A Great Story
The only smell in the tiny dark room was her own seven-day body odour. It was disgusting, like a pile of dirty towels stashed in the back of a gym. The thin door swung open and Paula caught a hint of something flowery. From her position in the far corner of the dank room she looked up, but the woman quickly put down a tray and scuttled back out, locking the door behind her. On the worn carpet was a tray of food, the first food she’d seen in days: a homemade ham and pickle sandwich on brown bread and a box of Ribena. She bit into it and started to cry. Initially determined to savour it, chewing each mouthful slowly and carefully, her resolve swiftly melted and she scoffed it, shoving in each mouthful like an animal. Like the animal they’d turned her into.
Paula had graduated in 2004 from her university of choice. She’d done an undergraduate degree in English Literature and then an M.A. in Journalism. Her career had started slowly: working for local papers and getting bite-sized chunks into the national newspapers on the pages no-one read. And then her friend’s cousin was killed in Bristol’s first honour killing and Paula had found her first great story. Her friend had warned her to keep out of it, but she hadn’t listened. She was hungry only for the story.
Heavy footsteps stopped outside the door.
‘Finished?’ he asked.
She nodded.
‘Get up.’
She croaked. ‘Why?’
‘We’re going for a little ride.’
‘Where to?’
‘Never you mind.’
Laura Besley
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May is National Short Story Month. I've joined A.M. Harte's Senseless Challenge:
May has five Fridays.
Each Friday is dedicated to one of the senses.
The schedule is:
May 03: Sight
May 10: Sound
May 17: Smell
May 24: Taste
May 31: Touch
There are no rules. You can take part for one week or all five. You can write about not having that week’s sense or only having it. So...here goes!
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Flash Fiction is short enough to read whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil. It's fairly quick to write too, but with it being so short, every word has to count.
On 4th May 2012 I decided to embark on a project: to write a piece of Flash Fiction every day. I'm hoping this will keep the creative juices flowing and ultimately help me hone my craft. Every Friday I'll be posting 'the best of the week' onto my blog for you to read. If you have anything to say (good or 'constructive'!), I'm open to comments.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
