It’s extraordinary how writers can conjure a place and mood with just 50 words or less, as demonstrated beautifully in this piece of ultra-short writing by Angi Holden: a verbal postcard from a special place in Eskdale, Cumbria.

Giggle Alley

Moss clings to the walls of Giggle Alley, rounding each stone’s edge,
softening outlines. Last Autumn’s leaves cluster in hollows, driven
deep into crevices by wind and rain.
Where sheep tracks chronicle the ancient search for shelter, gobbets
of damp wool hang from barbed wire like spit.

Angi Holden
Angi Holden