John T

Hi Janette – as discussed, it’s gone. Feel free to post again when ready.

Ath.

Right man for the job!

Half eight, overnight ice on the inside of the windows, me already double Aran-wrapped, my phone rang:
‘Missus Blake? Morpeth Builders. We’ve a cancellation. Can come and have a look at your chimney today.’
‘That’d be great. There’s some sort of, of … blockage. The boiler’s broke, so lighting a fire the only way to kee…[Read more]

Congratulations, Libby, and thank you Seagreen for such an enticing theme – I had a dozen possibilities in my head, and it was obvious others did too, strong voices all and I was glad not to have to do the judging.

What is this? I turn my back for TWO days and I’m inundated!! ????

Please bear with me. Worked a fifteen hour shift today (with the same tomorrow). I promise to come back with a winner by Monday at the absolute latest x

Car

Look at that bloke. Arm out of the window, cigarette in hand. Marks and Sparks polo shirt that his wife bought him. Revving the engine every five seconds; counting down the time until death. And he got the silver car, the GT model. He chose that. He calls it “my car”. But if anybody asks, “We chose it. Me and my lady.”

How old do you reckon?…[Read more]

Hand Signals

Molly matched the testy huff coming from the seat to her left, though neither were on account of the tailback as school runs jostled with motorway traffic on the approach to the roundabout. ‘For God’s sake, Jake. You’ll appreciate one day why I put school first, holidays with your father second.’

She ignored his mouthed words;…[Read more]

‘O dolce mano’ another opera

Coming out of the theatre, in the carpark, beeping the car unlocked, you say ‘If we’re dropping Judy off, she’d be best in the front –‘
Because it’s SO difficult to get out of the back seat? Nevertheless, I say nothing. It was Judy – a work colleague –that offered him the tickets. I bought the third on seeing the…[Read more]

Pleasantly surprised by this, especially given the company ☺️

Wow! They were all classy little pieces of writing. Seagreen, I really enjoyed that. Well done.

Well done Sea, for an intriguing tale, and thank you Kate for a topic that had me seeking a tale I KNEW I’d written on this theme, then, not finding it, having to concoct something else. Thanks also for all the other entries; I still haven’t solved the anagram.

Thank you all for a fabulous batch of stories.

Seagreen – you had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was in that letter.

Sandra – such a lovely heart warming tale.

Athelstone – I love that kind hearted Brenda got the reassurance she needed.

Alex – oh! Such a tale of mystery and deceit. Thus feels like the basis for a longer story.

A…[Read more]

The Unmarked Letter

It’s a circular, sitting there on the mat. Or is it? It doesn’t look like the sort of envelope they use. And they usually say To the Householder or something like that. When Arthur was alive, he’d say, ‘That’s me. The householder,’ as though I didn’t count. This one has nothing on it.

Right, that’s Edith at the door. I’d b…[Read more]

There’ll be kites [497 words]

It isn’t often that seeing an envelope on one’s doormat transports one back some forty years through time.
Took me long enough – the wrestling of the key in the lock ever more painful thanks to the curse of arthritis; the nudging open of the door with my shoulder just enough to know I’d be able to push it wide en…[Read more]

UNTITLED  (321 words)

On Thursday, I wrote a letter. Not to send, you understand, since it wasn’t really to someone, and not to keep either, because once I had written it, and re-read it in that way that people do when they are shocked by their candour, I felt embarrassed by it.  Embarrassed by the uncontrolled rage and disappointment that I had…[Read more]

Any takers for the monthly competition? A week to go.