Oxford
Stories
The following stories were submitted to our sister website, toowrite.com. They were written by people from Oxford or are about Oxford itself.
Fame At Last!
Author:
Edith Parsons
of Oxford
I went back to being famous. Maybe a concert pianist then? But a one-fingered rendition of Chopsticks hardly constituted a repertoire. Then I read that Carroll Lewis was holding auditions for a talent contest in my home town of Brighton.
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Sic Transit Gloria Mundi!
Author:
Renata Carverley
of Oxford
My mother and I walked up the lane. It wasn't in the position I remembered. In my mind's eye the Howison's farm was isolated, up a lane. But yes, even with scaffolding all over it and set in a muddy building site of half-built boxes, it was the square house I had so loved as a child.
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A Lasting Memory
Author:
Renata Carverley
of Oxford
The organisers of that orphanage must have studied and taken on board the conditions so aptly described in ''Oliver Twist''. We all lined up in silence with our metal bowls and filed our way slowly to the table on which stood the cauldron from which we were served. One dollop was our lot and it didn't take long to polish that off, and I use the word dollop advisedly.
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Homecoming
Author:
Renata Carverley
of Oxford
It was at this moment that I realised that something very serious had happened. Alec was devoted to those dogs and they to him and yet here they were cringing away from him in terror. I reclaimed the dogs who were rather unwilling to emerge from their place of safety, made a fuss of them and lured them into the kitchen with the promise of a biscuit.
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The Pretty Little Town Of D****
Author:
Saskia van der Linden
of Oxford
My pram was pushed over these cobbles before I changed to all the shoes I walked in from toddler to teenager. I'd been declared an adult for some time before I finally realised I needed better transport than that. A single flight to a foreign destination would do.
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How The Coke Cola Man Stole Christmas
Author:
Billiam McGonnagall
of Oxford
I had managed not to do any serious urban warfare up to this point and found myself in a position to either spend my last few pennies on watching a film that I had already seen, or to buy a new book and spend the afternoon reading. Such was my predicament and the coffee that I had ingested, I decided to forgo the decision and find a bathroom to see to the waterworks.
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Blind Date
Author:
Sarah Borien
of Oxford
I would have spent the rest of the day dwelling on the comedy show my love life was beginning to represent, but once again the opening of the coffee shop door interrupted me. In walked the most attractive man I had ever seen. He had broad shoulders, bushy blonde hair and the fiercest green eyes I had ever shared a room with. He had one arm behind his back and a shy, nervous smile on his face.
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Marathon
Author:
Sarah Borien
of Oxford
My stomach's churning from the moment my clammy feet touch the cold laminate floor. I feel sick but I know there's nothing to throw up. I'm not hungry but I know I have to eat. I know I could have said no, but now there's no going back. My name is on the starting line-up, my family are at the finish line, and I've brought everyone out here just for this one day. It's too late for doubts.
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I REMEMBER
Author:
Carole Carr
of Stroud
I came home from nursery school to find that my Father was home and would not be going away again. I have never seen him as he went away before I was born. I suppose I will have to get used sharing Mummy with him.
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Four am
Author:
geoff tips
of Oxford
Just one murmur, one snuffle from my newborn son and I would be there at his crib, making sure he had air coursing through his lungs.
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