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 Café 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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