And more clouds

The Photohunt theme of clouds reminded me of a story I wrote a number of years ago. It won second prize in a local writing competition. Daughter came first. I think there must only have been three entrants and one of those was the judge's sister.

At the prize-giving ceremony, our stories were read by professional actors. I thought mine was quite poignant but when it was read aloud, the audience kept laughing!

I had the same trouble when I was doing my writing course. My tutor would tell me off as I'd be writing a very serious story but I wouldn't be able to resist putting in something silly. 'You build up the mood and then destroy it!' she said.

This is a taster of the story. The whole of it can be found on My bits that are too long.

The day we saw Elvis
Mam was making chips when she burned down the house. It was the first time she’d made chips since Da had died eight years earlier. Before that she’d always made chips on Wednesdays. It’d been egg and chips for tea on Wednesdays for as long as I could remember. I suppose in the beginning it was because Da didn’t get paid until Thursday then it became habit. She stopped making chips when Da died. It was too much effort, I suppose, to make them just for her.