Going to the store early

The idea was to beat the rush and get round the isles and back out as fast as possible. But at that time of the morning there was only one till operator on and I hate automated checkouts and their inevitable glitches.

I noticed the old duchess in front of me sway slightly as she loaded the conveyor with bread, processed meat wrapped on trays, a carton of six individual iced cakes, a family tin of assorted shortbread biscuits, a small jar of coffee, a half-litre of semi-skimmed, a share bag of salted peanuts, a one-litre bottle of no-name gin, two one-litre bottles of store-brand tonic, a three-litre box of white wine and a copy of the local weekly rag. She then rummaged in her bag for her purse and loyalty card before extracting ... every ... last ... bit ... of ... small ... change ... she had with which to settle the bill.

"Making you wait mister, aren't I?" she said, slurring her words from behind a trowelled mask of make-up.

I smiled, said nothing, and looked down at my feet - treating this episode as an exercise in understanding, patience and grace. After all, I knew from my own past just what the day ahead held for her.

Matthew 7:1-5

Please can you tell your father

Before a spell as a marine commando in his younger days the old man was an apprentice boat builder. But now the hospital was refusing his requests for a tot of rum. "Mr Cameron, please will you tell your father he can't have alcohol in here?" the doctor implored. The old boy must have thought he'd ended up in a hospice or some sort of palliative care. Ross had a word with him. A crestfallen silence followed. Visiting time now over, Ross promised to come again tomorrow. The old man gave a knowing stare at his only remaining son. "Take care of yourself," he said. These were the final words Ross heard from him. By the following day his dad had slipped from consciousness. A nurse suggested Ross just sit with him. Listening to the death rattle, he was reminded of the previous year with his older brother. ...

Back from the old road

My stomach had rumbled steadily over the past hundred or so miles. There was nothing for it, I'd have to find somewhere to pull in and eat. As luck would have it I saw just the place - a little truckers restaurant sat back from the old road. Inside and out cane seats sat under clean formica tabletops. There were no other customers around, maybe because it was by now way past lunchtime. A coffee machine hissed from the kitchen and a radio played hits from yesteryear. Soon a man wearing an apron appeared and took my order. As I tucked in to the generous portion of ham and eggs, followed by pancakes drowning in maple syrup and ice cream, the man told me how his family had opened the place the previous century. He said business became tight a few years ago when the local plant, a big employer, relocated south. "My name's John, by the way," he said, "I hate that it's...

Surfer with the white hair

Whenever possible he would sit with his back to the wall, facing out into the room. His features gaunt, his hair shot through with white, he seemed a man old before his time. No one really knew what he looked at time and time again on the screen. Though many tried to guess, he himself said nothing. Rumours started. But that's all they were - rumours. After all wasn't he using shared Wi-Fi in a public library? Hadn't they checked the router logs more than once already? Until, that is, the day the librarian, the petite brunette, crept up quietly ... only for her hands to shoot up, her jaw to drop and her eyes to widen. "Oh my ..." she gasped, struggling for breath, "I, uh ........" "Well now you know," snarled the surfer, looking at her now gaunt face, at her own sudden shock of ...

MAN MADE FLASH FICTION

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