Liars' League

An account of six poisonings by Nichol Wilmor

April 2010 An Account of Six Poisonings

Read by Paul Clarke

My sign was the pestle and mortar. My knowledge was roots and seeds, vines and leaves, bulbs and berries. I was a grinder, a blender, a crusher, a mulcher; I was a master of tubers. I mixed the tinctures and measured the powders that might cure or kill. (A single grain may be the difference between health and death.) Mine was a calling. A position of trust. I was the court’s poisoner.

Wheel ruts in the snow by Brindley Hallam Dennis

April 2010 Wheel Ruts in the Snow

Read by Tony Bell

It’s still snowing, but a thaw has set in sometime during the night. Sometimes it’s hard to know when things change; that precise moment when the tide turns, or the season passes from autumn into winter; when the slope you are on tips from being in your favour to against it.

West Buckinghamshire by Joshan Esfandiari-Martin

April 2010 West Buckinghamshire

Read by Ben Crystal

Feel the weirdness.  Odd.

In 2029 travelled back to 1926.

My machine is big.

In 2034 I travelled back again to 1926.

Nothing much had changed.

It was the year of the first truly waterproof wristwatch.

Oh.

The machine was getting larger.  That’s how I kept my own time: by the growing bulk of the machine.  It never shrank, but always grew each trip.

I could be wrong.  It’s hard to tell.

The Homecoming by Joanna Bell

April 2010 The Homecoming

Read by Jennifer Tan

 

The sun rose over the Vale of York and in the village of Easingwold farmers awoke and made their way to the fields at first light. It was the eve of market day and by sundown the last of the meat was to be slaughtered and portioned, the ripe fruit harvested and the wool spun, dyed and bundled.