Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jan 29, 2012, 10:26 am
The soldier stood on the bridge staring at the trickling stream below, water pink with the blood of the man he had just killed.  A pale hand bobbled gently in the ripples, clutching a broken bread crust. All’s fair in love and war, thought the soldier as he munched slowly on his newly acquired b...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jan 28, 2012, 10:12 am
I woke up this morning to find a strange, elderly woman lying next to me, snoring gently. Who was this person? What had happened last night? If anything had happened, why were we wearing pyjamas, and unflattering ones at that? She stirred and slowly opened her grey, careworn eyes, looking at me unb...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jan 28, 2012, 10:05 am
I stand under the moonlight, my sinewy arms outstretched, my hands splayed to catch her silvery rays. She is mine and I am hers, the Lady of the Night. She smiles at me and caresses my naked body with cool, tender whispers. From deep within a howl emerges, slowly rising to my lips, and I lift my hea...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jan 26, 2012, 7:54 am
Do you sometimes wonder about dying? What it’s like? Whether all the ideas about heaven or hell or recycled existence are true, or whether death is just a pure extinction of all that we are? Well, without trying to appear erudite, I can tell you that the last theory is probably not true, at lea...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jun 26, 2011, 10:42 am
Hernadez De La Cuenta Lopez was a man of many talents, but murder was not one of them. Well to be fair, it was not the murder that was the problem, but the evading of the law. And to be even more fair, calling it evasion is misleading, for when the police knocked on his door, enquiring after a mis...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jun 25, 2011, 12:27 pm
The white muslin curtain billowed gently in the unseen breeze. Outside a child squealed momentarily with delight, and then all was silent, except for the ticking of a clock on the mantel piece. The room was cool despite the heat of the day and I sat thankfully in an arm chair looking at the baking...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jun 20, 2011, 4:17 pm
today I am me but different gentle soon however there will be another me perhaps HE and I will have to again KILL.
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jun 20, 2011, 4:05 pm
Imagine if tomorrow we were all gone, in an instant, and the sun rose brightly over empty, wind-swept streets, while nature crept back slowly to its rightful place, and Creation breathed a sigh of relief.
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jun 20, 2011, 4:00 pm
Tess laid her shaggy head on my lap and looked up, whining hopefully. I looked down, my reverie interrupted, and tousled her head. “What is it girl? Time for a walk?” Her tail wagged tentatively at the sound of my voice, but I sighed. “Not today lass – there are important things to do, ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Jun 16, 2011, 12:31 pm
The door bell chime clanged through my reverie. “Damn!” I cursed under my breath and, turning off the stove, went to open the door. A neatly dressed young man with an ear ring, a badge and a clip board stood before me. “How’s it going?” he chirped happily. I scowled and waited. Undete...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 17, 2010, 8:51 am
The last lap, the final furlong, my home until I kick the bucket. Bar stewards. “It’ll be good for you, Dad, you’ll see, and you will be well looked after.” Yes, well looked after by some paid psychopathic underachiever of a male nurse rather than your children to whom you devoted most of ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 16, 2010, 6:02 am
(Previously …) Claire pushed open the door of Ye Olde Quaintways tea rooms and looked around. Bert was seated at a corner table, wearing the same clothes as the day before. He stood up and waved when he saw her. All the other tables were empty, which was not surprising, Claire thought, given t...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 16, 2010, 4:38 am
Claire stopped typing and sighed. Clump, clump, clump … familiar heavy footsteps up the stairs, the pause at the door, the gentle creak, the footsteps from one side of the ceiling to the other, the creak of presumably the bedsprings, the pause, the interminable pause, how unbearable the wait, the...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 14, 2010, 3:47 am
I am so proud, privileged, honoured and indeed thankful to announce that FabSentences.Ning is publishing it’s first collection of fabulous writings! This exciting collaboration includes every single fabulous post on the site, including Dean Jacob’s satirical “How do I delete my account?”, be...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 13, 2010, 4:02 am
My wife wanted the house down the street. “It’s just so perfect,” she would say. To me it looked just the same as ours, but she would snort when I made that comment, adding some derisory comment about men and the finer things in life. I shrugged, as I have become in the habit of doing lately....
