No hearts and flowers with this love story for Valentine’s

“Home for the present was a railway arch in Old Trafford opposite a scrap metal yard. The chicken wire had been stripped back to make space for Ged and a rotating cast of domically-challenged fellows. Supermarket trolleys collided with car tyres, welded together by thousands of dumped newspapers, sodden with urine and rainwater.”

If you were expecting hearts and flowers this Valentine’s Day – think again. The words above are a section from the gritty and hard-hitting winner of the Rainy City Stories love stories competition.
Author Craig Melville, 30, of Bury told me why he had chosen to write about the life of a homeless drug addict as part of a love story contest.
“The story idea came from learning a very small amount about the homeless problem in Manchester. I’ve read a bit about it in the Big Issue and the MEN. I’ve occasionally spoken to people about why they were on the street and had spotted the very large number of people gathering for the soup kitchens on Store Street (near Piccadilly station).
“I did a bit of research on the net about other services that were available in Manchester and also had the opportunity to run into a couple of people that have done volunteering work for Barnabus and other charities which help homeless people in Manchester (who told me about the homeless professor). The rest was just my reckoning of what life was like on the street. I really hope that it doesn’t come across as patronising because it seems an incredibly tough life. Also I don’t hate Valentine’s Day, but it was in the brief for the story, so there you go!”
The love stories competition was held as part of the ongoing Rainy City Stories initiative to map creative writing across the city.
The judges said Craig’s work “The Shortest, The Coldest” was chosen for “its fine writing and compelling subject matter. It shows us a Manchester we recognise with some sadness, through the eyes of a lost soul wandering the city in search of his lover.”
You can read the full story and find out more about Rainy City Stories at the website.