Athelstone

Happiness Is An Old Slut

Y’know, there were a time – before the Great Dark – when I would chase Happiness. Relentless in my pursuit, I would pin her with a heated stare onto the walls of my life, undress her slow and vulgar, dry fingerin’ the places where she kept her best secrets. But even when I caught her, had my way with her, I knew Happine…[Read more]

Teddy was lost.

Teddy’s owner, Joe, was inconsolable. His face red and blotchy, his screams ringing through the house. How could Joe and Teddy survive apart.

Teddy himself was having a nice time. He’d been left on the bus, propped up next to the window where he could see the world go by. Life with Joe was nice, but sometimes a bit boring. Teddy…[Read more]

Ath! Ath! I got sumthing!! Had real worries about it but a slight thing came to me this morning. So I’ll see where it takes me 😃✨

I lied.

Summer of sixty-one – when Percy Faith’s ‘Theme for a Summer Place’ persistently played along the telegraph wires, exhaling hauntingly into the ether – was one of much excitement and promise for the girls of the small Hertfordshire village where I lived, thanks to a recent influx into the village of no fewer than eight new males, mos…[Read more]

The glow of embers in the fireplace, warm and comforting
Shadows chased by the sudden flare of a match
A candle flickering in a steamed-up window
The bob of a rescuer’s headlamp on a snowy mountain
A lighthouse in a stormy sea, guiding, reassuring
Sunlight slicing through dark curtains
A beam of torchlight on an unlit path
In the darkness, i…[Read more]

Lols, oh dear. I’m happy. I am. Happy happy happy. Tinking the happiest of thoughts. And not failing whatsoever. *goes off to see what big, fat li-, I mean what I can do* 😬😬 haha

Each of the entries for February was so evocative, provocative and moody; it was a great selection of theme from @Raine, and great flow of words from everyone who participated. Congrats as always, Ath, can’t wait to go peek and see what you have in store for March 😊✨

I love this story, Ath @athelstone. Congratulations!

Sandra and Knicks’ stories are fabulous too.

Congratulations Ath, an intriguing tale and well-deserved top place. And thank you Raine for providing me with a very useful opportunity to work out a scene in my current wip as well as inspire others to provide entertaining tales.

Thank you guys for entering! And for writing such fun pieces – they all have something special to them, I think.
@athelstone I love the details and voice of yours, the small touches that make each character so recognisable.
@sandradavies well, naked men wrestling, what more can anyone ask for really?? Love the balance of violence and tenderness…[Read more]

The Mooring (325 words)

The two sisters were in their twenties. They stood on the kyle’s shore in their Puffa jackets and looked at a small yacht moored to a buoy, hatches closed. The yacht floated as calmly as a swan.

Although the sisters were dressed in similar clothes their personalities were opposites.

“They were lucky,” said Lena, about…[Read more]

Sarita

Clouds thicker than Peruvian fog, vaporous specters rising across the shifting mirror of the sky. The day’s restlessness calms my peregrine heart, part of the patterning and paradox of life I’ve come to cherish. Chilling drops of rain splatter like surprises on my upturned face, not unpleasant, like a birthday party you didn’t expect but a…[Read more]

A question of perception

After, naked, panting; towelling stinging sweat from our eyelids, we stepped outside through the open French windows into the still-warm August night. A quick sideways glance: he as relieved as I to no longer be the focus of intense female attention. Relieved it had ended – honourably? Yes. That could honestly be said.…[Read more]