Past Bedtime by Rachel Cleverly (Lucent Dreaming Issue 7)

the moon is a shivering pan of milk. A dog bowl is left out,
knocked over by her barely still a boy.

He snuffles his way
in through the back
garden gate, crosses
the kitchen, stares into the singing empty
of the fridge, finds
nothing.

He talks to her in shoes left by the hall, leaves sock-padded
quiet up the stairs. He forgets to lock the backdoor.

Rachel splits her time between writing and worrying: she graduated from University of East Anglia’s Creative Writing MA in 2019, and she has developed work with BBC Radio, Rich Mix, Apple and Snakes and The Roundhouse. She has been shortlisted by Bad Betty Press and A3 Magazine, and published by Ache Magazine, The Feminist Library and the UEA Publishing Project. She currently works as a Programmes Assistant for Clore Leadership, and lives in South-East London.

Browse issue 7 in full.

Lucent Dreaming is an independent creative writing magazine publishing beautiful, imaginative and surreal short stories, poetry and artwork from emerging authors and artists worldwide. Our aim is to encourage creativity and to help writers reach publication! Subscribe to Lucent Dreaming now, support us on Patreon and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.