Sophie Jonas-Hill

@sandradavies thanks, I will look that up. I’m a fan of keeping speech tags/descriptions to a minimum and I often write scenes with dialogue first and then build the other stuff around it, so this is very much up my street

Great competition Sandra, am really intrigued to read the story that inspired it now. Well done Ath, and everyone else, good set of stories

Smashing comp, Sandra and a similarly smashing selection of entries. So I’m really pleased to be picked!

Well done, and well deserved, Ath!
And thanks, Sandra for such an interesting challenge.

I dreamt about you last night.

Really? I haven’t thought about you for ages.

Ooh! Harsh.

Aha – Sorry, Jack. That sounded terrible. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, well, you know – the kids and all that. I don’t have much time for myself.

How old are they now?

Callum’s ten and Orla will be seven on Saturday. Most of this shopping is…[Read more]

“I dreamt about you last night. No, don’t look like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like it’s a line or… like I’m being…?”
“What?”
“I dunno. Overly sentimental.”
“OK. I won’t then.

…Well you can’t leave it hanging like that. What was I doing in this dream?”
“That’s the thing. I can’t actually remember. You know what dreams are like.”
“I know what my…[Read more]

The Sanctum of Dreams

“I dreamt about you last night. You were in the sanctum.”
“Well, that’s hardly surprising, is it? Given what’s about to happen.”
“No. I suppose not. It was just so…”
“So…what? Are you going to share? Or just sit there looking worried? I’m not a mind reader.”
“Yet.”
“Ha! True. Well, tell me about it. I don’t like to see y…[Read more]

When The Magic Ends

‘I dreamt about you last night.’
‘Sally, about that.’
‘No, please don’t say it. Things used to be so magical.’
‘But that was then, can’t you see? People move on. You’re not that kid I first met. There are others –’
‘Always were. From the very start you didn’t try to hide it let alone show any remorse. That deep chuckle…[Read more]

Congratulations, Sandra – an excellent story. And thank you, Sea, for the feedback and setting a challenge I could rise to.

There’s a monster inside of me.

It was born when Noellia moved into number 14.

The car started it. A shiny new Fiat 500. Electric. In powder blue. Parked on the drive. I looked at my own clapped out Fiesta and felt the first stirrings of new life, deep in my chest.

She fed the monster well, did Noellia.

Had an open house, she did. Invited…[Read more]

By the Sword – 347 words

Another hand clutched my black-jacketed shoulder.
Another cliché joined the collection.
Another pitiful frown.
Whispers drifted over; how brave she was being; a credit to her husband – oh, how she would miss him …

The bastard.

These people, they had been as blind to reality throughout the shit’s life; to his barbed…[Read more]

Well done, @seagreen, excellent story.

Great stuff @seagreen. Super story.

Results
Six entries this month, each a real pleasure to read, but the strength of writing has made judging a tough order.

John S Alty – Sunset
I thoroughly enjoyed this story of Frank and Sarah shipwrecked and stranded on an island. Loved the ‘knob of butter’ image of a sun setting, though felt the expression could have been strengthened if it…[Read more]

Red Sun

Sunsets are very different here. Everything is different, but it was the sunset that I was staring at last night. Or rather, the absence of a sunset.

OK. No sunset. Tell you what, there aren’t any asthmatics here on Grissom’s planet either. I’m not blaming anybody; when a 300-mile-wide asteroid drew a bead on Earth at twenty-five miles…[Read more]