short stories

Stones

Plop

“Billy, would you please stop dropping stones in the water.”

“Why?” Billy asked his dad.

“I’ve told you. You’ll scare away the fish.”

“Oh.”

…

Plop

“Billy?”

“Yes, Daddy?”

“What did I tell you about dropping stones in the water?”

“I forget.”

“You’ll scare away the fish.”

“Oh, right.”

…

Plop

“Billy, I’m starting to get angry.”

“Why?”

“Because you keep dropping stones in the water and I don’t want to spend hours sitting here for nothing when I could be at home watching TV.”

“We’re not catching anything, anyways,” Billy mumbled.

“What was that?”

“I said, we’re not catching anything. And I’m bored.”

“Are you telling me we came all the way out here because YOU wanted to go fishing and twenty minutes in, you’re bored?”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll give you sorry, you little…”

“Dad no! You promised you wouldn’t slap me on my birthday!”

“You’re lucky. Let’s go home.”

“Wait! Look at all the fish!”

“How the hell… Hang on. Did you have any stones in the boat, Billy?”

“No.”

“What have you been dropping overboard?”

“The little fish we brought.”

“Billy?”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“You’re spending your next birthday with your mother.”

Our prompt for today on a Story A Day is “When your character is not like you.” The character (the dad) is not like me because he’s a guy, he’d hit his kid for being bored, and he’s fishing. I’ve never been, nor have I had any desire to go, fishing.

Cake

Baking a cake for the twins’ bake sale at school should have been easy. Thousands of moms did it every year. At least that’s what Winnifred told herself as she threw the cake mix into the grocery basket along with orange juice, yogurt, and the cookies she suddenly had a craving for. Cravings were a stress thing she was very familiar with.

Her first clue that things weren’t going to go as planned should have been the fact that there was no money in her account when she tried to cash out with her debit card. The money should have been there – she’d just been to the bank to make a deposit. So she dug in her purse for cash to pay for her groceries and then went straight back to the bank. As it turned out, someone had stolen her PIN number. She filled out a bunch of forms and got a new bank card, and the bank reassured Winnifred that she would get her money back within the next few days. So off she went home.

Winnifred read the instructions carefully. She preheated the oven and added the exact amount of water and eggs to the mix that the recipe on the side of the box called for. But when it came time to pour the batter into the pan, she realized she had no pan. Of course she didn’t – she wasn’t the sort of mom who baked. So off she went to the store again. This time, she had to really scrape the bottom of her purse for change, since she forgot that she had no money in her bank account.

Finally, Winnifred got home and managed to bake the cake. The kids got off the bus and came clamoring through the door just as she was finishing off the icing.

“There!” she said to her twin girls. She turned the cake for them to admire her work. “You can take this to school tomorrow.”

“But Mom,” one of the twins said, “the bake sale was today.”

That night, Winnifred enjoyed cake with her cookies.

***
This story was prompted by a Story A Day, where our prompt for today was “when your character is like you.” I hate baking!! 😀

Melody, Three

Dear Diary,

Today was my twenty-second birthday. It was also our wedding day. Marvin was fabulous as usual. He became proficient at sign language, just for me, even though he knows I can speak. He remained the only one who knew for eight whole years until today.

My first words out loud to anyone but him were, “I do.”

Mom and Dad think Marvin is responsible for a miracle. Only my husband (my husband! It’s going to take a while to get used to it!) knows my secret. He vowed today, privately during our first dance, to keep it to the grave, along with his everlasting love for me.

The end.

Our challenge at Story A Day September was to write in the first person.

Melody, Two – 100-word Drabble

Melody’s self-consciousness at not being able to sing caused her to maintain the facade that she couldn’t speak. Her wish to vocalize came with her first crush.

His name was Marvin. He was tall, handsome, older than her, and he had a place in the school choir. Like Melody, he couldn’t hold a note in a bucket. One day as she walked home from school, following him, she tripped and fell on the sidewalk. She let out an exclamation and he came running. When she explained her dilemma to him, he promised to keep her secret.

Melody was in love.

To be continued…
Melody, Part One

I wrote this drabble in response to the Story A Day challenge.

Melody

Melody was born to parents who loved music. Both were accomplished singers. How Melody ended up being tone-deaf was one of the great mysteries of life.

When she was young, her parents took her along when they traveled the world. She would stand in the wings with her nanny when they performed, and people often asked her why she wasn’t up there with them, entertaining the crowd.

“She can’t sing!” her nanny would say. Embarrassed and downtrodden, Melody also learned not to speak.

To be continued…

Paranoia – 100 words

She walks like she’s being followed, slow and fast, turning right four times and then left, watching her back all the time. She sees a cheat from a mile away and wonders why he’s cheating. Look at his beautiful wife, after all. She wishes she could look over her virtual shoulder, to see if they’re all copying her.

She waits.

Tension is her middle name.

Is that something burning?

Are the homeless really spies?

She’d have her groceries delivered if it wasn’t for that weird guy who works at the store.

What was that noise?

The bugs are coming in.

#SoCS – Your Mistake

Your first mistake was thinking I’d care if you committed a small felony. Shoplifting is nothing – I know you did it for the kids.

Your second mistake was having a party to which I wasn’t invited. Yeah, it was for your kids, and your wife was there. But I wanted to come anyway. You told me you cared about me.

Your final mistake was telling me you cared about me… in the end. I made sure the cops found out who stole all those electronics. Now the kids don’t have a daddy. And your wife…

Your first mistake was thinking I’d care to keep your secret.

Mistake is the word of the day on The Daily Post.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday has a three-word prompt this week: your/you’re/yore. You can find it here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/08/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-2716/

socsbadge2016-17

Obvious, Part 2

“Oh look, here comes a witness. You were behind me at the intersection. What do you think? Was it obvious I was going to pull out?”

“Obvious you were going to pull out? What the hell are you talking about? Before you did move forward, you backed into me!”

“See? I told you. We collided because I had no idea what you intended to do. You, Sir, are up the river without a paddle.”

“It’s up the creek, shithead.”

“Indeed.”

Obvious

“I think it was obvious I was going to pull out into the intersection.”

“I disagree.”

“Is that all you can say? You ‘disagree’?”

“Indeed it is. If it had been obvious you were going to pull out, we wouldn’t have collided.”

“Wouldn’t have collided. Wouldn’t have collided.”

“Why are you making fun of me?”

“Because we didn’t collide. YOU hit ME.”

“We should just wait for the police to get here.”

“Why? Why can’t we just exchange insurance information and go about our lives?”

“Because what you believe is obvious, isn’t. And besides. I think you’re drunk.”

“If I was drunk, I wouldn’t be standing here waiting for the cops. Would I, smartie pants?”

“Well at least we agree on one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m smarter than you are.”

“That’s not… Oh fuck it.”

Sleeping Beauty, Fifty Years Later

Gathering, church basement.

Sleeping Beauty: (stands) Hi. My name is Aurora and I’m an insomniac.

All: Hi Aurora.

Sleeping Beauty: It’s been three years since my last full night’s sleep. (shuffles feet and drops gaze) I’m addicted to romance novels. I can’t count how many times the sun has risen on a happily ever after.

***
Fifty is the one-word prompt at The Daily Post today.