Tales From The Town #18: The Eggs

“Mum! Mum! The eggs hatched!”

“The eggs?” Agnes said.

“The eggs at school!”

“They were in an incubator!” The way Ethel said this she made it sound like four separate words rather than one whole one – ‘ink you bay tor’.

“There were three chicks!”

“And two ducks!”

“And an alligator!”

“And a shark!”

“There wasn’t a shark?!” Agnes said.

“There was!”

“It drowned!”

“But in the air!”

“It was so sad!”

“It wasn’t that sad,” said Claire.

“It was.”

“It really was.”

“It was the saddest thing ever.”

“It does sound quite sad.”,” Agnes said.

“It wasn’t sad at all,” Claire insisted.

She looked out the window at the graves in the garden. She couldn’t understand why she wanted to cry.

__________

Notes:

1. Written on the 7th and 8th of May, 2021

__________

Support An Accumulation Of Things

If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi.

Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

Thank you!


Tales From The Town #17: Emergency Repairs

“There, there, little one,” the witch said. “All done now.”

The doll slowly raised her stiff little arm up and touched her stiff little face with her stiff little hand. She blinked and winked and chuckled. She had a new eye! Now she wouldn’t look so creepy at all!

“It suits you,” the witch said, as the doll fluttered those stiff little eyelids at her. She leaned down and wiped a droplet of blood from the doll’s cheek. “I don’t know where the crows find them. And still fresh too. I bet you could cry now if you wanted to.”

The doll shook her head and gave an eerie little giggle instead. She was too happy to cry.

“Now, let’s talk about my fee,” the witch said. “I hope you’ve got a good secret for me, dearie?”

The doll nodded her stiff little head and then stood up on her stiff little legs and tottered over to the edge of the table and whispered her secret into the witch’s ear.

“Ooh, that is a good little secret,” the witch said. “A good little secret indeed!”

In the queue by the door, the other broken little dolls all strained to hear what their sister said. They hoped her secret wasn’t the same as theirs. The last thing a doll wanted was to be in debt to a witch.

__________

Notes:

1. Written between the 4th and the 6th of May, 2021

__________

Support An Accumulation Of Things

If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi.

Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

Thank you!


Tales From The Town #16: Broadcast Media

They had it all set up. They were going to make a video and upload it to youtube.

Daniel pressed record.

There were thirty seconds of silence.

“What’s wrong?” Tina whispered from off camera.

“I can’t think of anything to say,” said Ethel.

“Good,” said Claire. This hadn’t been her idea at all.

“Shut up!”

“You shut up!”

“I will!” said Ethel.

“Good!”

There were thirty seconds of silence.

“Why don’t you say something, Claire?” Tina suggested.

“I don’t want to say anything!”

Good,” said Ethel.

“Shut up!”

“You shut up!”

“I already have!” Claire said.

“Good!”

There were thirty seconds of silence.

Daniel pressed stop.

They did not upload it to youtube.

__________

Notes:

1. Written between the 4th and the 6th of May, 2021

__________

Support An Accumulation Of Things

If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi.

Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

Thank you!


Tales From The Town #15: Summer

A Summer’s Day

“It’s hot,” Tina said.

“It’s really hot,” Claire agreed.

“It’s too hot,” Ethel insisted.

“It’s not hot enough,” said Daniel.

A Summer’s Night

It was dark outside. Really dark. You couldn’t see a thing. But you could hear it all. It went on and on. It would not stop. Don’t they ever sleep out there?

__________

Notes:

1. Written on May 6th, 2021

__________

Support An Accumulation Of Things

If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi.

Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

Thank you!


Tales From The Town #14: The Little Drummer Girl

The little drummer girl walked barefoot through the woods, her hair fluttering in the breeze like the flag of a forgotten kingdom. She had walked these lands since the civil war. She would walk them till the next. A trail of blood, a trail of bones. This country of ours is an endless grave. Only the beat of her drum keeps the dead asleep.

“She’s definitely a ghost,” Ethel said, as she peered out from behind the tree to a get a better look.

“She’s not a ghost,” said Claire. “She’s a musician.”

__________

Notes:

1. Written on May 6th, 2021
2. The title is from a John le Carre novel
3. But mostly I was thinking of this Tom Vek video
4. Which I love more than I should

__________

Support An Accumulation Of Things

If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi.

Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

Thank you!