Short Stories

Challenge - Photo Prompt - 250 Words  Ladies and Gentlemen, if you’ll follow me, we’ll begin the tour of the house. In the main hallway, you’ll see portraits of some of the former residents. This distinguished Gentleman is the fourteenth Earl of Cumberbatch, whose grandson owns the property today. There is a sad story regarding the fourteenth Earl, he was an inventor who spent many years trying to perfect a time machine. The family tried to persuade him to turn his talents to something more believable but one day he abandoned his work and is believed to have thrown himself into the river that flows through the estate. Today is the one hundredth anniversary of his disappearance. The next room was his workshop, and we still have his “time machine” on display although sadly it will never work. “Don’t you believe in time travel” came a voice from the back of the small crowd of visitors. “Certainly not” I replied. “It’s all stuff and nonsense”. “Ah, but wouldn’t it be fun if...

 Challenge - Photo Prompt - 250 Words Exactly I salvaged it from a box of old junk which was destined for the charity shop when my great uncle James passed away. I don’t know why I kept it as it didn’t fit with the décor in my tiny flat. It sat there on the small circular breakfast in the corner of the lounge. I’d taken it to a few antique and curiosity shops but nobody could reveal its secrets. Something about it drew me in, like a Siren’s song to unwary sailors. I started to have trouble sleeping. Strange dreams were waking me drenched in a cold sweat. In the mornings, my memory of the dreams was just out of reach. I finally boxed it up and hid it in in the airing cupboard. I slept soundly last night, but when I entered the lounge it was back on the table. I made a cup of tea then heard a knock on the front door. “Sorry to disturb you Miss, but I wondered if you heard anything untoward last night?” said the young police officer standing outside. “No” I replied...

  This story was inspired by the bravery of all the airmen during WWII and in particular to my wife's great uncle who gave his life when shot down over Holland. He was a Rear Gunner in a Short Stirling  A Pilot's Return  We were ambushed by a couple of ME109’s as we headed back to blighty after a bombing raid. We’d just crossed into Holland when they came out of the dark from altitude. Two of the Lancasters burst into flames before I realised we were under attack. I nailed one of them before the second got on my tail and bullets started tearing into the fuselage of my Spitfire. Rupert, my wingman, finally got in some telling shots and the Hun pilot peeled off to flee back to base. We were down to just one bomber and two escorts as we headed home with my engine beginning to smoke. I tried to gain altitude to put out the fire but to no avail. I signalled to Rups to go ahead without me and dropped low as I reached the North Sea. I limped the crate towards the Engli...

Night Owls It was just past dusk and I was lounging on the bench at the edge of the church yard watching the people scurrying by as they headed home from work. It gets dark so early at this time of year but the temperature has remained mild. I glanced up when I heard two female voices close by. “We’re going to be late Mary” said the taller of the two. “I knew we should’ve got the earlier bus” “We could always take the short cut through the graveyard” said Mary. “No chance, I’m not going through there in the dark, it gives me the heeby jeebies” stated her friend very firmly. “Technically it’s a Church Yard” I said “and it’s perfectly safe. The Ghoulies and Ghosties don’t come out until midnight” “What’s the difference?” asked Mary. “A church, graveyards don’t have one” I replied. “I’m heading that way myself, if you want company” “C’mon Jenny, it’ll save us a half hour and we won’t miss the start of the movie” “I dunno, I’ve heard all kinds of stories about the grave, sorr...

 Challenge - Photo Prompt - 100 Words Exactly We’d tracked the creature for miles, back to its lair in the mountains. The labyrinthine tunnels allowed it to pick off my hearty dwarven companions one by one in the dark.  Now I’m alone. I’ll have just the one opportunity to defeat the beast before it tears my weakened body to shreds I pulled out the magical scroll from my robe and started to remove the seal. I fumbled the case and it dropped from my fingers and rolled away into the dark “Darn it” I muttered as the abomination slipped from the shadows and extended its wicked looking claws

Challenge - Photo Prompt - 69 Words Exactly  I suppose it’s fitting that I end my days in a place so devoid of life. The visitors stopped coming following the trial, until then they believed in me. The jury of twelve decided that I’m guilty but too sick to go to federal prison. The irony is that my wife would’ve visited, had I not smothered the life from her frail body over a heated game of Scrabble

 Challenge - Photo Prompt - Exactly 150 Words Miles from the nearest road, deep inside the forest, we stumbled on an abandoned sofa. “The fly-tippers are making an effort round her” chuckled my husband. “Seems like a good spot to stop” he said as he removed our picnic from his rucksack. I looked for a flat area to lay out the blanket and noticed several piles of small bones, likely from a rat or a squirrel or possibly a fox. It’d been a long hike and I needed to pee so I headed off into the trees to take care of it. When I returned I found the picnic all laid out but of my husband there was no sign. I called his name but received no reply. I waited twenty minutes, but he didn’t return. It was only then that I spotted a new pile of bones in front of the sofa, complete with a human skull 

 Challenge - Photo Prompt - Exactly 33 Words I’ve been here for days. No amount of layers can drive away the cold in my bones. Some idiot dropped two fifty pence pieces into my coffee. Going undercover is definitely not fun. 

Challenge - Photo Prompt - Exactly 150 words I spotted her strolling along the lane that leads to my country estate dragging a bright yellow cuddly lion behind her. I pulled over and wound down my window. “Hey there, are you lost?” I asked in my most child friendly voice. “Yes Mister” she sobbed, “my Daddy said to wait here and he’d be back, but I don’t think he is coming” “Why don’t you jump in the back and I’ll take you back to my house and we can try contacting him” “Fanks Mister” she said and her eyes lit up with glee. I’d not driven more than 50 yards when I heard a metallic click and felt something cold and hard pressed into the back of my head and a gravelly voice growled “The game’s up Mister, you’ve abducted your last victim” I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the lion clutching a .45 revolver. 

