogen has been substituted by twa or mair acid radicals. NMDA trickers a radical thocht; an its no hypotheticthat we needs recolonise our heids. NMDA~ O.K. Flame wi reek, reek an heat. Tak a dividual neuron as a sampler o the ward flame. A spairk agitates the flame duntin it intil the neuron fir heat whilk sets aff a notion o reek. NMDA~ an associations o wards, flame, heat, reek.

~sniff ~sniff ~must ~musk ~multiply an sae on as the mind creates its ain particlar paradigm o the warld~ NMDA. Aa, aa generations maun kick agin thir ain particlar pricks. Experience cannae be 2nd haun Evolution has ainerlie just birlt intae consciousness an is nae doubt still at wark on it. Flame wi reek. We are aa prisoners o our ain limitations ~asparagus an worm wuid~. Reek wi flame. As the magno/chemical buzz glints at thon nebulous thing cried consciousness it shaws we cannae be objective about oursels. But the chemicals an the electrons maun be friens. Yahoo! the chemicals an the electrons sall be friens. Lysergic acid Diethylamide, LSD far out? My erse! Acid maks the green sunfish fecht~ An causes the elephant tae musth. thons radge deleerit rage. Theres a chemical buzz thats sneck in the heid Nae spairk, nae thoucht, N Methyl D Aspartate.

Chomskys bairns

DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

The chromosome o the fruit flee Is sib Tae a hieroglyph o the strung universe Thon imprint o language Signifies tae us The nuclei is the idiom, NMDA~ O.K.

Owerset fae Francais quo the Parisian craic o Michel Foucault. A leid, a langue, a lingua system is aa but a corpus o speiks a stour o wards, a clishmaclaver o facts. We maun descrive on the steid o this gaitherin tae yaise as a sample, guides tae cuddy lowp ower the dyke tae big mair speiks. Een gin a leid is lang syne mouth less yow dow big aince mair on its antrin smithereens. A leid ay bides a way forrit tae jalouse mair speiks. A stent corpus o guides gien heid room tae a stentless wheen o affcumes. Fantice, fantice the magic makars, tae scrieve in Scots is tae pou the fruits o our culture fae the lift fizz, fizz, fizz. Fizzing calcium ions, electrically chargit wee haets trauchle tae enter the NMDA receptor complex chemikal processes trigger aff wi in the neuron, zap zap zappity zap; ~sniffing glue is nae in it~ ~Jack up an ye jack out~ its cognitive eroticism an thons mental, a 21st fuckaty century blast. an its aa gaun on in the heid; NMDA~ O.K. Ay tho~ theres aawise thon bogle in the warks. Flaming Reek ( A parody) On the teenage wintery street The eye o his desire Stuid in a pool o cool glamour Her gaze far aff Instinctively he shiftit doun wind Tae souse in her wersh musk. Her pals daffed... But she did nae speik Rinkt by his ain ardour he wis ower green

tae ken that she wantit him tae tak her intil the wuids an tae enter the forest, insteid she walked aff intil the sea glug-glug. Reeking Havoc (hou it raelly is) Doun, doun, howe doun in the thrawn wastes ligs a sour gowpin place whar sharrow thochts abrade the inner sel lik quicken flesh in burning lime. In the fortunes o the wilderness, the lave needs gie it nae mair credit than anither consciousness, in differ state o mynd. Maist o the time the NMDA receptor is stuck wi magnesium ions; tae rid itsel the synapse magnetically stimulates the neurones membrane an the ions lowp snap crackle an pop in a bio chemikal cascade o learning, memory an consciousness. Far fucking out. Naa mair, nae mair rehet cauld kale as new. Aff wi the raelist an their sentimentality. The impressionists are back in toun wi a nano cubist energy tae blast us back intil a scansin space. Mynd in, mynd on, mynd in, mynd on, scans, scans an scans agin. Theres a chemical buzz thats lockit in the heid a rhythmic jigger a synaptic rap protein trigger receptor micro transmitter N-M-D-A N Methyl D Aspartate N-M-D-A N Methyl D Aspartate N-M-D-A OK.

