Stories by Gerry Gaffney

A selection of short stories written and read by Gerry Gaffney. Listen and subscribe on:

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Fingers

Published 13 March 2024

Line drawing of a hand patting a dog

"Vera was walking the dog around the park. She looked at the young woman coming towards her. She had a young boy with her, probably her son. Vera saw the boy was holding tightly to his mother's dress and chattering away to her. He looked very cute and Vera smiled at the woman. She smiled back..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read "Fingers" (8 minutes)

A story about teenagers and adults' perceptions of them.

Shoes

Published 29 February 2024

Line drawing of a pair of shoes

"Wingtips? Are you making model aeroplanes or what?" Martin asked his brother Derek...

Read on or Listen to Gerry read "Shoes" (9 minutes)

A story about loss and upheaval.

Kilkee

Published 16 February 2024

Line drawing of a casserole dish

"Saoirse came down the stairs slowly. She didn't want a continuation of last night's unpleasantness..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read "Kilkee" (8 minutes)

A story about the fraught relationship between a woman and her mother-in-law.

Away

Published 5 February 2024

Line drawing of a rubbish skip

"Henry Scanlon tilted his chair backwards and put his feet up on the desk. Outside, he could see a line of trucks waiting to unload..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read Away (23 minutes)

An environmental slogan is that "there is no away." This is a hopefully amusing morality tale about the consequences of failing to account for externalities.

Albert

Published 24 January 2024

Line drawing of a toaster

"Jimmy was strolling through the market stalls on Portobello Rd when he first saw Albert. Albert was elderly and well-dressed, and in conversation with a stall-holder about a toaster..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read Albert (12 minutes)

A story of a somewhat unlikely friendship.

Driving to Zagreb

Published 17 January 2024

Line drawing of a grand piano

"Marianne is in her brother Winston’s office. They’re chatting, looking very relaxed. She sees me looking in her direction and smiles, waves. I smile back, then turn again to my computer..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read Driving to Zagreb (14 minutes)

It's said that when you're in a hole you should stop digging. This is a story about colonialism, lying and the strange attraction of sliding into chaos and disaster.

Monivea

Published 1 January 2024

Line drawing of a dolmen

"His sister Bridget picked him up at the railway station in Athenry and drove him to the house in Monivea..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read Monivea (8 minutes)

This is a story about saying goodbye to a parent.

Ruth

Published 18 December 2023

Line drawing of a burning car

"When Christopher walked into the locker room Jimmy was still sitting on a bench in his gym gear, staring at his phone..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read Ruth (9 minutes)

A story about tattoo mistakes and the danger of falling into a criminal entrprise.

Altona

Published 6 December 2023

Line drawing of a set of switches

"Although he could have justified going straight home, Roy dropped into the office in the city..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read Altona (10 minutes)

Primarily an entertainment, this story touches on influence, the invisible pervasiveness of technology and the issue of agency in computer-mediated art.

Aberystwyth

Published 20 November 2023

Line drawing of a magic mushroom

"Irish Danny came back from Aberystwyth with a sports bag full of magic mushrooms. I arrived home from work on Friday to find him sitting in the kitchen chatting with Ellen and Colin the Gray. As usual the rest of the house was freezing, but the oven was on full with the door open, and the kitchen was nice and toasty..."

Read on or Listen to Gerry read Aberystwyth (11 minutes)