Athelstone

The Emporium.

I’d been watching the place for a while and now I was ready.

The tiny shop by the empty mill was cobwebbed in layers of age and the light inside flickered with a hospitable glow. The antique-looking sign over the bottle-glass door announced it was an “Emporium Of Returned Things”.

 It was out of the way and the perfect place…[Read more]

Thanks, Athers, for a competition theme that gave me much head-scratching before I found a direction, and for chuckling, since I didn’t intend to sound self-pitying. Also I thoroughly applaud your giving Pinkbelt the opportunity to challenge us in February.

An Old Face

“What became of Pinkbelt?”

“Oh God, do you remember him? Lurking in the dark places projecting his murky thoughts into the world. Wasn’t he the guy who wrote grisly scenes with hudreds of f-bombs?”

“Yes, that’s the guy. I heard he got signed and the fame we to his head.”

“No, my mate said he got a few rejections and gave…[Read more]

‘Mirror, Mirror …

When I say my bathroom mirror is old you shouldn’t imagine some gilt-framed, spidery-silvered  antique, for it is a bevelled-edged two-foot square of glass, bought in ~1969  and screwed at each corner onto the wall above the sink and opposite a window twelve inches larger in each direction.

In daylight, my image backlit…[Read more]

Burkhardt’s first reaction to the disaster was to lay the blame on Harding (now there’s a surprise…). This, after Harding had expressed concerns about the locomotive, which were dismissed, and made his offer to go and check on the train, which was also dismissed. The transcript of the phone call makes his anxiety plain. After he’s told he’s not…[Read more]

A worthy story, Alex. ☺️

It’s hardly fair to say ‘by default’, because @Alex, your story merits more than that. I loved the uplifting ending, and the thread you chose in the challenge, which was a pleasure to read. It is with the same pleasure I pass the baton over to you.

Sorry, J. I have the visuals – i.e. can picture in my mind what I want to say, but it appears I have lost the ability to string words together on a page.