In memorandum o a syne-o-snap

CD SHADE NMDA JOHN FARRELL HATTONRIGG PIT DISASTER 1910

The man by the window reading The House of Mirth. You biting the inside of the top of my leg that afternoon. Back an hour in the cafe. A flat white. Earl Gray tea. Tiny glasses of honey. My perfume. My hold-ups. A Chinese girl eating Black Forest cake and writing Mandarin with a gold pen in her diary. Watching the man by the window reading Edith Wharton. Me, waiting for you. Your shirt. Your boots. Your jacket. Your hair. Your mouth.

surfacing

THE FISHERMAN
Between your fingers hours salt. Your work has made the hands I love prising open molluscs for food, parting scallop-shells, nursing flesh, skin wicked to a mans broken knuckles and nails.

I shed the dress and bathe in the green glow of liquid on lily white porcelain. Nothing stirs but my toes playing with the hot and cold taps. My mouth lipping surface fills, the last love poem washing out, blooding the water.

THE BRIDE

Rita Johnston

RACHEL IRVINE

Redistributive | Nectar | Feared

The blood theyve trailed behind them doesnt seem to matter now. Cate tears his helmet from his head, gasping stale, ancient air, drawing it into his shrunken lungs till his knees crumple and give out, and his face finds the dust below him. Mud. The mud below him. God. God. Fuck, God. Brionys voice, maybe that fuckwit always needs to be saying something. But hes silenced by the sharp thud of Laandersons closed fist against well-concealed Kevlar: Shut it. Their commander orders in a voice like hes eye-to-eye with Jesus himself, and Briony does; but Cate can still hear his disbelieving nose-breaths wheezing in the darkness. No-one dares get any closer. ...Is it real? Cate asks gruffly, into the miraculous soggy dirt under his lips. He feels its cool dampness against his skin and has to squeeze his eyes shut. We need to test it. Laanderson reminds tightly. Cate twists his neck and can just make out the older man straining against his own wonder like a Pointer on a leash, muscles trembling. Cate nods. Yes. Yes. His fingers fumble the way they never do pointing a firearm, tugging the equipment pack from under his jacket: click. Click. click. Fragile glass tubes in clumsy armoured hands. Dont drop them. Dont drop them. Beside him, Briony mirrors his movements: his will be the second opinion. Ten mil. Just ten mil. Laaderson warns, perhaps catching the dangerous amazement in Cates gaze. But Cate waves him back. He knows. Hell, does he know. The lake before them is silent. Still. Black as smoked glass in this forgotten bunker; natures jealously-guarded treasure. Or not so much natures: St Jobs. But then, theyre one and the same now arent they? This planet has that forbidden fruit stamped across its western hemisphere; as did every one of those weary, hard-edged followers the three radicals brought to the ground on the way down here. They were ugly, necessary deaths, but Cate hardly registers them now that black porcelain gleams under the brash white splash of his head-torch. Fuck. Its so fucking beautiful. I cant touch it. Briony intones; but Cate is already kneeling-- far enough back to avoid contamination, close enough that the cold, forgotten surface plays against his gloved fingertips. For an instant, another world blurs his vision... A world where Laanderson and Briony lie still, sprawled in the black mud; where Cates kevlar and canvas and layers and layers of leather and camo and steel mark a glistening trail to the liquids edge, and his cold, naked body is submerged in molten diamond, closing over every inch of skin. He drinks deep, he holds his breath; his lungs scream, his heart seizes, but it is pure, so pure and it is his and he has found it, found it at last, found it

