The Prison Guard

My great uncle used to have more keys than anyone I’ve ever known.

Mum said it was because he used to be a prison guard. She said that’s why he always locked one door before opening another even at home and years after his retirement.

It was for that reason I hated visiting him, but mum said it was our duty as his wife had left him years ago and they had no children.

I hated it there because we all had to be in the same room and wait for him to lock and unlock doors to get out.

Luckily we never stayed for that long.

But then came the time when great uncle got sick and I had to go with mum to look after him.

At least we held the keys this time as he was too ill to get out of the bed.

One night I took the keys and went exploring opening door after door.

Until I opened a door to the basement.

I can never forget the skeleton still tight to a pipe with a rope.

Turns out great auntie never left at all.

The Weather Forecast

The TV meteorologist forecast potential snow.

That suited you perfectly. It was ideal weather for revenge you thought as you let out the break fluids of his car.

Words From The Heart

“This is impossible.” Joanna tore the page out.

She crunched it up and threw it in the bin where it landed on a growing pile of discarded sheets.

For days she had been trying to get the words from her heart on to the paper, but it always came out corny.

“Just write what you feel,” her friend had advised her when Joanna had complained to her.

It was easier said than done. There was so much Joanna wanted to say.

Ben would know what to say, but he wasn’t here to help her.

He had known the right words when he rescued her from the unwanted attentions of some lager louts the night they met.

Or when he had proposed to her and made her the happiest she had ever been.

His words were always so perfect and from the heart.

How on earth was she expected to match them?

“Joanna, it’s time to go.” Her mum appeared behind her. She kissed Joanna on the head. “Don’t worry, my dear, you’ll know exactly what to say when the time comes.”

She’d had to. Somehow.

And mum was right. When she stood in front of all those who’d known Ben, the words came to her.

The right words to honour the man who was no longer by her side. Whose love she would miss until they were united again.

The Girl In A Plaid Dress

Jamie holds up two ties in front of the mirror. The dark blue or the black? He wishes he could ask Evie, but she’s not here.

He’s all alone except for the neighbour’s cat that has wandered in again. The cat knows Evie always has something for him. Realising there’s no Evie and therefore no treats the cat disappears back into the garden through the open window.

“I wish she was here, too. She’d know which tie is better with this suit,” Jamie says, still holding the ties against his suit.

He remembers the night they met. How Evie, pissed, had criticised the fact that he’d turned up in a pub in tracksuit bottoms.

She had been immaculate in a plaid dress and kitten heels. She charmed Jamie with her blue eyes and ready smile.

But it had been her infectious laugh that he had fallen for. And he’d spent the evening making her laugh.

“I think you should let me take you out,” he’d said at the end of the evening.

“Ok, on one condition.” She had laughed and pointed at his tracksuit bottoms. “If you promise not to wear those.”

Jamie had promised and she’d rewarded him with her phone number.

From the moment they met, he knew she was the one.

And he still knows there’s nobody else for him as he chats with the priest in front of the altar.

Then the music begins. He swallows, wipes a tear from his eye and turns to face the opening doors.

And then, a smile. There she is. His girl in the plaid dress.