Wednesday 28 December 2016

Green for Danger

Penny Rogers                       

 gin and angostura bitters                       

 

The atmosphere in Stephanie’s lounge crackled. The two women had never found each other’s company particularly easy, and now they scarcely tolerated each other. On her 60th birthday, Kayla decided it was time to bury the hatchet with Stephanie, who was after all, her only relation. 

            So Kayla emailed to ask if she could visit, and received a curt reply indicating that Stephanie would be available at 3.15 on the day suggested.

            The interior of her cousin’s house was just as she remembered it, tasteful and very dull. Kayla refused to take off her shoes as she sashayed into the lounge. Stephanie, muttering about heels ruining the solid oak floor, did not immediately notice the occupant of the shoes homing-in on the mantelpiece.

            ‘Darling, where did you get this beauty?’ Kayla’s eyes fell upon Stephanie’s treasure, a small green horse that she had found in a car boot sale. ‘It’s jade. I have one that matches exactly. A pair is worth so much more than just one. Can we do a deal?’ 

            ‘No. We can’t both own the pair, and I’m happy just having one,’ snapped Stephanie. Kayla shrugged her shoulders and left immediately after tea. Stephanie was suspicious, so in anticipation of a follow-up visit she hid the figurine and found a plastic imitation on eBay to replace it.

She never saw either horse again; neither did she see the green Audi that knocked her down. Kayla overcame her grief by organising the disposal of Stephanie’s belongings, though she gave up as soon as she found the jade horse.

About the author 

Penny Rogers writes short stories and flash fiction, though recently she has written some poetry. She has been published in anthologies including Henshaw Treats (2015), This Little World (2015) and Best of CafĂ© Lit 5 (2016) as well as in Bare Fiction, Writers’ Forum and South. She is an intermittent blogger and would like more people to follow her as she is sure this would encourage her to write more entries. https://pennyrogers.wordpress.com/

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