Bedsitters | Smooth | Registered

Ten mil collected. Cate whispers, more to the tiny tube in his hand than to his colleagues. He bites his lip as the liquid fills to that thin white marker, and no more beyond. Ten mil. Briony echoes, and clutches his other hand over his mouth as he replaces his tube into his PAD. The startled gleam of the tablets blue LED indicators is violently bright and Cate squints against them in the timeless gloom of the cavern. Blue. Blue. Blue. Come on you fucker. Cate intones, pressing his own PAD into life and watching its indicators join Brionys in neutral chorus: blue. Blue. Blue. We need two identical-- --I know what we need. Cate snarls. Blue. Blue. Blue. The lake seems to hold a silent smile; that thin silver gleam separating the surface from the crystallised stalactites above. Blue. Blue. Blue-FUCK. Briony scrambles backwards, screaming in triumph. Fuck, fuck-- Cate shields his eyes at the sudden green light searing through the dark: green; GREEN. Then the second, his own hand suddenly illuminated in the unbelievable colour. Green: its fucking green, its H2O. He gasps the molecule; can hardly get those three letters out his throat. Water. Water. Its water. The last water on the planet. The last reserve. The last secret of a long-dead billionaire. The prototype for the salvation of a drought-ravaged planet. Laandersons sobs echo joyously, and all Cate can see is that pinprick of green, and life for eight billion people. Katrina. Ben makes a perfunctory introduction. Howard holds out his hand, but the intimidatingly gorgeous woman Katrina just smiles pityingly at him and returns to scrolling her Twitter feed. Howard glances quizzically back at his friend. If any other guy touches her I got to fork out another fifty quid in excess. Ben explains flatly. Howards hand snaps back to his chest like Katrina had gone for it with her teeth. Shit. ...Yeah. Ben turns away; nods resignedly at the barman. Can I get two more Coranas? Yeah. Cheers... Howard slides a fiver into the space on the bar underneath his friends hilariously hangdog face. Cheers bud. So... He tries to glance casually at Katrina. Its kind of impossible. She just... follows you around? Shes a Bedsitter, Howard. She sleeps with you? Howards eyebrows knit into a tight caterpillar in the middle of his forehead. He probably needs to adjust the incredulity meter on that sentence by a couple of notches: She sleeps with you? Shes holding Laurens space in our bed. Till shes back from London? Ben holds three fingers up in front of vaguely frantic eyes: Three days to go. Howard just blinks. Fuck Okay, I dont know what you call it when your wife not only knows youre a cheating bastard, but is supplying you with birds to get off with. Ben was just working the laces out of his shoes when the doorbell rang in retrospect even it sounded more highly-strung than normal. He froze. Hed just gotten back from dropping a steely-eyed Lauren at the airport the last thing he wanted was visitors. He wanted a cold beer and to get his boxers off. Wearily, he pulled open the door. Hello? He lost control of his mouth somewhere after the second vowel. The woman standing casually on his doorstep could have stepped straight out of fucking Babestation. All of a sudden, he wasnt holding the door open he was clutching onto it for dear life. Hi there, my names Katrina. The vision introduced herself in a voice that would be better suited to French porn than this sprawl of pebble-dashed Glaswegian semis. Are you Ben Dickinson? Ben felt sweat breaking out under the collar of his shirt. ...Thats me. He confessed, trying to recompose his expression into some-

thing less pubescent. Trying to keep his eyes off her tits. Then he noticed the badge on the left breast-pocket of her jacket. Hi Ben. Ive been assigned to you by Bedsitters Incorporated. Your wife has employed me to keep you company while shes away. I hope you dont mind if I come in? Ben could only blink. I... ...Hmm, she mentioned youre cute when you stutter. The womanKatrinadivulged, reaching out to stroke one elegant finger against the curve of Bens neck. Then, just as quickly, she retracted it, indulgent expression hardening into something far more sanitised. Youll know that refusing the services of the assigned Bedsitter results in the total charge of any services ordered detracted from the partners bank account. Katrinas mouth twisted sympathetically: and of course, Bedsitters Incorporated is not responsible for any subsequent conditions suffered by you upon the return of your wife. Bens breath came out a little shaky. Right... So youre here to...keep me company? Katrina fixed him in another appetising gaze. Im here to save your wifes spot in your bed. Ben felt the need to clarify: Right. Like. Naked? If youd like. Ben genuinely could not think of another thing hed wanted so badly in his lifetime. And my wife paid for this? Yeah, shes pretty great isnt she? Katrina confirmed agreeably. Ben swallowed heavily. Katrinas hair seemed to be soaking up the watery spring sunlight, glinting with every tiny shift of her head. The smooth curve of skin exposed under the neckline of her shirt was the colour of crme caramel. God he loved crme caramel. Jerkily, Ben threw himself and the door back against the inside of the hall, holding out a hand to take the womans roller-case: Come on in. Howard swigs his beer, and listens with fast-dissolving sympathy to his friends tale of a week under the ministrations of this unexpected, wife-sponsored goddess. She brings me beer after sex, you know that? I dont even have to ask. Beer. After sex. Ben repeats, miming with his own bottle: Little limes stuffed in the neck of the bottle... She puts real sugar in my tea. She drives me to work then I cant get anything done cos shes just texting me this hot filth all day Howard stares hard at him. Mate. Sounds like a nightmare. Bens hands gesture violently at the air: If theres another woman even in my fucking eyeline, I get finedtwenty quid straight into Laurens shoe fund. I cant escape. He thrusts an arm out in Katrinas direction: Shes got my credit cards stuffed down her knickers. I cant even go to the bloody shitter without her diarising every time I get my dick out! Howard opens his mouth: but before he can put his sarcasm into words, another voice interrupts; another womans voice, caramel smooth:

