Welcome to the one hundred and 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 dialogue of one couple talking about another, so here is my 219-worder.
Neighbourhood Watch
“Come away from the window.”
“She’s outside again.”
“Who?”
“Mavis.”
“…So?”
“Come, look.”
“No, thank you.”
“Norman, look.”
“Just tell me if you have to. I’m trying to read the paper. Besides Barney’s too comfortable to move and I can’t reach my tea from there.”
“There’s someone following her.”
“What do you mean ‘following’?”
“Coming out the house after her.”
“Right. And does she look OK about that?”
“Well… yes but…”
“But?… Ethel?”
“They’re kissing!”
“Oh, good. ’bout time she…”
“No, Norman!”
“Why ‘no’?”
“It’s not right.”
“Why not?”
“It’s broad daylight.”
“Oh Ethel! You’re so old-fash…”
“Someone might be watching!”
“Someone is watching. Aren’t they Barney?”
“You’d think she’d be a bit more respectful.”
“Of what?”
“Not what, Norman.”
“Alright then, who?”
“Whom, Norman.”
“Of whom, Ethel?”
“Of her neighbours.”
“Of you, dear.”
“Yes, Norman, and our friends.”
“The neighbours.”
“Of course. They’re not just neighbours, Norman. You’ve not been here all day to really appreciate them, have you? While you’ve been working all your life…”
“Happy days.”
“While you’ve been at work, I’ve been representing the two of us in the community.”
“I bet you have, dear.”
“You don’t realise what goes on when you’re not here.”
“No dear, but you do.”
“Of course. It’s all part of the Neighbourhood Watch.”
“We don’t have…”
“Not yet, Norman.”
***
Photography courtesy of morguefile.com.
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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.
