http://slow.writerscafe.org/laurenodonoghue The original writings of author Lauren O'Donoghue en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776195819 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 Sparrow leant her face against the bus window. The drove of sweating people cramped into such a tiny space had corrupted the atmosphere with the humid tang of body odour yet the freezing conditions outside had made the glass cool and soothing to the touch. It took the edge of the flush burning her.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422341/ The Charmant Lounge was far flung from my usual haunts. It didn’t take me long to find, despite the supposedly “underground” nature of the place. A neon sign was fixed above the door, one of many similar doors on an anonymous backstreet. It buzzed slightly like a motel sign in an.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422339/ When I was seventeen years old, I almost became the perpetrator of a severe high school shooting. The first one of its kind in the UK, with the potential to be one of the most notorious attacks on record, if all went to plan. At the time I was angst-ridden, as all teenagers are, but my morbid fasc.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422338/ Six months ago I started working at the Key Music Shop, but before that I was a was a water for a catering business by the name of L.C. Chester Cuisine. The last job I ever did for them before they politely let me go was at the after party for the opening night of the British Tour of a distinguish.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422336/   It is the 1980's, I think, and if it's not it might as well be. Sparrow has backcombed her hair like Robert Smith and is skanking around the bedroom to a scratchy A.R. Kane vinyl she picked up at a car boot sale last week. Her origami face is obscured by fringe, dyed a disgusting trashy bla.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422334/   The first time he saw her, Tristan was shovelling pig s**t.  It was Thursday, which meant that it was his turn to take the wheelbarrow into the pen and clean up after the three Tamworths currently residing at the park. He didn’t begrudge this job too much. The pigs were good comp.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422332/   Tristan was eighteen years old when he finally fled from his father. It was the summer of 2001, and he had finished his A-Levels only a few weeks before- with admirable grades considering how much of his study time had been spent assisting his father. He had been accepted into his first choic.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422330/   Over the next decade and some, Tristan was more and more frequently used as a tool to advance his father’s status within the “business”.  As it transpired, these foreign language interrogations were in the minority of the errands which Tristan was set to perform. Afte.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422326/   Tristan’s injuries from the fall kept him in hospital for three weeks and, for the most part, he enjoyed it. The nurses all adored him, always sneaking in extra chocolate for him when they could. In retrospect, Tristan thought it was probably because they felt sorry for him, what with h.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422325/   In the garden of the house there was a tree, three storeys tall with branches that spread shade over most of the garden.  It was a hot afternoon in the late spring of 1989, and Tristan Kulik was laid on the patio. The concrete slabs were warm, and the heat seeped through the back of hi.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422323/ Chapter Two Two hours and three bottles of wine later Noah was passed out on the sofa. He went out like a light when he’d been drinking, only to awaken the next morning fresh as a daisy and unable to remember the previous night.Elizabeth took a soft-looking throw rug off the back .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422321/ Chapter One Waking up in a car gives everything a synthetic, unfamiliar glaze. It’s the same feeling you get in airport terminals and hospital corridors. They’d pulled up in a Cornish seaside town and the sudden slam of the car boot made Elizabeth’s eyes jolt open. Noah .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422320/ Prologue There were a thousand dead flies dashed across the windscreen of that car, bodies smeared by the wipers, a thousand little sparks of life snuffed out right there on the glass.“Without this man you wouldn’t f*****g be here Elizabeth, you know that? Changed my whole f.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422318/ Elizabeth has finally left Creswick, the town she despises, and is being taken by her cocky and charismatic boyfriend Noah to meet his 'mentor', Leo, at his house on the coast. After an uncomfortable first night, Elizabeth wakes the next day for Noah to http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422317/ Sparrow has just lost the love of her life. Daisy is drifting from her once-siamese twin. David feels like a stranger in his own body. Vincent needs a fresh start. Chapters follows the lives of these four twentysomethings as they all search fo http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422316/ Tristan Kulik can talk to animals. Following an accident as a child, Tristan recieves the mixed blessing of being able to communicate in any language- and also with any species. His gangster father uses his son's 'talent' to his advantage until a botc http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/422314/ I am excited at the prospect of becoming a regular. I have never been a “regular” anywhere before, at least not a regular of anywhere where they would learn your name or give you a discount. I’m intrigued; what perks will this venture afford me? At the very least some small super.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/laurenodonoghue/323949/