Raymond G. Taylor
Bio
Author living in Kent, England. Writer of short stories and poems in a wide range of genres, forms and styles. A non-fiction writer for 40+ years. Subjects include art, history, science, business, law, and the human condition.
Stories (663)
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This week's reviews THREE
TOP SLOT A Good Ol' Classic by SAMANTHA JAMISON September 21, 2022 in SHORT STORY This has to be the best story I have read so far on Vocal. An appetising tale of a rainy day in Seattle WA and a glorious celebration of the delights to be found from a home-made tomato soup served with grilled cheese sandwich. So well written I could read it again. Or am I just thinking of the mouth-watering description of what will likely form my next supper?
By Raymond G. Taylor3 years ago in Journal
Changes
The old bandstand held so many memories for me. It took pride of place in the Recreation Ground at Beckenham, where I grew up in the 1960s. Not much happened in this otherwise sleepy suburban town to the south-east of London. But I can never forget the time in 1969 when a free pop concert was organized by a ragtag bunch of musicians from the area, including my friend Lenny. He’d been talking about it in the Rat & Parrot for weeks.
By Raymond G. Taylor4 years ago in Fiction
Trapped in the Park
I don’t know how I managed to get locked in the Rec after dark. I must have fallen asleep on the bench when I stopped for a rest after my long walk back from Beckenham Place Park. Not as fit as I used to be, I was feeling a little weary and breathless and so sat down on the bench for five minutes to recover and must have just dropped off. You’d think the park keeper locking up would have noticed me sitting here asleep and given me a prod or something. He must have thought I was a rough sleeper planning to camp out for the night. Bloody cheek!
By Raymond G. Taylor4 years ago in Fiction
From little acorns
GRAY STONE chiselled into precise blocks lay scattered across the otherwise rust-red landscape. It wasn’t the first time we had seen a rock formation that appeared to be man-made during this mission but there was something deeply troubling about this one. So much so, that I couldn’t just sit there and take notes, I needed to feed this up the chain of command.
By Raymond G. Taylor4 years ago in Fiction
The Brothers of Logan County
Martin Cheney stood on a hillock at the edge of his claim, looking out over the eastern trail to see a small cloud of dust raised by a lone rider. It was a warm, muggy August afternoon in Logan County in the Oklahoma territory, some hazy sunshine, and no rain for weeks. Cheney stood looking, waiting. He knew who the rider was.
By Raymond G. Taylor4 years ago in Fiction
The Earthenware Jar
It was the one item we were told never to touch. It stood there in its place of honor, an arched recess in the wall of the kitchen where we would sit and eat our breakfast during that long, hot summer. A brown, dirty-looking earthenware jar with a broken handle and glue marks showing around the mouth.
By Raymond G. Taylor4 years ago in Fiction
The Plumes of Enceladus
Deep within the cloudy mass of Saturn’s E ring is no place to discover your Ship Nav is failing. Our earlier approach had been nothing short of awe-inspiring. As we flew towards the swirling grey globe of the gas giant and its colossal rings, ‘we’ being the ship and me, I just sat in the pilot seat and stared and stared and stared. I knew I would never see anything quite like this again. Closer-up, it was a different story. What had been a vast bright bow of blue, stretching off into distant space either side of the ship, now become a dense cloud of microscopic ice particles, more gray than blue. It felt like we were trapped in a giant, ghostly snowstorm.
By Raymond G. Taylor4 years ago in Fiction
