Welcome to the fifty-sixth in the series: 5pm Fiction.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a dialogue where a character has lost something, so here is my 188-worder.
It brought him luck last time
“Mum, where’s my tie?”
“Which one?”
“The blue one.”
“You’ve got dozens of blue ties.”
“The one with the white dots.”
“Oh, that one.”
“And?”
“Washing basket.”
“Washed washing basket or to be washed washing basket?”
“To be washed. Your dad borrowed it and got curry sauce down it.”
“Mum!”
“Wear another one!”
“But it’s my lucky one.”
“Sorry, Sam.”
“Any chance…?”
“Sorry, got to take Mrs Talbot to…”
“Oh mum! Why did Dad borrow it anyway?”
“To take a client out for dinner.”
“But he’s got loads of ties.”
“He said it brought him luck last time…”
“Last time! He knew I had a job interview today… in an hour! What am I supposed to do now?”
“You’re going to have to pick something else… what about the black one with the grey…”
“But I’m wearing a black suit. It’ll look like I’m going to a funeral.”
“The job is at an undertakers, Sam.”
“I know but they’ll think I’m taking the pi…”
“Sam!”
“Well, it’ll be like me putting on a Welsh accent when I’m speaking to someone from…”
“Wales, yes. Sam. Interview… an hour… tie?”
***
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Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) 
on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.