Relax babe. How about an early night? Bubble bath? Howard twists around. Shes nearly identical to Katrina, except for the tight jeans and tiny diamond stud pressed into the side of her nose. The same bored, amused gaze. The same company badge pinned to the lapel of her jacket: Bedsitters Inc. Howard gets the distinct feeling his bodys gonna start embarrassing him any minute now. He claps a hand to Bens despondent shoulder: She got you fucking twins? Jesus if you dont want your wife can I have her? Bens face creases in a paper mch rictus: Its two for one when you register online. October special.

Brogan Ramm A Study

Brogran Ramm The Rehearsal

Brogan Ramm The Nothing

BROGAN RAMM The Rehearsal

BROGAN RAMM Remnants of Life

BRYAN M FERGUSON SCISSOR BANDIT

BRYAN M FERGUSON STRANGE COCKTAIL

BRYAN M FERGUSON THE DAMAGED MANNEQUINS

BRYAN M FERGUSON TRAUMA

BRYAN M FERGUSON WRAPPED IN PLASTIC

TS ROSENBERG

BAIT
His wifes silver body convulses on the stone table as he hacks her up for bait. Water restores, he weeps, nipping out her stark bare eyes, plucking green slime from her twitchy skin. Impatient waves flick the shore. Clumped in her rainbow gut are flecks of seaweed she nibbled when she felt empty, wincing at how it tasted of the sea. Blood pools in the nicks left by other, duller knives that chopped up useless flesh for other use. In the spots where poison dimmed her to dead white his blade carves her free. Flayed mermaids culled from pink shells twist and wither upon spiny rocks. He sluices the table, retrieves the rotten scraps, hefts the bucket. Bowing to the water and the hook he cries for what hell catch as he restores her gray morsels to the ravenous sea.

I WANTED TO EXPLAIN WHY I WAS CRYING

UNSENT
Im kneeling the tiles are blurred I am writing so you understand this isnt because of you I dont want to be the sort of girl pathetic, as if I couldnt live quite happily Im not worth too brittle and petty uncaringly volatile dont blame I sicken even myself Im writing along the side of the tub by touch warm and reassuring even you cant soften me trying to be that woman you love even in disgust if you knelt your hands still clean murmuring your splendid voice it will ease you almost make me believe it will be well

I wanted to explain why I was crying all those afternoons when you left for an hour to visit your wife but that would have meant explaining how much I loved your wife, though I barely saw her in those thirteen months. I hardly dared to push through her clear polished doors, seeking her protection from a drizzle-and-slateboard sky, never sure whether shed be standing translucent or forlorn with her stick beside her, exhausted though it was only half-eleven. The same thirteen months when this girl I wanted to write off as an eccentric punk tossed sticks at my heart, trying to yank me out of that office with the cracked windows where I cried till you returned every day from your wife, praying for the downpour to begin so I could accept the fatigued glass had given up all chance of protection and none of us would escape the battering of the rain and you would finally notice I was crying.

ANTHONY WEBSTER

ANTHONY WEBSTER

ANTHONY WEBSTER

ANTHONY WEBSTER

David Flood

1
Daniel Reginald Logan struck and killed a child some 4 years ago. He insisted it was an accident and this was all found to be pretty much a fair account of what happened. Forensic evidence even went as far to determine that the child had in fact, technically, struck him. The bike having collided just in front of the fuel cap on the rear left hand side of his Nissan Juke long after hed entered the Maryhill junction where buildings and traffic obscured his left side peripheral view. Establishing that he had always been an exemplary driver and upstanding family man and considering his swift actions at the scene of the incident to help the injured the court determined it to be an unfortunate and regrettable accident. The charges of manslaughter were dismissed and for the integrity of his own family, the Sheriff wished Reg all the best in moving on from this harrowing incident. Which is proving tough. Anytime Reg is in the Tesco he can hear other parents discuss whether or not it is right to discipline the endlessly wailing boy at his feet or remark that he must be one of these jaded parents who doesnt care and can wait out any tantrum, he even hears some say that they wish they had his patience. Zoe Reeve carries around the body of her father. An anxious and paranoid man who spent 24 years of her life shouting himself to death at her. Now 6 years a hoarse burden he whispers fuckin shite, fuckin shite, fuckin shite. anytime hes sure theres a lapse in her attention. On her better days at work, maybe she receives a good peer review or feels a friendly atta boy pat on the shoulder or the time the COO pointed at the apish ghoul clinging to her back and directly addressed the busy lips behind her ear, You. Wrap it. she likes to go home and sliding a cowed Arnold Reeve off her shoulders she puts her feet up on his crouched ottoman like frame and reads true crime books. She leaves the TV on to occupy her Dad. During the more jingoistic parts of the news she laughs out loud, Fucking Shite!

