Down at the Bowling Alley at Midnight

photo by Skitterphoto 

Honestly, this isn’t how I expected to spend New Year’s Eve. Mum had to cover for another nurse at short notice – again – and felt bad for leaving me on my own. So she asked Aunty Callie and Callie said, ‘yes if she’ll come to the bowling alley.’ Bowling sounded boring, but Callie’s cool. Her friends are, too. And one of them brought his teenage brother along, Colin. I quite like Colin. We make a good bowling team even though we keep messing around.

I hope Colin’ll kiss me at midnight.

Somehow, I’ve ended up in the right place by accident.

***

Written for Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner: Week #1- 2016. Thanks, Roger, for hosting a new flash fiction challenge!

2015 Top 10 Stories

I’m working on my next mslexia guest post, and I’ve been looking at my stats a lot. The thought struck me that you might want to know what your most popular stories of the year were. So here you are, the ten favourite stories of you lot based on page views, comments and likes:

photo by Kelley Bozarth 

1. The Theatre of Love
2. The (short-lived) Hiking in the Woods Project
3. Salvage
4. A Walk in the Park
5. At least she has a job to complain about
6. Fooled
7. Silly Poem About a Bike
8. Mabel’s Return
9. Christmas Shopping for Strangers
10. All About Patience

If you don’t agree with the list, don’t have a go at me – I just crunched the numbers, after all. But tell me what you’d have liked to have seen in the Top Ten instead in the comments.

Happy New Year everyone!

Heart of Glass

photo by Antranias 

I must have been four. My uncle must have been in love with Debbie Harry. I don’t remember but we must have listened to all of Parallel Lines in his Beetle. On the way to or from our hotel, Heart of Glass always seemed to be playing when we traversed the level crossing; little me had convinced herself that going over the crossing while listening to the song meant we’d get hit by a train. I wailed every time we went over the tracks. I drove everyone bonkers.

Isn’t it funny that it’s one of my all-time favourite songs now?

End of Discussion

(c) 2015, Sonya

‘You know what this is?’

‘Art, supposedly. The kind of rubbish the council likes to spend tax money on.’

‘Not what I meant. Do you know what it used to be?’

‘It should have been scrap metal.’

‘Yes, let’s not have this discussion again.’

‘I will have this discussion until they stop. Disgrace, throwing my hard-earned money at underachievers who think putting rubbish on stilts is art.’

‘It used to be a navigation buoy. It once marked the channel into port. The artist who turned it into public art  to remind us of our naval history is my boyfriend, dad.’

***

Oh look, the picture prompt for FFfAW no. 46 is one of mine again. I love the colour of the sky in this one.

Fear’d Come in Useful

photo by PublicDomainArchive

Another night, another A&E waiting room – better than coming in with injuries so severe she has to be seen right away. Gives her time to think, though. Too much time to consider how she can’t stop herself from getting into situations that’ll lead her here. Tonight, she protected an old man from a pickpocket (not much of an opponent), then a young girl from unwanted attention. Those scumbags gave almost as good as they got.

She hopes they’ll give her the good stuff; pills that’ll stop her wondering what her life might be like if she hadn’t lost all fear.

(You’ll find all instalments at the bottom of the Serials page.)

Young and Foolish

photo by Christian Birkholz 

You’re only as old as you feel you are, right? I still feel as if I’m twenty one. Definitely young at heart, me. I am down with the youth.

They love me, the youngsters. Laugh all you want. You should see it – they break out in cheers whenever I get to the pub. Actual cheers. Good feeling, that.

I mean, yes, there’s the odd bit of banter. That time I made the mistake and got the old leather trousers out. A mistake, that. Brought it on myself, though.

‘Hey, grandpa, the tab’s run out.’

That’s the one that hurts, mind.

Subdued Return Journey

photo by nafets 

Disappointment.

Big, massive, incredible disappointment.

Some of the group simply don’t want to talk about it, they’re sitting away from the rest and try to drink their memory clean. The rest analyses what we’ve seen. And naturally, the doubts come creeping back in. What we’ve seen these last few weeks before tonight, was that the real deal? Or is that the nightmare performance we’ve witnessed? Yes, of course, say the pessimists. No, it was just a fluke, say the optimists.

You never know, do you?

They could have gone to the top. Instead, they got a spanking left us disappointed.

On Christmas Day in the Morning

photo by PublicDomainPictures 

It’s the one day when it is worth getting up early to go to Oxford Street. Because Central London will be deserted. You’ll stand in the middle of the Oxford and Regent Street crossing and if you’ve not been good, you may have to step aside for the odd taxi.

It isn’t, however, as empty as it used to be. Has it become a thing to post a selfie of oneself on London’s most congested road totally empty? Maybe it’s a fad, maybe you won’t have to get up before sunrise in the future anymore.

This is your Christmas wish.

Christmas Blues

photo by Blickpixel 

The Christmas wish list keeps growing. You are still waiting for an item you might be able to afford to make an appearance.

In the meantime, you check the charity shops several times a day. You find a few acceptable branded clothes in excellent nick; they cost more than you should spend, but it is Christmas. Some of them are even on the list. But you don’t have high hopes for Star Wars toys or the electronics which make up the bulk of the list.

It’ll be the usual for Christmas Day – chicken with a side order of massive disappointment.

All I Want for Christmas

photo by Tabea 

I know I’ve no right to make demands. I acted like a right selfish cow. I thought, though, I wanted to be free again.

But I’ve been sat here for hours, writing my wish list. All I’ve to show for myself is a page filled with your name.

You know how they say you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? Yeah, that. Should have seen it coming, right? Should have known that my heart didn’t like the decision to leave you. My head has conceded defeat. They both want you back. I want you back.

Come back.

 

Please.