Worthing Flash

Mouse The winter he found the mouse, Carl changed from an unhappy boy into a miserable one. He’d discovered the corpse when reaching into the caddy for a biscuit. Instead of a crumble cream, he’d pulled out a dead rodent. The tail had dangled from his fingers like string. He hadn’t known whether to laugh or cry. Now Carl listens to his favourite Puccini opera with Goro the cat on his knee. Goro hasn’t caught a mouse in years. Carl remembers how his fear gave way to sadness after he found the mouse. He reads the libretto notes on the sleeve, and thinks sorrow seldom transitions to joy. He visualises the animal’s mummified body, and he’s back in the house where he lived as a six-years-old child. Carl had stepped out of the pantry and shown the creature to his mother. He thought she’d know what to do. Mother saw the mouse, filled her red hands with bunches of white cotton from her apron and screamed. What is that, you disgusting boy? Carl had dropped the mouse’s body, fled fro...

This is the first one-act play ever published in #worthingflash Anyone who wishes to perform it, is welcome to do so. If Wishes Were Frogs … A Play in One Act ( Which may be performed as either a drama or a comedy) CAST In Order of Appearance A Young Woman A Young Man The action takes place on a riverbank in “once upon a time”. At Rise of Curtain, the WOMAN is kneeling by the river, washing clothes. She times her words to fit in as she works. WOMAN: I will not be unhappy. I will marry the ugly, old man that my father wants me to marry. I will bake his bread and bear his children. I will not be ungrateful for the chance to live a respectable and useful life. ( She sighs.) It’s just that I feel I could do so much better! The Man enters behind the WOMAN, but stops far enough away that the WOMAN would not be able to hear him. The WOMAN continues her washing. MAN: There she is! The maiden I have been searching for all my life! Now I must take her away to...

This year's 100-word challenge will start receiving contributions now and they will be published in September. The prize will be a copy of "Tales of Nether Sodbury" which will be published in September. I look forward to reading your story. The only requirement is that it should be 100 words or fewer and have the heading "100-word challenge". Send them to worthingflash@gmail.com I will still welcome longer stories within the 1000 word limit of course.

The Parting Gift "Shabnam," the middle-aged lady with the golden-glow on her face from the last rays of the fast-dipping sun, whimpered to someone. "Look, who's here." "Hi, Neil. Nice to see you," the stunning looker, who came to the door, exclaimed animatedly.  I stood transfixed at the door. The fragrance from the delicate perfume she wore was making me dizzy. Two years junior to all of my twenty-eight years, in a sari that matched her radiant skin, with curly hair and large, dark eyes on a heart-shaped face, Shabnam was - how do you describe her - soft and doughy? Know what I mean? She was someone you could mould to be your life partner, man.  "Are you going to keep him waiting at the door, or calling him in?" The elder lady asked from inside. "Oh, sorry. Please come in," the younger chimed as I followed her inside.  Something inside my head was telling me to relax as I had reached my destination.  #######################...

THE SILENCE BETWEEN STATIONS RAJAN V KOKKURI, ATTOOR It was my annual vacation once again in Kerala. After arriving in my hometown, I spent a day in my native village. I woke up early in the morning hearing the devotional songs from the nearby temple. I also could listen to the chipping sound of little birds and the sound of small creatures around the greenery of the village house. There was a little drizzling of raindrops, which made my day very enthusiastic too. As a practice that day also, I woke up early and went for my morning walk through the paddy field. Kuttan dropped me behind Mullurkara Railway Station and pointed toward a narrow pathway leading to the platform. After he left, I stood for a moment, taking in the surroundings. Much had changed, yet the place still held the quiet familiarity of my childhood. The Memu train from Shoranur to Ernakulam was due in half an hour. Instead of waiting, I walked to the nearby temple. Renovation work was underway; the structure look...

In Forever Town, I saw those who were content and happy, and those who felt overwhelmed and burdened by life. I felt each of these, unpredictably, at different times. When I was young, in my teens, my family had business in other places. So, I would stay in Forever Town, trying to be an adult, all on my own. Paying bills; feeding my brother, boyfriend, and whoever else was around; caring for the house and property; gardening; and mowing grass, because it does grow endlessly in Forever Town. Trying to be a good person, as that also goes. Soon I found that people who seemed to be my friends, even my boyfriend, really all had problems of their own. I was just a little girl, in a rather small Forever Town, hoping for the best, and trying to prepare for the worst. My investments took the shape of friendships, because none had any money in Forever Town. Sometimes I would buy friends items, sometimes I would feed friends, and often times, when things were tough, I was alone. Alone in Fore...