“Mum! Mu-u-u-um! Mum, come here!”
She runs up the stairs imagining injury, blood, broken bones.
He’s sitting on the rug in his room, red-cheeked, tearful.
There’s a new graze on his left knee, but nothing to warrant the race to A&E she’s anticipated.
“What is it? What’s the matter?” Continue reading
“Okay everyone, let’s get going. PC Plod, what have you got to report?”
“The girl’s in a safe house, Sir. She’s sleeping at the moment.”
“Good. Community Officer Big Ears, how about you?” Continue reading
I nearly don’t go. It’s still dark. I could turn over and go back to sleep.
I leave the house with my gear and a flask of hot coffee.
When I arrive, a pink line splits the sky. I set up the tripod, squat on my little folding stool, take a shot.
Continue reading
It’s a very long time since I posted any fiction on this page, and as I was thinking that, serendipitously a message arrived from Julia with a new 100WCGU.
Julia’s challenge this week is heat.
The curtains were still drawn in the windows of the tall houses, but the sun, its face scrubbed clean by the night, was fully risen. The pavement burned her feet through her sandals. A fox stopped its cantering along the street to stare at her, turned, and ran away. Continue reading
I haven’t joined in with one of Julia’s challenges for ages. I think this is the current one. Continue reading
The first night at her first camp, Gina was tired. She’d helped dig the latrines she was sure she could never use. Too gross. She was sharing a tent with her friend Gwen. Now it was time for everyone to gather at the campfire. The trees were dark beyond the fence. Could there really be wolves? Or was Gwen teasing? She’d seen foxes, but she knew nothing about wolves beyond Red Riding Hood. They sat crosslegged in a circle together. The flames caught, lighting the laughing faces. Smiling, Rosie passed her a marshmallow. Gina felt happiness engulf her. Camp was fun.
To read more about Julia’s 100wcgu click here.
I am using the prompt from Julia’s page, but again not linking my piece back there. If you want to know more about it, look here.
An owl hooted softly in the dark. Something rustled in the hedgerow. James sat on the old swing, moving it gently back and forth with his feet. A bat flew so close he felt the air disturbed by its wings on his face. He leant back, inhaling the smells of his parents’ garden.
The back door opened quietly and someone stepped outside.
James heard the rasp of match. Andrew’s face was illuminated as the flame flickered before he extinguished it. The glowing end of the cigarette moved across the garden.
“The doctor’s given her morphine. She’s peaceful. It won’t be long now.”
It seems like an age since I wrote anything creative, so I had a quick look over at Julia’s page and the current 100wcgu for a bit of inspiration.
As so many people join in now, and I probably am not going to have the time to read many of the stories, for the moment I am not linking my piece back to her page. Just writing something was therapeutic. Thanks Julia!
So, here goes:
Rosalind held the dress up against her.
“What do you think?”
“Ghastly, said her brother. “You look like an extra from The Empire Strikes Back.”
He pointed his chin at the enormous fruit bowl on the table, “Are they just for show, or can I eat one?”
“Help yourself.”
Rosalind gazed critically in the mirror. She sighed. “You’re right. It’s too yellow. What can I wear?”
Dan took a bite from the apple and chewed for a moment.
“That dark dress you wore last week, sort of William Morris design? It looked good. Classy.”
“The Liberty print? You reckon? OK, let’s give it a go.”
Alice wondered why she had thought an option in philosophy would be a good idea. So far, she had been alternately bored and mystified by the discussions in seminars. Other students made comments she found pedantic or obvious, yet these comments were greeted with knowing smiles, and further comments that made her feel she was on the outside of an impenetrable practical joke.
The lecturer put up a picture of a white rabbit consulting a large pocket watch. She recognised the Tenniel drawing and fought a losing battle with her concentration.
“What was the rabbit late for,” wondered Alice, and closing her eyes, she fell asleep.
To see the prompt for this post visit Julia’s Place
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