Welcome to the sixty-fifth in this daily series that is ‘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 story from the prompt word of ‘flour’, so here is my 252-worder.
Ruby’s revenge
As Ruby added the flour to the bowl it reminded her of her skiing trip the previous summer; the fated fortnight with Adam… or Adam and the chalet maid to be exact.
Ruby had booked it as a make-or-break and whilst she had hoped for ‘make’, Adam had clearly had other ideas. Not that he knew that Ruby had found out – still didn’t and was right now settled on the sofa watching the rugby while she made his birthday cake.
The maid, Brigetta, with Abba-blonde hair, had left a bracelet on the bedside table, Ruby recognising it from the bar the previous night, where Brigetta moonlighted, serving over-priced cocktails to tourists there for the après ski.
Tucking a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear, Ruby grabbed the bowl and whisked the mixture, ignoring puffs of white powder that flew over the top. Seven birthday cakes she’d make Adam, with six Christmas cakes in between. They were her forte and she’d even taken on a few unplanned orders from their neighbours; cherry sponge for Arnold, Martha’s citrus fruitcake, cupcakes for Bobby. She liked to try something different… like Adam and his Swede.
After pouring the mixture into a tin, Ruby turned up the oven and pulled open the door. The hinges squeaked as she did so and reminded her of the passenger door on Adam’s beloved MG.
Smiling, Ruby shut the oven and turned off the heat. She picked up the cake tin, Adam’s car keys and headed for the garage.
***
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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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