3
Michael Nips ex wife Ali (nee Anders) scratches at a mastectomy scar long devoid of any feeling to actually itch and bickers with him in his more private moments about how his new wife Olive isnt good enough for him and how if he had ever had the fucking gumption to get it up their child, (Michael insists on a she, Ali knows itd have been a he) wouldnt be stuck in the stupid fuck classes at St Maurices. Michael doesnt lie to Olive about what Ali talks about. And he knows how wrong Ali isabout Olive from the way Olive always forgives Ali storming out of the dining room. Olive says she can empathise, her own mothers sister was really hurt at being outlived too. Harriet Bell has trouble going to parties at her age. The literal life of the party, she brings too many of the dead along with her. They crowd up the hallway, the kitchen, the living room, they mingle in the garden and the streets outside. History students at the nearby University of Glasgow consider her thee go to source for all local information about the area as shell definitely know someone who knows someone who will happily swear that they were there at the time. In a minor show of gratitude for all her help over the years, the Universitys History department have arranged with her sons to move her 80th birthday from the Partick Bowling Club to the more appropriately sized Hampden Park.

5
Laura Osmanoglu-McIntyre gives a piggyback to her great great grandfather, His Imperial Majesty Mehmet VI and the H.I.H. himself is giving a piggyback to some slighted and embittered thousands upon his own back. Nobody weighs a thing of course but the height and bulk alone of that many people clinging to each other is a terrifying sight. Like everybody else she tries not to let it get in the way of her living her life although the obvious body language of baying and jeering during the homily at St Roses and the gawping looks of the other parishioners at this mountain of muslim anger generally keep her at the quieter Midnight mass on a Sunday. Monsignor Gallagher from the Immaculate Conception has even offered to perform an exorcism with the help of the whole archdiocese but Laura waves him off. That kind of thing has never really worked out for anybody. Mario Hines is unemployed. Every Monday he has the same argument with the same jobsworth security guard at the Job Centre about tying them up outside (like, how?) because the jobsworth security guard swears to God he can smell them as if theyre really pissing and shitting everywhere and it smells to high heaven he swears to God. After flicking the Vs at the jobsworth security guard on his way out of the Job Centre, he heads for the park with all 27 of his former cats and dogs. Sitting on a bench feeding the crusts of a chicken tikka sandwich to the corporeal birds he ignores the 18 medium sized dogs sitting patiently staring at the lunch in his hand and watches the progress of phantom cats which stalk under the bench, hunker down then spring forward, passing through their prey and landing with the same look of snappy surprise and confusion. Every single time.

7
On her way to the supermarket with her nephew Bradley, Jenny Foys sister Sandra shows up in the back seat of the car. Having left for Birmingham three days ago Bradley is pleased for the surprise appearance of his mum. Jenny breaks into tears behind the wheel, stops dead in the road. Sobbing she asks what happened, You dont want to know, but it didnt hurt for as long as I thought it was going to., Why me? Why arent you sticking with Brad? Sandra shrugged an apology, You dont really get to choose, but for what its worth, I didnt know what I was going to tell him. Bradley had turned around in his seat, on his knees peering through the gap in the headrest, Mummy I cant hear what youre saying. Sandra smiles at him and simply mouths, I love you.

