short stories
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For part one, click here. Granny stared at the dials on her silver watch. Tick tock, another minute passed. It had been five hours and still no news. They jumped together, shoulders wrenching back and screams catching in their throats. The shrill, sharp ring of the telephone was a foghorn. ‘You answer it, Granny. Please,’…
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His mummy was dying. He stared at her face, usually so beautiful and serene now sweat-soaked and puckered as the pain finally claimed her. ‘Mummy, don’t leave me, Mummy!’ he said, his voice trembling with sobs. ‘Craig,’ she reached out, her warm hands patting his flyaway hair. ‘I have to go.’ Granny interrupted, ‘There, there,…
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I touch his face, my fingers caressing his lips, catching on a ragged ridge of chapped skin. I press my own to them, tasting the tang of tears as they cascade down my cheeks. I drink in his warmth. Or what’s left; it won’t be long before his lips mirror the hue of a bloated…
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For part one, click here For part two, click here 8th September I didn’t go to school today. I told Mum I’d been throwing up all night. It was true, but it wasn’t because I was ill. Mum went off to work at ten. I ran down the stairs after she’d gone and bolted the…
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It’s Thursday and your new five-word challenge is here. This week, your prompt is FISH. So can you tell a story in five words, using the word FISH in it somewhere? Here are your HUMAN stories from last week: EDC Writing: Human. Being, can’t be. Really? Ritu: I’m only human, you know. Christine Mallaband-Brown: My…
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For part one, click here. 6th September Dad came to see me today and he was on his own. He tried to act all pally, giving me a pat on the back and ruffling my hair. He shoved an ‘HMV’ bag in my hand. He winked at me and said that he knew I liked…
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3rd September Mum and Dad’s divorce came through today. Mum danced round the breakfast table singing, ‘I’m gonna get that man right out of my hair.’ She looked like a witch with her hair stuck up and a grin Tony Blair would have been proud of. Then she ran up to me and kissed me…
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For part one, please click here. For part two, please click here. I went blank after that. I couldn’t think, speak, move or function in any way. I didn’t want to either. I wanted to die too. I didn’t want to wake up and know you weren’t going to be there any more. But I…
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For part one, please click here. But I didn’t know. You were only ten. You were looking forward to going to the big school in the autumn, to being in the school play and travelling on the Inter City up to London with me and your friend for your birthday treat. You weren’t supposed to…
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I pick a pretty daffodil from the vase on the sideboard. But then they’re all pretty, aren’t they, Jenny? I gently stroke the soft silken surface of the flower and tears stream down my face. Daffodils were always your favourite. They were just coming into bloom on the day you were born. I was standing…
Esther Chilton 