By Alex Ciobanu Dicks were flying at me from every direction, but I just couldn’t catch any. I sit on my bed and blow the smoke out towards the opened window, from a joint leftover from last night. I’m only a little drunk now. I watch the smoke fill the room, unveiled by the six … More COLLAPSE
By Amanda Fuller It wasn’t love at first sight. Not that I didn’t find her appealing, there was definitely something about her. No one would ever call her pretty, but there’s a rough, unconventional charisma, a quirky charm, that it’s easy to overlook, at first. She has a split personality, you see. Misanthropic and … More THE ‘L’ WORD
By Rae Gellel At the end of a busy night, the strip club is almost beautiful. Once the empty bottles have been swept from the mahogany tables and dropped into the bin with a satisfying clank, once ring stains have been scrubbed at and velvet chairs pushed in and the deep purple carpet vacuumed by … More AT THE END OF A BUSY NIGHT
By Timothy Willmore-Flowers ‘Explain it to me again’ he asked. ‘Sure.’ I replied. Wednesday. I finished work twenty minutes early so I could go to the gift shop and buy ten heart-shaped helium balloons. It was our wedding anniversary: ten balloons, ten years, it was obvious, but perfectly appropriate. On the overground train heading home, … More LESSONS FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
By Bistra Nikolova Somewhere in the narrow, dark streets behind Leicester Square, the early hours were exactly the time when a different kind of people would walk as shadows trying badly to forget about the light part of the day. Or maybe even about the dark one too. Many of those night creatures had … More THE NEXT DAY STORY
By Amanda Hein It was after 4 am, I can remember that. Herded; the change of music to a slow hum, like a pied piper sending the sheep out of the club at 3, flocking to the nearest kebab. Bah. Greasy burgers sopped in mayonnaise, chips drenched in ketchup, the overpriced taxi ride. Yes, it … More 12 SAUNCEY WOOD
By Rob Hakimian Through his window he watched the rim of the sun disappear behind the top floor of the high rise across the park. Its shadow now blocked out the last rays of sun that made it through his small bedroom window. Soon it would be dark, and after that he knew his resolve … More THE BOY WHO CRIED
By Bethan Morgan Excerpt from the Ministerial and Other Salaries Amendment Act 2025: In the case of the aforementioned offices a salary may be paid to each holder of office subject to the limitations expressed below, that is to say— That it is within the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister to appoint any number of … More JACK OF DIAMONDS
By Paul Chafer Journeying towards the galaxy centre, I pass a blue pearl and become intrigued by the pulses of energy dotted around the dark surface. On descending towards these glowing power buds, I detect the thrumming buzz of life. More than this, I see it is both one amorphous mass, and a gathering of … More CITY OF THE BLUE PEARL
By Marta Abromaityte The reverberation from the storm shook the windows of Lucy’s flat whilst she sat in darkness, silhouetted by her battery powered lava lamp. The light from the lamp illuminated Lucy’s tear filled eyes and for the fifth time that night, the fierce storm cut out the electricity in her 16-storey building. Leaving … More THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR
By Safiyah These silhouettes of the night time dwellers hide much of our cities daytime mundane. The cover of night gives illusions of romantic fantasies. They are both distorted and elaborated. The characters of the day and the night come and go but they leave their dent, constantly reshaping our London an ever progressive physical … More AFTER DARK
By Tom Pears It’s 4am. Another house. Another part of London. Another girl. Another hollow fuck. You close the door gently behind you; you hate those awkward morning conversations. The cold air greets you like a slap in the face. Karma, perhaps. You’re in Angel. You’ve got work in a few hours. It’s fine, you’ve … More NIGHT FLIGHTS
By: Rob Hakimian Diversions in the Heath?! It’s bad enough they seize up our streets with their relentless road works, and now their tyrannical time wasting has overflowed into our sacred green spaces! ‘Improvements to the ponds’ – how can you improve a pool of water? And all I wanted was to get up … More PERSPIRATION
By: Alex Ciobanu The neighbourhood proved striking. Its historical significance was unknown to me, but I was never one to revel in that. I was simply struck by such sophistication and style in the buildings, a consistency to the architecture, and I found it comforting. Colindale wasn’t the same. I could tell I was … More INTIMACY
By: Zahrah Surooprajally You know the story. You’re at Winter Wonderland with a great guy, a cool guy. Someone who looks like he belongs with you in pictures. You drink too much mulled wine. The Mousetrap ride spins too much and makes you feel nauseous. You’re cold, you didn’t wear enough layers. Your new … More SOMEONE GREAT
By: Amanda Fuller The first thing I learn about London, is that there are many kinds of silence. Where I am from, it is rarely silent. The very moment that it seems that a silence might occur, someone will step in and fill it. Often, more than one someone, all at the same time. … More SILENCE SCREAMS
By: Paul Chafer An intrepid outsider just visiting London; Smitten, dazzled, by stunning illuminations From within a black cab, transporting me, Not only weaving in present day airy streets, But through stacked layers of storied history; Some dark, treacherous and dastardly sinister, Some light, celebratory and blithely triumphant. On alighting from the Hackney … More DEMOCRACY OF DREAMERS
By: Sophie Bowles 8 a.m. I rise, from unsettling dreams – last night it was the security guard at Morrison’s caressing my thighs in the back of a mauve van, as we headed for Plymouth to escape a Fourth Reich in London. Arms retreating under the mugginess of my duvet, the first thought of … More DOWN AND OUT
By: Rachele Salvini When Terry saw Nikki, she was alone at the counter. Girls who had the guts to sit by themselves on a Saturday night, in a place that was as fucking crowded as The Monarch, Camden Town, deserved his attention. They knew perfectly well that pretty much everyone would hit on them and … More TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, 3A.M.
By: Angus Rogers A circle sits in a square on a high wall and looks down at the stagnant river. What have I done to deserve this? He wonders. It’s not so hard to keep a fucking plant alive. You pour water on it and open the curtain. Why is there foliage inside the … More ONE FOOT IN THE SEAGULL’S SONG AND ONE FOOT IN THE DARK
Wells Street Journal 