Church Street was always busy with people bustling and yelling, and Mummy normally kept me very close. Today she let me play outside the butcher’s shop while she bought something for tea, but she warned me to stay by the window.
Funny, it was getting noisier at the end of the street, and there seemed to be a lot more people. A lady hit me on the head with her handbag, and although I didn’t cry I thought I should go inside.
Once I was back in the shop, trying not to look at the poor Peter Rabbits sleeping in the window, I peeped out of the door, tippy-toeing to try and see what the noise was about. Mummy hadn’t noticed anything, she was arguing with Mr Possett.
“Of course I need three chops,” she said. “Heaven knows they aren’t that big, and Flora’s a growing girl.”
Mr Possett muttered something through his beard as he swung his heavy red knife into a block of meat.
“I know it’ll cost, Mr Possett. Doesn’t everything nowadays?” Mummy put her ration book on the counter, shuffled her change in her purse and frowned.
I still couldn’t see what the noise was about. All I’d heard was a single shout, then a few more, then more still. The noise grew louder and louder, but still Mummy didn’t hear.
I decided that this was more important than chops.
“Mummy, what’s that shouting?” I asked.
“Not now, Flora,” she snapped.
“But Mummy, the shouting, what is it?” I asked.
“I said not now! For God’s sake.”
“But the shouting,” I whimpered.
I looked out again, and this time saw a crowd of people dancing up the street. They were laughing and cheering–was it a birthday party? A circus?
I looked at Mummy and Mr Possett, but they hadn’t heard. Mummy was counting out some pennies and looking like she usually looked when I’d done something naughty and was going to get a smack.
A man ran into the shop. His face was red and shiny, and he was smiling as wide as a frog.
“It’s over!” he cried. “It’s over! We won! They bloody surrendered! We won!”
Oh-oh, he said a naughty word.
The man glanced down and saw me staring at him.
“Is your Daddy a soldier?” he asked.
I nodded.
“He’ll be home soon to give you a big hug. And your Mummy too–won’t that be fun?” He thrust a coin into my hand and ran off, laughing as he rejoined the crowd.
I ran to Mummy and tugged her sleeve hopefully.
“Will Daddy be home? Is it true?”
Mummy stood there, tightly holding her purse in both hands.
“Mummy? Is Daddy coming home?”She looked down.
“Yes, he’s coming home. It’ll be strange, that’s all–you’ve grown so much!” She smiled.
I thought of something else and tugged again.
“And Daddy will be so pleased that Uncle Harry’s been looking after us, won’t he?”
Mummy kept smiling, but she was crying too. She must have been very happy to start crying, I knew that grown-ups did that sometimes.
I looked down at the coin still in my hand. A shilling, all for me! And Daddy was coming home too! This was really, really, the best day I’d ever had.
Nicola Horn is a part-time writer, frustrated by the demands of real life. Inspiration comes to her from anywhere–an overheard conversation, another person’s story. When she grows old she will become a scary cat-lady.
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16 Responses to “THE END • by Nicola Horn”
Comments
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June 18th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Delightful flash.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Oh dear…there’ll be trouble when he finds out how helpful Harry has been…
June 18th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Wonderful!!! Visual, told well through the child’s eyes!
June 18th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I love how the story the little girl is telling is totally different from her mother’s story and how the readers can discern both. That is a mark of good writing! Great job!
June 18th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Really enjoyed reading your story. Had no idea where it was going or what was going to happen, but it held my attention and made me want to find out. Thanks.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Great story, Nicola. Two tales in one–and Oonah’s right about the trouble with Harry.Oh, dear!!
–dj
June 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Short and complex. Well done.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Child’s sight is a wonderful tool in writing, especially when you lead your audience to the truth. Great work here.
June 19th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Nice, Nicola. You said a lot without saying it. I like this story.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Hi Nicki,
I really like the depth to The End. Very nice twisted tale.
LE
x
June 19th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Thank you everyone for your comments - glad you liked it! It’s sites like this that can be so encouraging. x
June 20th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Touching, and very well-told. That’s some Good writing there. Only one little typo: in the beginning, an apostrophe is missing in butchers shop.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Good eye! Typo taken care of, thanks.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Dang. Sometimes our stupid admin script changes apostrophes into quotation marks and I have to go through by hand to remove them. Looks like I missed one!
June 20th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I loved the innocence of the girl’s tale, the sterness of her mother and then giggled at the ending. How many were caught out I wonder? Great flash.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:36 am
I love the way you tell the story without actually telling it. There are many explanations for the mother’s response to the ‘good’ news but we are left in no doubt that her feelings are totally opposite to everyone elses.