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 11, 2010, 5:09 am
She looked up at me, her hazel eyes glinting in the torch light. “Please don’t go Suetonus.” I pulled her to me tightly, trying to smile, but my heart shared her fears. “I must go, my love,” I replied, “He will die if I don’t go.” “But Suetonus, listen, we must all die some day, ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 10, 2010, 11:44 am
Tic, tic, tic … goes the tapping of the pen on the desk … tic, tic, tic, driving me crazy. I suppress the rising urge to scream, to leap over the partition and wrench the blasted thing from his irritating little grasp. Tic, tic, tic .. you could ask him to stop … tic, tic, tic, but that wouldn...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 10, 2010, 5:10 am
Friday night, lottery night, and as usual we three sat slouched in the sofa with mounting anticipation. Wilfred, our Golden Retriever, lay at our feet, trying to sleep, but looking up now and then at us with hopeful eyes. I smiled at him, “Not long now, boy. We’ll feed you after the numbers come...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 8, 2010, 3:42 am
The boy squelched through the putrid landscape wearing a pair of odd boots he had found. He was surrounded by mountains of steaming waste and bickering children who like him were scavenging for useable items. A dumpster truck was heard approaching and the little group swarmed like a pack of filthy r...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 7, 2010, 11:23 am
“What did they call pyramid shapes before there were pyramids?” “Heck, why you asking me?” “Ah shute, I didn’t expect you to know. Just saying, you know. What I mean is how did things get names?” “Dunno. I guess its part of natural language evolution. You gotta have names for thin...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 7, 2010, 4:04 am
THREE CHARACTERISTICS SUGGEST THAT JESUS WAS A WOMAN: He had to feed a crowd, at a moment’s notice, when there was no food.      He kept trying to get the message across to a bunch of men who just didn’t get it.      Even when he was dead, he had to get up because there was more work ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 6, 2010, 11:05 am
I was always an awkard, clumsy child, with long, gangly limbs that delighted in incongruous angles, and eyes that stuck out like bulbs above my bony cheeks. We lived in a cramped trailor and I was constantly getting under my father’s feet. For a long time I thought my name should have been Jesus C...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 6, 2010, 10:57 am
“I’m in the way, the bright and shining way, I’m in the gloryland way; Telling the world that Jesus saves today, Yes I’m in the gloryland way…” The strains of the favourite old hymn died away – apart from the voice of old Brother Arendse who enjoyed being the last to stop – and t...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 6, 2010, 10:51 am
The old rocking chair creaked with comfortable familiarity – he loved this spot on the porch, watching the world settle from its haste for the night, the sun sinking amidst a glorious haze of streaky oranges and yellows, gradually fading into pink. Mary came out with a dish cloth in her hands and ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 5, 2010, 12:57 pm
It was kind of them to put me up for the night, to allow me to share their humble meal with them, and I sat quietly watching this little family laughing together over simple things; I wondered if perhaps it was time for me to settle down. The evening ended and I was directed to little Tommy’s roo...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 11:46 am
My computer spoke to me this morning, I kid you not – it said “Good Morning!” in a very cheery sort of way. At first I thought it was a virus, so started Norton, but the computer complained that it tickled, so I stopped. Then I tried to reboot the darn thing but it, sorry HENRY, said it, sorry...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 10:42 am
“Why do they say we are a few sandwiches short of a picnic?” “Because we’re insane, stupid.” “Don’t call me that. You know I don’t like it. What I was going to say was, isn’t it strange that we can be a few sandwiches short of a picnic as well as being a basket case?” “Why�...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 10:39 am
Nice of them to let us out, eh? Yeah. It’s been a good day. I wonder why they did? The Director apparently likes us. Oh? Yeah, and thought it would be good publicity if he let a couple of us saner ones out once in a while. You know, show the good people out there that we’re not a bunch of r...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 10:35 am
I’m sick of being locked up in here. Yeah, it was fun at the beginning. I quite liked the padding on the walls, but after a while one fancies a different colour, don’t you think? Definitely. We need to escape. How we gonna do that? Well, I saw this movie once. They tied sheets together and m...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 10:32 am
So you want to tour Africa, singing about safe sex? Yes. And you want to call your group the “The Elastics”? Yes. Why? Er… well, I just kinda liked the name, you know. It has a good feel to it. So nothing to do with the fact that you are singing about condoms? Huh? Er, no, I don’t thi...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 10:28 am
“Is that a cobweb?” I asked, staring at the ceiling. She looked up from her book. “Where?” “Up there, in the corner.” “Looks like it”, she said, before returning to her book. “So?” She sighed and looked up. “So, what?” “Didn’t you clean this week?” “I did,” s...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 10:24 am
I thought the charcoal would do it, but what a fool I was. They pointed at me and roared with laughter. “Hey, come and see the vokken whitey who wants to be like us!” Jaapie was not amused. “You want to come here, with your blerry white liberal crap and share in our suffering, hey? Vok off, m...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Dec 3, 2010, 10:22 am
