Tag / Short Fiction

by Colette

Maybe She Needs A Bigger Table

Written by Fantasy Girl

dining table

The table will be set for three at exactly 7.24pm every evening.
Image Courtesy of http://www.dailymoderation.com

Tea will be served at precisely 7.24 pm, just as it is every evening. The table will be set for three around the small square at which they will eat. Three meals will be put on the place mats. Only one person will be there. Only one person will eat.

She never changed her routine, even after the incident. She still bought clothes for the other two. She still washed them. She still ironed them. She would even put them away for them. She would have conversations, seemingly with herself; about what they should have for dinner, about what was on telly that night, or what film they should go see at the weekend. Nothing changed. It never changed.

It’d been ten years since the incident, ten years since they died. The car went under. She was the only one to get out. Why couldn’t she save them? Why didn’t they let her die too? Because she’s a survivor, that’s why. She had always been a survivor – when her parents died, when her husband and child died… funnily enough in the same way.

Or maybe that was the point – that she was meant to be alone – that they were all meant to die, and she was meant to survive? But what kind of survival is this? Living in the past, believing they are still alive, believing that they will one day be home for dinner.

Because that’s why she sets the table, you know, not because she doesn’t know they’re dead. Of course she knows. But because she believes that one day they will return, and be home at 7.24 pm for dinner. And maybe they will bring mum and dad too… maybe she needs a bigger table.

by Colette

It’s July And Inkblots Is Back!

july

Happy 4th July Everyone!

Hey Inkblotters, we’re finally back from our two-month break, have you missed us? Well, we’ve certainly missed giving you great content on a weekly basis to read, that’s for sure. And as July is setting up to be an absolute scorcher for a month – if the start of this weekend is anything to go by – then we’ve got some hot, hot, hot material to feast your eyes on. But before I get to the good part, there’s a few (possibly quite boring) bits the Inkblots team need to address first.

There’s been a few changes to the administration and editing team for our website, and as sad as we were to see Sparky go, he’s gone off to pursue his dream as a Maths teacher and will be starting his PGCE in September. He’ll still be around, but only as a writer not an editor. With Sparky gone, the position needed to be filled, and luckily Doishy was up to the job. He’ll be starting this month to upload and edit Inkblots’ content, and we’re sure he’s going to do a cracking job.

Another slight change to our regular content is with regards to The Friday Frenzy – although very successful, our writers also have very busy lives and sometimes a night out on the town is just too hard to resist! But the Frenzy hasn’t disappeared – we recognise a great concept, after all – so it’s had a bit of a name change and is now The Fiction Frenzy! The competition and its rules have changed somewhat as it’s now taking place either quarterly or tri-annually throughout the year – we haven’t decided yet! When The Fiction Frenzy does take place, however, it will be over the course of the third or fourth month, so you’ve got a bunch more time to send in those entries. We’ll update those details in a blog post further down the line.

We also have a new event taking place this weekend – short notice, we know – but if you remember back to our two-month breather post, we mentioned that a Review Day would be taking place in the summer. Well, summer is here and so is SWORD (Summer Writing Open Review Day) which will take place on Saturday 6th July, midnight to midnight. The aim of this event is to encourage writers to submit their work for review and return the reviews (or critiques) to other writers who have also submitted work for SWORD. This event is strictly happening on The Inkwell, so if you’d like to read more about it, you can do so here.

I realise this post is now becoming extremely long, and if you’re still with me, I’ve got to thank you with a virtual cupcake: *hands through the screen*. While you’re chomping that down, and before I finish my tea, Inkblots has seven posts scheduled this month. From some incredibly deep and emotional poetry from Lost in a Dream and Dizzy Dazzle, to some great and dark short fiction from both Fantasy Girl and Lumberjacktom. And last but not least, the HHC theme for this month is SERENDIPITY – as always, if you wish to enter this month just send your entries into creativewritinginkwell@hotmail.com. Remember, you only have half an hour!

Thanks for sticking with us Inkblotters, and we hope you enjoy our content this month.

– Silver, Inkblots Editor

by Colette

Sophie in Wonderland

Written by Fantasy Girl 

It’s not Alice, it’s Sophie.
Image Courtesy of http://www.fanpop.com

Alice was her name – my great-aunt on my mother’s side. There are no pictures any more, no paintings like there used to be, not that I was alive when they were there… forty years ago, maybe? Fifty?

She was insane, that’s what they said. She had strange dreams, claimed they were true. She would say they sat at a table, and drank out of old tea cups with broken handles, with a rabbit, and a door mouse, and a man in a green hat. And sometimes there would be a cat too, who would always smile. And a caterpillar that would blow rings and words out of the smoke from his pipe. She was insane, I get it, but…

I never got to meet her. Mum and Dad would visit her in the mental asylum, with my nanna and granddad. They wouldn’t let me go too. I was ‘too young’, I was ‘too impressionable’. In other words, they were ashamed of her. They didn’t want me to be tarred with the same brush and they didn’t want me to have any connection with her.  Continue reading →

by Colette

A Severe Lack of Continuation of an Individual

Written by Doishy

Frankie says Relax, or in this case, Doishy says it. Image Courtesy of wallitup.com

[soundtrack – please play.]

A pristine white wall stood high and mighty within the centre of the sand. Despite its environment it seemed to give out an aura of utter cleanliness with the sun glaring down and reflecting on its surface. This same light caught a small droplet as it floated across the sky, a small dark spot in the air with a small red glow below it due to the light. This droplet’s journey took it to the wall where it hit and scattered itself into, almost, a star of red. This star was soon not alone and the wall become a galaxy of red and white until none of its original colour remained.

Now that we have the scene ladies and gentlemen, I shall turn off the lovely soundtrack that has been playing [music stop] and let you imagine the sound of the chainsaw whirring as it grinds its way through a mans body. Continue reading →