Rituals of Love

Martin likes to be prepared in advance for any potential disaster. Obsessive door locking and checking, stockpiles of food, torches within easy reach ... he's a very organized guy. However, the one calamity he’d never thought to prepare for turns up in the form of a a beautiful, free-spirited artist called Anna. When cyclone Anna arrives, Martin is completely defenseless in the face of her dazzling smile and tangled blonde curls.

Anna brings complications into Martin’s life that he never could have predicted, but it is one of those complications who changes everything - teaching Martin that rituals of love are much, much nicer than rituals of anxiety.

This charming short story by popular fiction writer Maggie McGuinness shows that while life has a way of derailing even the most thorough of plans, sometimes it’s the biggest surprise that can bring the most joy.