The alien invasion happened so quickly that even our top space agencies were taken by complete surprise. They arrived in vast mother-ships and disgorged their soldiers into all our major cities. Our weapons appeared to be completely ineffective and our military were decimated where they stood. We regrouped and tried to look for weaknesses in their defenses but to no avail. With our government in hiding and those who were able to fleeing to the uninhabited areas of our lands it was only a matter of a few days before the visitors had control of most of the planet. We lived in a remote equatorial village and mistakenly thought that we’d be safe, but how wrong could we be. We’d just finished lunch on a warm Sunday afternoon when one of the aliens appeared in the back yard. Panic set in as I realised that my daughter was missing from the house. I watched from the window as she approached the murderous beast from across the galaxy and saw that the pair appeared to be commu...

  The Human race has always been fascinated by robots. Back in the middle of the twentieth century they put them in their movies and their Televisual offerings. Before they had the technology they cobbled them together with cardboard boxes, silver paint and old wire coat hangers. Later they started hiding very small people inside costumes to allow the ‘robots’ to move about. As technology evolved I saw my chance. I graduated from RADA and obtained my Equity card thinking the movie industry would jump at the chance to employ a bona fide self-willed unit operating at the cutting edge of current tech.   Then the protests started. Employing a robot would put a Human out of work declared the placards. Completely untrue complaints started to come in of robots abusing young actresses, not so much Me Too as Me R2D2. It’s cheaper to use CGI cried the production companies and that just about finished me off. My dream to be a movie star was in ruins. Then I got my big break. An...

  I’ve always loved coming to the park, just to sit and watch the world go by. I bring my notepad so I can plan out the coming week. I’ve done this since my husband passed away just eighteen months after we got married, but that was over forty years ago now. I like to plan, I hate surprises and like to feel that I’m mistress of my own destiny. I’m the same at work, everything is mapped out to the smallest detail. Shift rotas, stock deliveries and all manner of arrangements to make my week as stress free as possible. The last few years have been difficult. First there was the COVID pandemic which disrupted the best laid plans of a care home administrator and then there were the tightening of the regulations which called for a whole lot more planning and organisation. I’m a creature of habit you see and after the insurance money from my husband’s unexpected death ran out, I needed another way to fund mine. It was so easy, get the old dears to put a small bequeath in their wil...

  The note said to be at the bench nearest the west entrance to the park, so here I was, tightly wrapped in my old army greatcoat. I arrived fifteen minutes early in the hope I’d be able to check the area, but the sudden fog limited my vision to just a few yards. I should’ve been more careful. I never should’ve left her alone when I went back into the house to get my pipe. As I sat there, I thought back over the last three days. I hunted high and low for her. I visited all her favourite places, but I found no evidence that she had been present. Then came the letter. The Victorian style peasouper intensified, and I was distracted by the calls of the crows nesting in the nearby tree. What if I never see her again? What if she’d been hurt? I heard feet approaching on the stone path. Could this be who I’m here to meet? With my heart in my mouth, I turned to peer into the gloom as a large shape materialised from the mist. False alarm, it was a bobby on his beat, likely hea...

  Friday Fictioneers Challenge - Photo Prompt - Exactly 100 words PHOTO PROMPT©Dale Rogerson The whole village is talking about it. “Have you seen it?” “Where did it come from?” We’re a small village so the slightest thing becomes a gossip point. “Well, it’s nothing to do with the council” crowed Mrs Evans “or I’d know about it” “The guides aren’t involved” exclaimed Brown Owl and the scouts are away at camp. “Is it the new chap at the bookshop trying to attract customers?” asked Mr Stiles from the post office. It’s so much fun watching everyone put on their metaphorical deerstalkers…the game is afoot Maybe I’ll own up once I’ve had my fun

Photo Prompt - No Word Limit Mobsters  I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve got a lot of enemies in Chicago. It comes with the territory. You can’t be a mafia boss without everyone wanting a piece of you. On this particular warm June day, I’d sent my bodyguard Giacomo down to the local bakery for cannoli, nobody makes them like Luigi apart from my Grandma back in Sicily. I got up to retrieve the bottle of 15-year-old single malt from the drinks cabinet when the inner door to my office burst inwards and three masked goons in tailor made Italian suits spilled through the doorway clutching Chicago Typewriters. My gun was in the top drawer of my desk and too far away to be of any use, so I raised my hands. “Come in gentlemen, what can I do for you today? I’m sure we can settle any misunderstanding without this getting violent”. “Put this on” snarled the taller of the men “and shut up, capiche”. He threw an old grain sack at me and jerked the muzzle of his Tommy Gun to indicate I should...

  Challenge - Photo Prompt - No Word Limit The Pen They say that the pen is mightier than the sword and what happened in the classroom today was certainly not how I’d interpreted the phrase. This week we switched to fountain pens in our history lesson. Not the nice modern ones with ink cartridges, these were the old fashioned ones that you have to constantly dip into a small pot of black ink. “What next?” We cried. Deportment lessons with books balanced on our heads or bringing back the dunces hat if you get a question wrong? I had problems with the pen, my handwriting was never the best and the scratchy nib did nothing to improve it but I got by Dave on the next desk to me wasn’t so lucky, you see he’s left handed and south paws (an obscure boxing term) have a tendency to push the pen across the page rather than pull it like us regular folk. The upshot of this technique is that the slow drying ink ends up smeared across the paper and all over poor Dave’s hand. As Dave got more and...