Welcome to the two hundred and eighty-fourth in this series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered 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 have since published (as eBooks) the 2012 and 2013 collections, detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories/story-a-day-may.
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 one-word prompt of ‘yellow’. Here is my 163-worder.
Once A Month
She’d been on before. Dan recognised her brooch, yellow like the bus, but it wasn’t until she handed over the £2 coin, that he spotted the bandages round each wrist.
He handed over the change. He wasn’t supposed to – the rules were exact money only and it was only 40p, but it gave him an excuse to speak. “I like your sunflower,” he said, but felt it a lame thing to say.
“Thanks,” she said, looking down at the coins and blushing.
“Nice to see you again,” he continued.
“You remembered?”
Dan nodded.
“Once a month,” she said, tears forming.
Unsure of what to say, Dan felt as if he’d been let into a secret.
A man behind the woman coughed and as she put the change into her purse, Dan was sure he spotted a hint of a smile.
He watched her walk towards the back of the bus and hoped he didn’t have to wait another month before they spoke again.
***
Photograph above courtesy of morguefile.com.
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Morgen 'with an E' Bailey 