Issue 18 - A/W 2017

Popshot Magazine

The illustrated magazine of new writing

Popshot Magazine2 min readAstronomy & Space Sciences
Editorial
Light sits at the epicentre of our existence. Without it, life on this curious spinning globe would grind to a halt. It is what every living thing — whether plant, animal or human — relies upon. It’s what defines day and night, what differentiates on
Popshot Magazine10 min read
The White Fox
Five days have passed since I was a prisoner in those red brick walls, but every night I return there. In my night-time terrors I am back in the squalor of that cell, surrounded by anguished people, so cramped that you can barely sit comfortably, let
Popshot Magazine2 min read
A Common Message
One hundred and thirty-seven of them needed to send a message. Tonight was their last chance. They clambered up the sand dunes, the slope slipping away beneath their tattered trainers and borrowed office shoes, to get closer to the night sky. They sp
Popshot Magazine11 min read
New Land
1912 The others are at the penguin rookery, and Levick is alone. He bends forwards, and the halffrozen skins he wears crack as he reaches down to a wooden box where the photographic plates are stored. The smallest of sounds are amplified in this sile
Popshot Magazine8 min read
The Unbearable Lightness Of Janet Clark
60kg. Stupid machine. Janet steps off the scales and resets them, but it repeats the figure, its digital screen blinking with innocence. She moves the scales to the bathroom mat, but it insists on its unexpected answer. 60kg. Maybe it is correct. She
Popshot Magazine10 min read
Last Light
Dr. Hammond had the feeling that light slowed in summer. It was heavier, almost viscous, its physical properties more evident. Summer light was tangible. He had arrived with the equipment just after midday and proceeded to pace out the distance betwe
Popshot Magazine11 min read
The Shortest Day
‘Oh. I thought I might be,’ said Kerry. ‘That you might be adopted? But, how?’ Cassie’s face went moon-shaped. ‘Well I don’t look much like you, do I? And I’m not clever enough to be Dad’s.’ She twisted a lip piercing. There was silence, save for the
Popshot Magazine8 min read
Shula And The Sun
The sky was stormy that night as Shula walked towards the cliff path for the first time. The brambles surrounding the muddy track grew taller than her head and tore at her hands. The thistles caught on her dress and she trod in every puddle with her
Popshot Magazine11 min read
In The Place Of Our Parents
Though I know it’s just the two of us, some mornings I wake up and expect to find them there. I can’t help it. Before school, I’ll go into their room and breathe in the smells of them. My mother’s sweet, fruity perfume that still clings to her pillow
Popshot Magazine3 min read
Endnotes
6 — How To Be A Chinese Lantern is the author’s acknowledgement of the need to take charge of their own life and happiness, and to try to bring light to others. 8 — The White Fox was inspired by East Asian folklore surrounding the mysterious fox spir

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