Blue: a short story

by Linnhe Harrison

This is the story of a self-employed young man with a controversial beard, and a catering trailer located in a layby as questionable in taste as his cooking. His girlfriend wears fluffy unicorn slippers and has peppered his tiny flat with inspiring wall art. At 24, he suspects life holds more, a suspicion that grows in certainty following a chance encounter with the driver of a rusty van bedecked in mandala wall hangings.
This is it, his new beginning.

Blue won ‘Highly Commended’ at the 2024 Bridport Prize.

12 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 19, 2025

About the author

Linnhe Harrison was born in Chester in 1977 and spent her home-ed childhood between North Wales and the Lake District. She now lives in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria, with her husband and two children. Linnhe worked as an animator and as a sailing instructor prior to moving into graphic design and marketing. Having previously dabbled in shorter forms of creative writing, she started working on her debut novel in 2023. The Incredible Machines of Thinkery: Outpost 9 was published in July 2024, followed by The Incredible Machines of Thinkery: Future’s End in May 2025.

Her short story 'Blue' won Highly Commended at the 2024 Bridport Prize, and her short story ‘Dawn’ was shortlisted for the Hull Literary Prize 2025.

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story that will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions and come away wishing it was a whole novel! Linnhe has an incredible way of creating atmosphere and throwing the reader right into it from the first few words. The despair and excitement of the main character feels like my own despair and excitement and I think I will always remember him and wonder what happened...