25-Word Challenge

Members of the Bedford Writers’ Circle were challenged to write short stories using a maximum of 25 words. Here are my stories.

Keeping Fit: The virtual gym was hopeless. Chris, my personal android, told me I was doing so well. But he didn’t know that was only my avatar.

Sweet Murder: A handful of sweeties and a crocodile smile, a capsule of poison, sweetened with honey. A spiteful snare and the jerk of a gallows.

The Departure: Through the train window, their faces were crumpled, already seeming distanced.

“Stay safe”, she mouthed.

Speechless, tears streaming, he placed his hand on his heart.

Ice Spirit: There’s a spirit trapped in the ice, staring from fractured prisms of light. When the winter breaks, it flows again and threads its mystical spell.

Discovering Gardening: I’d always had a penchant for Monty Don. So … well … gritty. I signed up for an allotment and found that’s where she was buried.

Life Inside: The judgement was harsh – half a lifetime. I made powerful friends; useful friends. I learnt lots. They were the most profitable years of my life.

The Nativity: “Oh God!”, he said. “Jesus! How insanitary!”

He hung back, whistled under his breath.

There really was a baby. In a manger of all places.

Reflections: Our reflected eyes meet in the train carriage windows. We both look away. We weren’t meant to meet like this. I know he’s been sent.

Hive Mind: A Royal wedding and a brutal conception. The hive is satisfied and I am enslaved, a Mother to my bee captors.

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