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Weekly Contest #344
Dear Diary, May 19I swear every year that I will never, ever volunteer again to help at the church fete, and every year I get suckered into it. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I just say no? I managed to avoid Mrs. Hornsby and her sign-up sheet at church, but she cornered us in the pet food aisle of the supermarket. Jim vanished, of course. For a big man, he’s remarkably good at making himself scarce at the most inconvenient moments. Before I knew it, I was signed up to make cookies and do the morning shift at the bake stall. Jim caught up ...
Weekly Contest #343
Kate pushed her hair back from her sweaty forehead and surveyed the room with satisfaction. It was slowly beginning to resemble a living room and not a disorganized furniture warehouse. The couch, armchairs and coffee table were in place. All that remained was to fill the bookshelves and hang pictures on the walls. She looked at the boxes of book with a sigh. She hoped that when they had children, Howard would be as attached to his offspring as he was to his books. Hefting the first box up onto the coffee table with a grunt, she opened it, s...
Weekly Contest #342
Deirdre snuggles comfortably into the pillows, relaxed and dreamy, as someone nuzzles her neck and whispers sweet nothings. She startles awake from a blissful, semi-trance when something nips her ear“Ow! Enough of that,” she says, smiling as she turns, opening her arms. “No rough stuff.”She encounters a pair of brilliant green eyes staring directly into hers. A gust of fishy breath wafts into her face.“Ugh,” she groans. “Your breath stinks.”Felix lands with a thud as she shoves him firmly off the bed. Glaring, he stalks off, twitching his ta...
Weekly Contest #340
Annie is a would-be author and I am her character. She is driving me crazy because she wants me to solve a murder but she doesn’t know who I am.Annie’s days are spent staring at a computer screen in the office of the Globe Insurance Company. It’s a large office with rows of cubicles upon cubicles in an ugly concrete box of a building . The few plants and pictures only serve to highlight its dreariness. Her supervisor is a gaunt, humorless woman with beady eyes named Ms. Oliphant who pounces at the least excuse.“Hello, earth to Annie. Daydrea...
Weekly Contest #339
Several patrons of the coffee shop looked around and glared as a hunting horn rang out. Helen sighed as her grandmother Doris reached into her handbag for her phone yet again.“Oops. Got to take this call. Just a moment, I promise.”Helen wondered how she could teach her grandmother some phone etiquette. She had taken a day off to take Doris out for her birthday, not to sit on the side lines as her grandmother chatted on the phone. This was the third call since they sat down.“Okay, fine, talk to you later. Bye,” Doris said cheerfully, putting ...
Weekly Contest #338
The house was forlorn. Without her grandmother, it was an empty shell, damp, stale, loveless. Julie surveyed the fading flowery wallpaper of the living room and the shabby furniture. Her friend Rosa, following her gaze, shuddered at a picture of Jesus, rivulets of blood trickling down from the crown of thorns upon his head.“That’s a bit gruesome, isn’t it?”Julie laughed.“That picture gave me nightmares when I was little. Gran finally covered it with a pillowcase…”She broke off as her phone rang.“Hi, hon. Mom asked me to pick up some things ...
Weekly Contest #319
Charlie bounded into the kitchen knotting his tie.“Hi, hon,” he said, swatting Miranda's shoulder so heartily that her coffee slopped onto the table. “What’ve you got lined up for today?”Miranda eyed him. He was never usually boisterous first thing in the morning and his jollity seemed forced. It was also unusual for him to show any interest in her activities.“I don’t know yet,” she said, mopping the table with her napkin. “I’ll go out somewhere for a while. Agneska is coming today.”Agneska, their Polish cleaning lady, was very set in her wa...
Weekly Contest #317
Grey clouds scudded across the sky and dry leaves skittered and danced down the path. Melissa shivered as the cold wind cut through her coat and fat raindrops began to fall. She threaded her way between the old tombstones, occasionally stopping to peer at the moss-encrusted inscriptions. The path widened, lined with shiny marble mausoleums and stone angels in the newer part of the cemetery. She stopped at her grandmother’s grave, still marked only by a rectangle of dirt, and stared in surprise. The few wreaths from the funeral were wilted an...
Weekly Contest #316
Rhoda walked into the house in a daze and plunked her bags of groceries down. Her daughter Sherry looked up from her books and frowned.“What took you so long? I was about to send out a search party. You look like a deer in the headlights.”“That’s how I feel. I’m still not sure what happened.”Sherry got up, looking concerned.“Sit down and I’ll make us some tea.”“Thanks, love,” Rhoda said, sitting down abruptly.When they had their mugs of hot tea, Sherry looked at her mother expectantly.“Well, go on. Don’t keep me in suspense.”Rhoda took a dee...
Weekly Contest #315
CW: Mentions of substance overdose. Vickie glanced at her reflection. Her top and jeans fit perfectly, and the new platform shoes were totally worth it, even though they were pinching her feet already. She had taken extra care with her makeup. Fluffing her hair one last time, she crept out, slowly pulling the door closed behind her.She paused outside her parents’ door until she could hear the deep rumbling snores of her father and the occasional snuffles of her mother. Satisfied, she inched forward and started downstairs. Forgetting to allow...
Weekly Contest #314
I bounded to my feet as I heard the key turn in the lock of the front door. Normally I would prance and leap, tail wagging, trying to restrain myself from jumping up on Janine, my person. Today was different. I shot past her into the garden, desperate. I’d pushed and pushed at Robin’s arm with my nose earlier, trying to tell her I needed to go out. Lying on the couch with her headphones on, scrolling on her phone, she’d been oblivious.“Bootsy, what’s the matter?” Janine said with concern.I made it to the lawn just in time, sighing in relief ...
Weekly Contest #313
“Are you there, God? It’s me, Myrna Valentino Snodgrass, nee Smith. Yes, I know that’s quite a handle to my jug, but my mother loved the movies and Myrna Loy and Rudolph Valentino were her favorites. It’s a good thing she didn’t like Boris Karloff. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to get in touch. My eightieth birthday is next week, so I thought I’d better stop putting it off, seeing as what we might be meeting soon, begging pardon for my presumption. I don’t think I’ve done anything bad enough to send me to the other place. I’m in great health for...
Weekly Contest #312
I was entranced by the house. With its wraparound porch, octagonal turret and stained-glass windows, it looked like an illustration from one of my story books. The front door creaked as my father opened it.“Go and find your bedroom,” he said, laughing. “You’ve got plenty to choose from.”I rushed up the magnificent walnut staircase which curved up from the black and white tiled hallway and wandered in and out of echoing empty rooms. At the end of the corridor,a narrow staircase led to a small room in the turret. With windows and window seats ...
Weekly Contest #311
Kate adjusted her uncomfortable black dress. Still bleary from jet lag, she felt out of place and overdressed. Her Aunt Felicity’s portrait gazed down from an easel on a small stage at the end of the room. The others milling around were those Kate would normally have referred to as geriatric hippies. These were not the kind of people Felicity would have been befriended in the past, but then Kate had not seen her aunt for three years. News of her death from a sudden heart attack had been a shock.Kate jumped as someone tapped her on the should...
Weekly Contest #310
Dana had stared so long at the computer that the numbers on the screen were beginning to swim. She sighed with relief as the bell over the shop door jangled and Mrs. Busby entered. Hiring Mrs. Busby was one of the few decisions she had not second guessed since leaving her law career to start the bookshop in an abandoned High Street grocer’s shop in the scenic town of Little Brooking.“Hello, love. Let’s have a cuppa before we start work. I'll put the kettle on.”“If we have work,” Dana said.Mrs. Busby bustled around in the kitchen making tea. ...
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