DECLAN MALONE GALLOWGATE

DECLAN MALONE GREY DUNNS BISCUIT FACTORY

I live with headaches My face heavy from the whisky Another Early Start An inchoate idea Of what a person Should Be My time Not spent asleep Is worth the minimum Permissable by law I sleep with little rest I work for no reward I dream with no ambition Yet Im happy despite it all

PLENUM

EMI JAMES

I wake up to find a goblin piling silk-wrapped lead weights onto my chest between my oesophagus and sternum while muttering unhappily to himself. His tiny clawed feet dig into my stomach where he stands. Quietly he mutters about work and hunger and suffering from a lack of one and too much of the other. I dont make much of this. The pile is about two feet high now, enough to make my breathing laboured and ragged. I rub the sleep from my eyes and contemplate my next move. My eyes are wet, probably from the harsh halogen light screaming through my window or crying in my sleep. With the little energy I have I roll onto my side and send the weights tumbling onto the bed. One bounces from the mattress onto the floor and smashes a bottle I had long forgotten about. Tiny, razor-sharp remnants of nights past stare up from the carpet like mountain peaks seen from an airplane. The goblin shrieks and throws his spindly arms into the air. He punches my thigh in frustration, his feeble fists barely registering on my beleaguered nervous system. The goblin leaps onto the bed and begins to gather handfuls of silk to amass his collection of worries. He drags them from the bed to the floor and laboriously pulls them to the corner of the room where he stops to shoot daggers at me, tying the loosened silk around the weights once more in anticipation of my next fitful nights sleep. Nothing much matters here. I rub my eyes until my fists are wet with tears and a kaleidoscope of exotic colours paints the inside of my eyelids. A deep, guttural growl from my stomach brings my morning into a sharp, painful focus. The stabbing, gnawing hunger in the pit of my stomach crawls up my windpipe until I can taste the hot bile at the back of my throat. I resist the urge to throw up, knowing that only stomach acid will come out. Shakily, I ease myself from my bed and stand up, avoiding the broken glass underfoot. En route to the bathroom the goblin giggles and begins to piss on my carpet. A small, steaming puddle of defiance seeps into my beige carpet. A putrid puddle of one-upmanship. My hands tremble so violently it takes me a few attempts to grasp the door handle to my bathroom and force it downwards. I am immediately confronted with my dilapidated and decrepit reflection. Walls are crumbling. Dry rot in the beams. Foundations built on sand. Water seeps in through the windows. Nobody lives here anymore. I stand roughly five feet and nine inches tall, less when my posture is considered. My mahogany brown hair is flecked with grey, despite my age, as is my

unkempt beard. The cruel lights above the sink where I stand give my eyes a cold, blue quality; like water under a sheet of ice. I can count the bones in my torso. My ribs protrude under my tightly wound skin and the outline of my pelvis indicates the transition from my stomach to my groin. My naked, emaciated body creaks and groans like an old house in a storm. One of the lights above the mirror fizzes quietly and burns out, leaving its colleagues to cast lopsided shadows over my thorny frame. I do not have the energy to sigh. I shake three green ovals into my palm from the open pill bottle by the taps. I keep the bottle open out of fear of being too weak to open it again if I ever close it. I throw them to the back of my throat and choke them down, like swallowing chalk or cinnamon. As soon as they hit my stomach I stop shaking and the rats gnawing at my insides slip into a merciful sleep.

Take as and when hunger becomes unbearable. Do not mix with alcohol. Not a substitute for food. In event of overdose induce vomiting and call ambulance
I chuckle feebly at the idea of calling an ambulance for something as wretched as overdosing on hunger suppressants. My laughter turns into a spluttering coughing fit that I struggle to keep under control. Braced against the sink with my legs spread, as if being searched, I spit the blood that has collected in my mouth down the drain. I watch it stick to the exposed, corroded metal. I can imagine my oxygen-starved haemoglobin oozing through my veins at a snails pace, drunkenly feeding my organs and lending colour to my pallid skin. I can also imagine it stopping. The dry-rot in the house spreads to the attic. Dressed now. Stale suit. A shirt that clings to my frame like oil. I avoid myself in the hallway mirror for my own good. No need to compound the obvious. I make my way to the front door of my apartment, hissing viciously at the goblin as I pass. The creature waves its middle finger at me and calls me a cunt. Its probably right. My name is William Scott and I am, beyond any reasonable doubt, a cunt. Time I can truly call my own is endangered to the point of extinction. My working hours are typically from the moment I get up to the blissful moment I fall asleep, and even then my dreams are usually so vivid it hardly feels like I slept at all when I wake up to the sound of emails and phone calls. When I am not working I masquerade as someone with a social life; I go out, I interact, I have what many would call fun. I could almost pass as a real person until I am scrutinised further and it becomes apparent that I am nothing more than a person-shaped shell filled with meat.

