Rob Kitchin's Blog, page 9
July 3, 2021
Spitting image
The woman passed the table, stopped and looked back.
‘Here we go,’ Martin said.
‘What?’ Carol replied.
‘Wow, you’re …’
‘I’m not,’ Martin interjected.
‘Yes, you are. You’re that …’
‘I hear it all the time, but I’m not him.’
‘Really? You’re the spitting image.’
‘I like to think he’s the image of me.’
‘The image of who?’ Carol asked.
‘You know, that singer,’ the woman said.
‘You’re a singer?’
‘No.’
‘Sorry; I’ll leave you be.’ The woman wandered off.
‘I’d like to ring his neck.’ Martin sighed.
‘You’re really not him?’
‘Will you still date me if I’m not?’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
June 26, 2021
Keep pumping
‘Keep pumping.’
Keith kept hammering the plate down. ‘I’m telling you it has a puncture.’
‘So it’s banjaxed as well?’
‘Duh! Maybe you swapped them round before?’
Chrissy stared wistfully across the valley.
‘Maybe.’
‘And you never got it repaired.’
‘I don’t …’
‘Jesus, Chrissy.’
‘Well, we’ll just have to get one of them fixed.’
‘We’re in the middle of nowhere.’
‘Then we’ll call a tow truck.’
‘I told you we should have flown.’
‘It’s an adventure.’
‘We’re going to be late for my sister’s wedding.’
‘Relax. She’ll be divorced within a year. We’ll make it to the next one.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
June 19, 2021
The other side
A body breezed past Barry and onto the pedestrian crossing.
‘What the … Hey, lady!’
A car swerved to avoid the woman.
‘You’re … Hey!’
She continued her path, seemingly oblivious to the traffic.
A car honked its horn.
Without thinking Barry hurried out after her, his arms outstretched as if they would somehow stop an 18-wheeler.
‘Are you crazy?’
Her face was wet with tears. ‘What?’
‘You’re going to get killed.’
‘So?’
‘And you’re going to kill others.’
‘Others?’
‘Come-on.’ He pulled her back to safety.
‘I need to cross.’
‘To the other side, but not the other side.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
June 12, 2021
It's for the best
‘You didn’t tell her?’
‘No.’
‘You just ended it.’
Terry nodded.
‘With no explanation.’
‘I told her we weren’t suited.’
‘And she’s meant to believe that? You’ve been inseparable.’
‘It’s better this way.’
‘For who? You?’
‘For both of us.’
‘And she doesn’t get a say?’
‘What good will it do her?’
‘What good is breaking her heart now doing?’
‘It’s better than watching me die.’
‘Jesus, Terry.’
‘What? It’s terminal, Neil. Six months tops. It’s better for her to move on now.’
‘She’s not going to move on.’
‘You’d better keep this to yourself.’
‘Terry.’
‘It’s for the best.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
June 5, 2021
No, no you’re not
‘Chloe! Wow.’
‘Hello, Brett.’
‘You’re a mother now?’
Chloe looked down at the stroller.
‘How old is she?’
‘Just gone two years.’
‘Two years? So, she’s …’
‘We have to go.’
‘Wait. I’m a … a dad?’
‘No, no you’re not.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘You’d moved and changed your number.’
‘Well, my parents then?’
‘I did. They told me to get an abortion.’
‘What?’
‘That’s between you. We’re going now.’
‘Wait, Chloe. Can we talk about this?’
‘No.’
‘Can I at least say hello. Hold her.’
‘No.’
‘But I’m her father.’
‘No. You were just a torn condom.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
May 29, 2021
Hope from hopelessness
‘Would you like anything else?’
Katja looked up at the waiter.
‘Do you know where my date went?’
‘He’s left.’
‘Left?’
‘When you were absent.’
‘What the …’
‘He’s paid the bill.’
‘But left me sitting here like an idiot.’
‘He was just avoiding the inevitable.’
‘What?’
‘He’d ask for a second date and you’d say no.’
‘So he left?’
‘No-one has ever said yes. So he bailed early. I guess he can tell himself there might have been a faint chance rather than none.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Would you have said yes?’
‘No.’
‘Then he gained a little hope from hopelessness.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
May 22, 2021
You don't deserve each other
‘That’s it? It’s over?’
‘He needs to apologise.’
‘For what? Not breaking a promise to a friend?’
‘He was sneaking behind my back.’
‘He was being discrete.’
‘I was his girlfriend.’
‘And you don’t need to know his friend’s secrets.’
‘He owes me an apology.’
‘He tried explaining it and you wouldn’t listen.’
‘Then he should try again.’
‘He’s not going to; he’s a fatalist.’
‘What?’
‘You made your position clear. He’s going to respect your wishes.’
‘My wish is an apology.’
‘Then keep wishing.’
‘He’s giving up?’
‘He’s given up. And so am I. You don’t deserve each other.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
May 15, 2021
It's probably for the best
‘You’re just going to let her go?’
‘I tried reasoning with her; she wouldn’t listen.’
‘And?’ James asked, exasperated. ‘Try again.’
‘I can’t force her to trust me.’
‘You love her, right?’
Mark nodded.
‘Then why are you giving up so easily?’
‘That’s just how it is. Her friends can’t understand why she’s with me, I don’t understand either. She deserves someone better.’
‘Not this crap again. That’s for her to decide; not you or her friends.’
‘Well, she’s decided.’
‘Based on a misunderstanding!’
‘That I’ve tried to explain.’
‘Then explain again.’
‘There’s no point. It’s probably for the best.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
May 8, 2021
Her mother
The screaming stopped with the slamming of a door.
‘Who the hell was that?’
‘Sarah’s mother.’
‘You’re her mother.’
‘Her biological mother.’
‘What did she want?’
‘Sarah.’ Hannah dropped to her haunches, crying.
‘But you’re her mother now. … Hannah?’
‘The adoption … it hasn’t been finalized.’
‘But …’
‘Mom, what are we going to do.’
‘You need to talk to Matt. And to a solicitor.’
‘She’s going to take her baby … our baby back. She says she’s not ill anymore.’
‘Ring Matt. I’ll collect Sarah from school.’
‘Mom.’
‘It’ll be okay.’
‘She’s her child.’
‘She’s yours as well.’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
May 1, 2021
Mothers
Carrie popped the cards into the letterbox.
‘Who’re they for?’ Emma asked.
‘Our mothers.’
‘Their birthdays are close?’
‘Same day.’
‘Wow. And you’re not going to visit either?’
‘We don’t get on.’
‘Both of them?’
Carrie quickened her pace.
‘Hey, slow down!’
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘You fell out with your mother-in-law?’
‘My mother.’
‘And he fell out with his mother as well?’
‘His mother-in-law.’
‘So neither of you fell out with his mother.’
‘We both did.’
‘But you just said …’
‘Emma!’
‘Unless …’
‘Stop.’
‘Really? Ryan’s your step …’
‘No! Stop leaping to …’
‘Wow!’
A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.
