"This collection of stories is like a blanket woven from 100% wanderlust under which you can hide as Frances M. Thompson tucks you in with her words and keeps you warm with her descriptions of characters you'll love and places you can tell she knows by heart." Gesa Neitzel, www.bedouinwriter.com Shy Feet: Short Stories Inspired by Travel is a collection of twelve quirky, charismatic and touching tales of travel. The inquisitive Ruth tells the story of The Lost Chil...

SHY FEET Part One Thirty-seven years ago, I was born into debt. I arrived two weeks early, surprising both my mother and the woman whose hair she was cutting. Before I’d even entered the world, I owed my mother the price of her customer’s leather loafers. Thirty years ago, a teacher told my mother to keep an eye on me. I was “frighteningly astute" and “abnormally self-aware” for my age. In other words, I was going places. Twenty-eight years ago, I paid my mothe...

Martin is a 50-something Yorkshireman with a penchant for swearing and making model aircraft in his shed. He also likes football and many years ago when a small, longhaired Argentinian started to play for Napoli FC, Martin became aware of this corner of Italy famous for Pompeii, pizza and the mafia. While a later incident meant that Maradona fell seriously out of Martin's favour, his love for Naples and the Amalfi Coast grew and grew. But with a family to provide for and...

Our plane leaves in five hours and he hasn’t packed yet. Instead, he sits in his shed and tinkers with his toys. “They’re not toys. They’re models. Works of bloody art,” We booked the tickets a few months ago. Cheap flights from one website, a last minute hotel from another. Martin clicked the mouse, taking us from one page to the next. I read out our credit card details. It all happened so quickly. “It’s only bloody money. You can’t spend money when you’re ...