S. A. Crawford
Bio
Writer, reader, life-long student - being brave and finally taking the plunge by publishing some articles and fiction pieces.
Achievements (14)
Stories (211)
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The Croft
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It cast its sickly, flickering light sparsely across the stunted, gnarled gorse bushes that huddled close to its crumbling walls. Inside, a ragged, bedraggled man huddled close to the remnants of the fireplace and piled a pathetic tumble of moss and dead wood in its empty belly.
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Fiction
Growing Pains
The sun sits low in the sky during early autumn in Scotland - it seems to travel horizontally rather than in an arch, and the light it casts is like rich, golden honey. It drips over the world slowly and makes everything thick and hazy. When I think of my dad I think of this period; the gateway between the last, dying ebbs of the summer and the first gasps of autumn. I think of the dusty, cracked roads somewhere between the outskirts of the town and the forgotten byways past the last street lights. I think of campfires, tents, scraped knees, a hot, musty car, the smell of cigarette smoke and sharp aftershave and...
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Families
The Anatomy of an Ice Cream Float
Summer means St Andrews, and that, despite the passage of time, has always meant ice cream floats. The place, and taste, are so ingrained into my being that I can close my eyes and recall each change like a scar on the landscape of my world. A new building here, a cafe closed there - the expansion of the world and the shrinking of the family can all be held at bay by an ice cream float.
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Families
The Business of Writing
I never wanted to be a writer - I simply was one, from the day I was capable of holding a pen. I copied poems down, wrote out words I liked, and stared at them as if they held some kind of secret. I told myself and others stories, stories convincing enough to land me in hot water at least once (I convinced the other children in the neighbourhood that a certain alley between two houses was haunted). Beyond all that, however, I was always living in a story. Call it creativity, imagination, or maladaptive daydreaming, but it has been the foundation of my life and my livelihood.
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Journal
Blood on the Snow
There weren't always dragons in the Valley, but war came and brought them with it. Black armoured soldiers with featureless helmets came riding them as weapons of war, silver and blue soldiers came leading them as beasts of burden, red soldiers in leather armor brought the dragonlings on harnessess as scouting beasts... and they died. Great dragons fell from the sky and died in pained heaps on the ground, small dragonlings were trampled underfoot by their larger siblings.
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Fiction
The Cost of Canine Diabetes. Top Story - May 2022.
When I found out that my dog Tia had diabetes mellitus, I was ashamed at how quickly I began to worry about money. I have pet insurance, of course, but the fact that she was considered a senior pooch meant this had a 20% co-pay along with the excess payment. Thanks to her dental surgery last year, I had next to no savings and maxed-out credit cards (pro pup parent tip - most insurance plans do NOT cover dental work of any kind - start saving early, because dental work is expensive and gum disease is the single most common issue amongst elderly dogs and cats). Could I afford her care, I wondered. Not just immediately, but long term?
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Petlife
The Apple That Fell Too Far From the Tree
Dear Mum, When I think about you, I think of a young woman lying in the dark in a narrow, thin-mattressed bed in the hospital psychiatric ward with a cot beside you. I think about your eyes opening in the darkness, watching a baby breathe. I think that you could have been a good mother if you had been given the chance, and I think, most days, that it's a blessing you may not remember those nights very well.
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Confessions
Diabetes and my Dog
Tia is the best dog in the whole world. I know that those of you who have dogs will both understand this completely and disagree entirely (because your dog is the best dog in the whole world). But she is. When I was too poor to relax, she helped me to find joy, when I was too depressed to get up she stayed by my side, and when my world fell in on itself she and her brother were all I fought to keep from the relationship. He got the house (which in fairness, his mother fronted the deposit for), the furnishings, and what was left of my self-esteem. I got the dogs, my gerbil, my life back, and a fair share of our joint friends.
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in Petlife