The figure approached at a snail’s pace, cutting a thin black scar into the snowy hillside as it approached. Her heart leapt with anticipation – George was finally coming home! She hurried inside, threw a few precious logs onto the fire and put some water onto boil, before washing hurriedly and ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Nov 15, 2010, 1:59 pm
I put on my mask and face the world with undaunted jaunt, smiling and networking, the world oblivious to my inner haunt: the frailties of my inner insufficiencies, the fears behind my facadial lies. I long to leave my mask behind, but I fear the world may find, the real me, just me, inadequa...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Nov 15, 2010, 1:55 pm
My darling hamster died today, and I am in mourning. Brave little Gingey somehow managed to open the door of her luxury 4ft cage, and scampered off to a glorious but oh so brief freedom. I thought she had been happy in her guilded hamster wheel, scurrying round and round with manic glee, but I now ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Nov 11, 2010, 4:11 am
The fog rolled in like a malevolent invader, unstoppable, touching and enveloping everything in it’s path with a damp embrace. I shivered, and closed the window. “It’s coming in. Won’t be long now,” I said. Sheila nodded but did not look up from her book. The mantelpiece clock ticked obt...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Oct 18, 2010, 1:48 pm
Down in a hole at the end of our garden lives my granny.  Pa calls it “the bitch’s granny flat”, but it’s just a hole in the ground, just big enough for her to lie down on the cardboard box I gave her for Christmas. I try to visit her every day, when I can.  Mama doesnR...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Oct 17, 2010, 11:44 am
“Is that a cobweb?” I asked, staring at the ceiling. She looked up from her book. “Where?” “Up there, in the corner.” “Looks like it”, she said, before returning to her book. “So?” She sighed and looked up. “So, what?” “Didn’t you clean this week?” “I did,” s...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Oct 17, 2010, 11:01 am
So I thought I’d take a break from my busy schedule and do a bit of writing.  I found my laptop, blew the dust from its flash neoprene cover and logged on. Then it all began. A massive update frenzy, as the many dormant daemons on my laptop sprang into action, gasping for long sought after ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 25, 2010, 6:29 am
Knock-knock! Who’s there? The famously-rude-interrupting-cow. The famously-rud….    Mooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 25, 2010, 6:24 am
The grief overwhelmed him, endless waves of gut-wrenching sorrow that congregated in the pit of his stomach like an unwelcome wake of mourners. How could he have forgotten to record Friends?
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 24, 2010, 2:58 am
“Rooooose!” His voice was rough with overuse – he had been shouting for hours. Usually she just wandered off to the bottom of the garden, or sometimes climbed over the fence into the pasture beyond to chase after sheep, but this time there was no sign of her and Bud was frantic with worry. T...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 22, 2010, 8:24 am
I would like to challenge you today. Here it is: get rid of 3 items that you have not used in 6 months. I don’t care if you sell it on eBay or recycle it or just chuck it. Get rid of it. You don’t need it. Done it? Good. Now see how long you can do this for, 3 items per day, and watch h...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 21, 2010, 3:04 am
We have pictures on our wall, of two young people, a couple, newly weds on a journey in a strange land. The faces and eyes speak of laughter and hope, and a shared love. I scarcely recognise those two young people, because so much has happened to us; life has taken us, if you’ll excuse the express...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 21, 2010, 2:48 am
He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew, but you might not agree. After all, he was not much to look at, a medium man of average appearance who started to go grey early in life. I think it was his work that killed him in the end – he just kinda fizzled out. But for me he was everything and ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 18, 2010, 3:07 am
There are 15 people in my little room, and we take turns to use the bed for 1.6 hours. The rest of us stand around quietly watching the sleeper with a mounting jealousy. Sometimes the door opens and they come with their white coats and take one of us away, only to replace that person with one othe...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 18, 2010, 2:56 am
It began to weigh on me rather heavily, this thinking about gravity. You see, it occurred to me that my weight problems are not caused by excessive eating, or general lack of exercise, or my slow metabolism. No, gravity was the culprit, and I was determined to do something about it. Alas I’m ...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 7, 2010, 3:53 am
So how many bricks d’ya think we gonna need? - Dunno, twenny perhaps? Twenny? Why twenny? - Dunno. Y’aint built a brick cross before? - Nope, but twenny’s my fav number – she would like that.
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Mulled Vine posted an article on Mulled Vine - Sep 6, 2010, 10:47 am
Ok, so our Vietnamese neighbours moved and asked if we’d look after their dog. The kids said yes before asking me if that was OK, promising with big eyes to look after the little pooch and walk it every day. Yeah, right … so here I am, looking for the blasted dog who slipped the lead and ch...
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Mulled Vine posted an article on SOA Probe - Sep 6, 2010, 3:59 am
An XML appliance is a specialised piece of almost ESB-like hardware offering facilities like: Hardware encryption/decryption Digital signature creation/verification Fine grained Authentication, Authorization, and Auditing XML threat protection Dynamic routing Message filtering MIME, DIME, and MTOM ...
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