When I am not worrying about this, I am drinking. While I am paid a moderate wage for my contribution to the world I still cannot afford real food. Few people can. I cannot imagine my ancestors would dream of ingesting the synthetic mush that we are forced to consume to sustain ourselves. I cant stomach the allocated rations and I cant afford fresh food, so like so many others I take hunger suppressants. Six a day, supplemented by a solitary meal of whatever shit they leave at my door. Today, synthetic chicken breast in a mushroom sauce with mashed potato. A veritable feast to someone who has never tasted food; an insult to anyone who has. The government food drops are the only thing keeping Scotland from going the way of Europe, but rationalising does not make the food taste any better. Adapt or starve, they said. I eye the meal on the ledge next to my door as I leave my apartment. It stares back in contempt. Lumps of grey floating in brown. Potatoes defiantly viscous. Thankfully the pills have taken hold and I have no desire to investigate the package further. Boldly, as I have done so many times before, I step out of my apartment and into the cold, sharp atmosphere of Glasgow. Immediately I am bombarded with messages. William, last longer in bed! These horny girls are waiting for you now! Have you taken out a loan in the last five years? Rolexxx cheap! Fuck local slags in your area! Each message is more insistent than the last, hovering in softly luminous boxes about a foot above my head. The boxes stoically remain until I dismiss them with a spastic wave of my arms. Recent legislation prevents companies from advertising at eye level, for all the good it does. The messages atomised and revealed the crystal-clear morning sky. The sky fades from a dark navy blue to a lighted hue as it approaches the horizon, the sun just out of eyeshot on the other side of the planet. The moon hangs precariously in the sky, perfectly illuminated. My hangover is wrapped tightly around my body and is smothering my ability to think clearly. My thoughts drift away into a dark haze whenever I focus my attention on anything in particular. My hands tremble in my pockets. I take out my phone and glance at its display. Over 300 messages, most of them marked urgent. Most of them ignored. The main thoroughfare of the city is completely saturated with bodies of all shapes and sizes, from the emaciated many to the obese few. More advertisements hang in the air offering me a bigger penis or a better mortgage. A blimp, dark grey with a large visual display hanging from its belly tells the world A

divided Scotland is England. I consider going off the grid for a while to escape the constant bombardment of information, but such a luxury would surely cost me my job. The glass and steel walkways at either side of the street are hoaching with people and glitter in the winter light. The sandstone elements of the buildings flanking the street only reach the third storey of each structure; the other dozen match the walkways in material and style. Bridges connecting either side of the street, hundreds of feet off the ground, cross and intersect like neurons. On a quiet day you can feel the hum of the traffic underfoot. I ache. My office is like a hive and I am the queen. I am fed information by my drones until I am so engorged I cannot move from my chamber. I am information. Bits and bytes, ones and zeroes, whatever you want to call it. I am more information than man. I am watching three of my employees stand across from my desk, hands wringing and sweating, explaining something to me. I dont hear what they are saying. It feels as if my head is underwater and passers-by are shouting for help. The gentle rushing in my ears makes my employees look as if they are miming the words of a song they do not know. My skin crawls off my skeleton and gathers in a worthless pile on the floor. Unperturbed, the employees do not seem to care that my exposed muscles twitch and quiver with every heartbeat. They soldier on. Slowly my muscles fall from my skeleton, ligaments deteriorate, bones dissolve, until all that is left in my chair is a pulsating sack of vital organs. Blood and bile seep into the expensive leather. What should we do, sir? asked a young woman, mousy and frail. I blink slowly, just once, and focus my attention. Say everything you said to me, word for word, to Gordon I replied, my eyes closed and burning. The three young things rushed out of my office in a flurry of apologies. Hopefully Gordon will be sober enough to deal with whatever is going on. I can feel every rotten inch of my skin.

PARTS FOR SALE

Emi James

We would like to thank John and Andrew for their advice and assistance. Anca for her unwavering patience, and all those who have helped us along the way. We could not have done this without you. Most of all, thank you also to our contributors; we hope we have done your work justice. Thank you for reading The Grind

Submissions for the second edition of The Grind open on the 1st of January 2014. We will be accepting short fiction, photography, and all forms of visual art. Please see www.the-grind.co.uk for further details. DECLAN MALONE GREY DUNNS BISCUIT FACTORY