The wheels of the roller-coaster car creaked as the boys stepped off the ladder. They brushed the old birds’ nests from the faded shallow seats and wedged themselves in. “One! Two!” What looked like miles below, the first fire trucks arrived. The car lurched forward. Timmy saw his mother’s face.
50 words
The clown’s smile
The clown’s smile floated in the darkness through the half-open door. Gavin knew it was not real. No cold fingers would stroke his neck and close on his collar. It could not be real. He closed his eyes and got ready to run. In the darkness the toothy smile widened.
The door slid shut
The door slid shut with a hiss and a thud. There were gurgles from behind meshes and grilles. The red light flashed faster and faster, a red strobe that matched the wail of the siren. “I am not an alien”, repeated David. Lights slowed, sirens fell silent. “Thank you.”
Madeleine remembers
Madeleine licked, crunched, swallowed an iced birthday biscuit. And another. Father had said no cake so she sat alone and ate birthday biscuits. The sweet licking, the soft crunching, the gritty swallowing, she loved it, over, over and over. Until later. Then no more iced biscuits for ever. She remembers.
“Double, double, you stole my face….”
Henry Brodie looked out at the audience as he sang and saw his dark reflection in their adoring eyes.
Later, one person screamed, high-pitched, as he stepped off the roof of the multi-storey car park. Nobody saw him land. They identified the body as his twin’s.
simonsalento 