Category: Stories
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Resigned to Staying
The mobile purred. A sleepy finger reached out and pressed answer. “Thought I’d phone in this week’s postcard from afar.” “Lee, I can barely hear you. You sound like you’re croaking it in a drainpipe.” “Only line in town, boss.”
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Hard Knocks
“Three times, “ she said. “Three?” I muttered to myself. “Three times,” she answered. “Then you’ll know. That’s when you up and leave.” I’d lost track of the number of chances I’d given. Only when things were tapering off towards the end did I start to keep track. Tens, twenties, hundreds. Three would have had…
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After the Wedding
Their fingers kept fumbling at my tie. And I kept trying to wave them away. Are you finished? I asked. They shook their heads. Over, under then thread the two between: Windsor knot finally done. It was then I lost it. One lifted my feet, the other my arms and lowered me in.
Andrew Whalan
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The Beckoning
“I don’t know why I’m even telling you this,” she says. To the stranger over the phone. At last it has begun for her. Though of course it is over for me.
Andrew Whalan
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Copy and Paste
The greatest public humiliation I experienced was at the hands of an ex-wife and her then boyfriend. But that didn’t prepare me for my greatest workplace humiliation (also known as the copy and paste incident). It occurred during a meeting. I was presenting the changes I had made to an intranet to a group of…
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Meeting the Mother in Law
“Meeting the Mother-in-Law,” the nail-polish label said. She held it up. And it suited her. Although it didn’t quite match her hair.
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Arthur and The Pearl
“I must beg you. A moment if you please. For I have travelled far. ” He looked up and nodded at me. Then went back to staring into the looking-glass. I could see his reflection in it. But I couldn’t see mine. That was to be expected. I’m sure I would become inured to that.…
Andrew Whalan
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Not the Naughty List
“Get back to work,” a fat voice bellowed. Sherry Wintersleigh yawned, stretched her arms wider and opened her eyes. “What, what, what,” she began. “He’s always like this,” whispered a passing elf. “But Christmas is…,” Sherry said. The shadow standing over her shook his finger at her. “You heard what I said,” bellowed Santa. “On…
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Laughably Ever After
“Dr Twinkle?” “Speaking.” “Do you do weekend emergency out calls?” “Nope. Only weekdays. And only to the Kid’s hospital. Why?” “I need a doctor for a party.”
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One for Each Pot….
“One for each person,” she thought she heard. “And one for the pot,” the whispered reply. Yes she thought. You again.
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Ghostwriter
An ink-stained manuscript materialises before her. Through the mist, she sees him. Crouched, pen-poised a man is waiting, frozen in time. His pen rises, falls, sweeps down but doesn’t touch the paper. He sighs. She sees two hands rise towards her. “Nothing. Still nothing.” He throws his pen down on the desk. She leans towards…