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Weekly Contest #373
I knew Papa was a liar. He told me that Mama was dead, but she visited me often. The first time it happened, I startled from sleep to find the room illuminated by moonlight and Mama standing at the foot of the bed. I leaped out of bed and hugged her waist. She stroked my hair and kissed me. She was wearing a shabby grey cotton gown and smelled strange. “Mama, why aren’t you wearing your own dress?” I whispered. She put her finger to her lips and shook her head. “Not a word to anyone, or I will not be able to come again. Go back to bed.” I sl...
Weekly Contest #372
Maeve was startled awake by a loud bang. The red numbers on the clock on the nightstand told her it was three o’clock in the morning. She sat up in bed, heart pounding, until she summoned up the courage to look outside. Silver slivers of rain glittered in the pale-yellow light of the streetlamp outside her window, and the trees were bowing and twisting in the wind. Bleary and shivering, she remembered something being said on the news about an impending storm but had not paid much attention. With relief, she realized that the noise was coming...
Weekly Contest #366
Standing outside my aunt’s house, I pulled my flask out of the my inside jacket pocket and took a swig, savoring the smoky heat of the whisky with closed eyes. I had almost dived to the ground at the graveside when a car backfired in the street. Relieved to see that my hands had steadied, I knocked on the front door, took a deep breath and waited. Any social skills I’d possessed had atrophied in the trenches on the Western Front. Dealing with death was easy; attending this reception was not. My father opened the door. “Hello, my boy,” he sai...
Weekly Contest #365
Dale turned his collar up against the keen wind as he hurried home, his eyes watering and his nose red with cold. He opened the front door and called a greeting. Flo usually had a pot of coffee brewing in the afternoon, and often, the smell of baking would be wafting from the kitchen. There were no delicious aromas today. She had been busy; the autumn decorations were down, and the boxes of Christmas decorations were sitting ready to be unpacked. Dale hung up his jacket, put on his slippers and headed to the kitchen. Flo was sitting at the t...
Weekly Contest #364
Anna looked around the empty room. It was large and well-proportioned, with bay windows that looked out over a garden. She heard footsteps and felt strong arms around her. “Morning, darling. Did you sleep well? What are you doing in here? I thought we could paint this room next. Were you thinking of a color scheme?” Jeff dropped a kiss on her head and held her close. Anna blinked as her mind slowly cleared. She freed herself from his grasp. “I don’t know. I was still half asleep. I’ll have a shower and get dressed.” Jeff stepped back and bea...
Weekly Contest #362
Marjorie hurried into the living room waving a large heavy envelope. “Look!” Robert, who was sprawled on the couch drowsily watching a basketball game on television, started upright. “What? Where’s the fire? What’s going on?” “Read that,” Marjorie said, shoving the envelope into his hands and silencing the TV. “Hey! I was watching that …okay, okay, I’m reading.” He extracted a sheet of heavy vellum paper and smoothed it open. “Dinner reservation for two on Friday, 14th at 8pm at La Casa Blanca. Who sent this and what’s the occasion?” Marjori...
Weekly Contest #361
Mandy slumped in the swing seat of the porch, scowling. Her grandmother Clara and her parents Jack and Yvonne were chatting amiably, drinking iced tea and enjoying Clara’s lemon pound cake, oblivious to the fact that Mandy was shunning them. Jack glanced at his watch. “Come on, love,” he said to Yvonne. “We’d best get going. I’d rather not be on these mountain roads after dark.” He stood up and held out his arms to Mandy who reluctantly shuffled over to give him a hug before embracing her mother. “I’d better not hear a word of any misbehavio...
Weekly Contest #360
As Faye drove on, following the instructions of the silky, synthetic voice of the GPS, she found herself in an expensive housing development. She glanced around at the large homes with their immaculate lawns in growing disbelief. Her rambunctious friend and college roommate Sarah would have despised these tacky mansions in their younger days. She and Sarah had once been inseparable, but their contact had gradually diminished after graduation as life got in the way. Faye had been pleasantly surprised to receive an invitation to stay at Sarah’...
Weekly Contest #359
“Thank goodness that’s over with for another year,” Joyce said, ruefully patting her ample bosom as she caught up with her friend Paula. “Modern medicine’s a wonderful thing, but how many guys do you think would put their boy parts in a freezing cold vice and squeeze them flat?” “It’s just a mammogram, for Pete’s sake. You’ve earned yourself a decent brunch in that chichi place across the street. My treat,” said Paula, chuckling. “I don’t know what I’d do without you to keep me on the straight and narrow,” said Joyce. “How do we get out of h...
Weekly Contest #358
“Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake.” There was venom in the words which made the hair stand up on the back of Helen’s neck. She peered around the bookshelves into the next aisle. The only person there was an elderly woman who was arranging books on the bottom shelf. She straightened up when she saw Helen. “Can I help you? My name’s Sophie. I’m a volunteer here.” Helen blinked, trying to reconcile the icy voice she had heard with the sweet old lady who stood before her. “Yes,” she said, flustered. “Where are the books on loc...
Weekly Contest #357
The sound of the front door shutting woke Gerald up from his nap. Sitting on the back patio to have a cup of coffee and do his crossword puzzle, he must have drifted off while poring over 37. Across. He blinked and stretched his neck, muttering as he upset the cold coffee over his lap. He was standing up mopping at his crotch as Bunty bustled in, followed by a lady he had never seen before. “Gerald. This is Emily. You remember. From the book club. We bumped into each other in the supermarket… good grief, have you had an accident?” “Not what ...
Weekly Contest #356
The Clarion 18th July 1920 “Housemaid wanted for large villa, Must be neat, clean and responsible. Duties to include housework, laundry and occasional plain cooking. Please apply by letter in own handwriting to Mrs. P. Trisk, The Beeches, Upper Manfield, enclosing references.” The Beeches Upper Manfield August 15th, 1920 Dear Maud, I hope this finds you well. Where to start? It was a very long trip to get here. I was scared I was on the wrong train, especially when I was the only one who got off at Upper Manfield. I was looking around when ...
Weekly Contest #355
Julie peered out of the car window as Nolan carefully steered around the crowd outside the church. The lane was one car width and people squashed up onto the verge to get out of the way. “You didn’t tell me your mother’s funeral would be a circus,” he muttered as the car crawled along. “Come to think of it, you didn’t tell me much about your mother at all.” “Yes, well, being her daughter isn’t something I care to advertise,” Julie said, glowering. “Drop me off here, come back and meet me in the church.” “Hey, wait,” Nolan said as Julie extri...
Weekly Contest #354
The heat hit in a double blow, the sun relentlessly beating down and then reflecting off the marble paving of the square. Mary sat in a café sipping iced coffee. Despite the shade of the awning, her clothes were damp with sweat. She glanced at her watch. Time to go back to her Airbnb for a siesta. It was approaching the hour when only mad dogs, Englishmen and foreign tourists were out and about. She was slowly adjusting to the rhythms of Greek life after taking the plunge to get out of her comfort zone and come to Greece by herself, much to ...
Weekly Contest #349
CW: death, cult abuse Mariah slowly sat up and rubbed her aching head, wincing as she touched a tender spot. It was all coming back to her now. When she was pushed into the cellar, she had lost her balance and crashed headfirst into the rough brick wall. Her last memory was of colored lights flashing across her vision before she passed out. A wave of nausea threatened to engulf her, and she inhaled deeply, holding her breath, until she felt confident enough to open her eyes again. Something was different. A shaft of sunlight was coming thro...
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