I've updated the first post with links to all the stories posted so far in the challenge, and included a link to the backtoschool tag , so they will be easy to find.

Thanks to everyone, they're all great and each one is distinctly different. So much fun to read!

Thank you so much for adding mine to the list! :)

As Sara has brought all the toys, I'll just give Victor a cuddle! And say hello to the cat if he/she will let me get near!

A coffee to get me going to clean the house this morning will do very nicely!

Good morning, all!

A coffee would do nicely while I'm catching up with all your news! Larry, hope rehearsals and performances are going well!

Bill, I've read RedWriter's first two stories here. Excellent recommendation!

Sara, looking forward to the next Scamp story!

Scott, great news about the coffee machine and the upcoming series links and History category.

I'm just putting the finishing touches on a musing for the Back to School challenge, which will hopefully pass muster!

Hello everyone. Ooh, brownies! A cup of tea to go with one would do nicely! :)

Good morning everyone! Thanks for the submissions' heads up, Bill!

I could do with a coffee, if there's any going?

Have a great trip, Anna! :) sounds exciting.

It was wild here overnight as a storm passed over us, but bright and breezy enough today for me to get my washing on the line!

Coffee would be perfect, please. ☕

So relieved to hear your parents' house is finally sold, Gill! (hugs) that really has been stress upon stress, plus missing your trip to Newfoundland!

Keith, I was on the edge of my seat watching the cricket highlights yesterday. That innings by Ben Stokes was unbelievable! What a hero! At least we still gave a chance at the Ashes, thanks to him!

A coffee to get me going on this Bank Holiday Mobday, would so nicely!

Morning all!

Hope your son's GCSE results are all good, Helen. Fingers crossed!

Glad you got that outside light sorted, Larry. Those things can be tricky.

A coffee will do nicely to get me up and running here!

Great pup anecdotes here! Talking of which, am looking forward to your new story, Sara, with all the wee animals.

Cup of coffee needed to get me going today, please!

Haha! Just our normal summer, Rumps! ;)

Glad to hear your story is getting underway, Larry. :)

Need a coffee to get myself going this morning!

At our local swimming pool, you can clearly perceive the pattern of the school year, especially during the holidays. It gets markedly busier at half terms and the Easter break and even at Christmas (if parents really don’t know what to do with their children on a bad day weather-wise, having steadily worked through all the seasonal movies in the nearby multiplex)! These are brief flurries...

Added 21 Sep 2019 | Category Musings | Votes 7 | Avg Score 5 | Views 61 | 8 Comments

“You’re planning on doing WHAT ?” Isabella exclaimed, her voice emerging higher and louder than she expected, but her startled outburst had little or no effect on her group of friends. The men of the party, Luke and Marius, who were normally so protective of their female companions, just grinned at Aelia and Zenobia, who looked pleased with themselves and quietly excited. “But one of...

Added 30 Dec 2018 | Category Young Adult | Votes 11 | Avg Score 5 | Views 364 | 9 Comments

John strode across the bustle of Piccadilly, the wide road alive with people even at this late hour. He was glad to turn his steps towards home and to disappear into the huddle of dark streets that was Soho. He felt more at ease here in the shadows than he did in the melee of the West End. There, flaming torches lit the way, gilding the streets with an orange glow leading towards the...

Added 20 Oct 2018 | Category Supernatural | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 345 | 8 Comments

London, Spring 1816 He clearly remembered when he first became aware of a hint of unease; a sense of otherworldly darkness. Before then in his life, of course, he had moments of disquiet in terms of worry and fretting, but they were normal daylight concerns. He remembered as if from a great distance his medical training in the cool grey light of Edinburgh, his careful studies on...

Added 27 Sep 2018 | Category Supernatural | Votes 11 | Avg Score 5 | Views 321 | 10 Comments

Kate stumbled down the neatly raked path, her glasses steamed up with the heat of raw emotion and half-blinded by tears. She trusted she would find her way to her favourite spot in the Walled Garden if she were blindfolded, or even in the pitch dark. That was if the entrance hadn’t been barred by solid metal doors at nighttime. It was as though she was led by a homing device to her place...

Added 09 May 2018 | Category Romance | Votes 7 | Avg Score 5 | Views 312 | 9 Comments

Perched on a craggy outcrop, staring out to sea, the priest opened his mind and his heart to God. In such wild and lonely places, he felt closest to his Maker and His divine word. He was not a young man, and knew his role as a travelling preacher, bringing God’s message to those isolated enough to be those starved of it, would not last forever. Previously, he could put in a day’s march in...

Added 21 Feb 2018 | Category Young Adult | Votes 5 | Avg Score 5 | Views 390 | 5 Comments

Dancin’ the blues Is a complicated business; First, you focus on the rhythm, Then you try to feel How your partner moves, Fumbling to sway with his groove: Most of all, you strain to blend with All the glory of That music, In three or four pressurised minutes, When you concentrate intensely On all these elements.   If you can surrender To the beat, your partner, That music, ...

Added 05 Dec 2017 | Category Poetry | Votes 10 | Avg Score 5 | Views 447 | 9 Comments