It’s two a.m., the Christmas party’s over. On the coach back to Reading I'm talking to Sue, who I don't know well. Everyone’s either drunk or asleep except Sue, the driver and me.
"How will you get home?"
"My husband's collecting me."
"How long have you been married?"
"Twenty-six years." She doesn't look old enough.
“Twenty-six years! What’s the secret of your success?” I’m always keen to pick up tips.
She doesn’t pause.
“I have a lot of affairs.”
It’s two a.m., the party’s over, I’m on the coach home. Everyone’s either drunk or asleep, except the driver and me.
[Blue Italics Of Housekeeping: I thought I'd have a week of doing a 100 Word blog post every day. If you have any suggestions for topics, leave them in the comments or drop me a line. Thanks!]
Proximity, and Revelation.
-
Usually, things are just the distance away that they seem to be. Neither
closer, nor further away, just where they should be. Our eyes find them
and,...
10 hours ago
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29 comments:
Nice. I love it.
Grand........and I love the punch line.
Heee - love it!
Ah, a perfect 100 words - stylish, subtle and succinct - just one of the secrets of your success.
This one was so good I'd be interested to see if you can top over the week.
I love 100 words.
Bwahahahah...that was great.
I have quite missed doing the 100 Word blog posts. I see other bloggers doing them - some very well, some not particularly well – and I think “Hold on! This was my idea!” (don’t worry, I’m not pretending to have invented them or anything) so it was odd to look back and realise I haven’t written many of them this year. I hope you like the ones I have lined up for this week, and do feel free to chip in with any suggested topics for future ones.
Nessa Roo – Thank you!
Lo – I’m glad. When you only have 100 words, it concentrates the mind wonderfully. The ending is important.
Jenn – Thank you, hope you enjoy the others this week!
Sharon – You’re too kind. I’ll be interested to see what you make of the others.
Robbie – I’ve written four of this week’s posts so far and it’s a very mixed bag of themes and styles. So we’ll see, you may like them, you may not.
@emllewellyn – Thanks! I should do them more often, the longer pieces can definitely drive some people away, it would be nice to mix it up a bit.
Nari – Good to see you dropping by. I’m pleased you liked this one.
If I'm straight with you I like these less than your other posts, I like it when you linger over your subject. I'd be tempted to say I don't really like flash non-fiction, but I'd be fibbing in an attempt to wind you up!
This is brilliantly done, irrespective of its length. It's perfectly stuctured, marvellously told. Bravo! Perfect short writing.
It's odd, some people really like them and some people don't. I guess some people find my usual blog posts far too long, so this might be preferable to them. I do try with the 100 word pieces to tell a story that wouldn't work if I lingered over it, so it's a great way to write about small nuggets that wouldn't justify a post in their own right.
I don't mind you saying you don't like flash non-fiction. You know how I feel about flash fiction.
Very clever. Perfect for the length, and it rivals the wedding ring piece you wrote quite a while back.
Thanks Hillary! I'm quite proud of some of the 100 Word blog posts I've written over the last two years and that wedding ring one is definitely one of them.
I prefer your longer posts too, but am short on time this week, so this suits me. You're off to a great start.
Normally, I love being succinct. I find that it increases possibilities for the reader.
However, today, I wrote more than 1000 and needed every one x
I really like this, I've been missing your 100 words posts ever since I found them in your backlogs.
This first time reader of your blog enjoyed this 100 words very much.
Love the ending of this one. Left me with one of those grins that will be here for a while.
Haha, what a very lovely start to a series of 100-worders. I'm a big fan of small texts, as much as I am big ones. The best vignettes transcend their small size. What's crucial is that the writing suits the format and here it does: succinct and a great witty reprise to finish. Looking forward to the next few.
I love 100 words post and I'm also doing them; I wish mine were half as good as yours. This one is brilliant.
Very clever, nicely done as always. I love the fact that she just goes to sleep after realising that she's perhaps said too much...oops!
Carole – Thank you! The shorter posts are very different to the longer ones, it’s interesting to see that some people prefer them. I do think good writing is good writing however long it is, but some stories feel too long or too short.
pam – I think it increases the possibility that your piece will be read, yes. People are busy and all that.
Shopgirl – Thank you! They’re here all week, and if you think of a subject you’d like me to write one about, let me know.
Norma – Welcome to the blog! How did you find me? I hope you stop by again.
Danger Boy – Glad you liked this one. Initially I was tempted to end it with what she said, I’m glad I thought again.
Matt – I agree with you that the writing has to suit the format. I try to write 100 Word posts about things that wouldn’t fit a longer format – on occasion pieces have started out as 100 Word posts and become posts in their own right because I thought it wouldn’t do the topic justice.
Starlight – Thank you. I’ve done them for almost two and a half years now!
Lou – Actually, she was quite unrepentant about it. But I like the way my ending leaves a lot open to question.
do one on eyes O.o
sweet pea - I'll see what I can do.
This is just so very brilliant.
One of your (many) best of the best 100 worders, loved it!!!!
Jennie - Thank you.
RoSe - That's really high praise. I have written so many of them over the last two and a half years. It's always lovely to see a comment from you.
sweet pea - As you wish. The post on eyes goes up later today.
I love it. Suggestion: the daily commute.
Thanks Lance. I'm afraid I didn't do this one, mainly because I've written about my daily commute many, many times.
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