Three Vignettes
H
Here’s a few excerpts from a new story of mine.
P.S. – The artwork is mine too – a watercolour view of Caye Caulker from the Peach on the Beach looking towards the Split.
920 words
Three Vignettes
By Mitchell Toews
Copyright Mitchell Toews ©2017
One
Albert Thibodeau’s sister Suzanne was sick. His parents were ashen-faced and silent, going about the farm and household business by rote. Albert did homework in her room, his scribblers spread out on the flat, quilted blanket.
Suzanne lay unmoving. When Albert came in the room she would stir, her eyes opening and a thin smile on her lips. Her gums were too red. He would read her jokes from his Archie and Jughead Digest.
[SNIP]
Two
…”One dog, with peppers,” said Bob, busying himself with a bag of buns.
“And MUSH!” said Albert Thibodeau. “Gotta meet sis today and hear about how great she is doing.”
“Tell her I love her.”
“No dice. You are below that woman’s pay grade. You are a smelly dog, selling smelly dogs to other smelly dogs.”
“I love you too, Thibodeau,” said Bob, handing him a foil-wrapped hot dog. Albert tooled down the opposing ramp, skidding into a turn at the bottom in the March slush and then pumping hard twice to get to a picnic table on the courthouse lawn.
“Hey, drivers and registration please!”
[SNIP]
Three
Suzanne lay in the chaise. She was shaded by a wicker palapas and palms. Several green and brown coconuts lay in the sand around her. She gazed out past the reef – “beyond the swash,” like they said here – to where the water was a darker blue.
An easel stood near the lounge chair and a watercolour was underway.
“Carolina blue, cerulean blue, cobalt blue,” she said, from under the brow of a sun hat.
“Labatt’s Blue,” said Albert…
[SNIP]
13:05 1.8.17: Wish me luck in placing this flash fiction with an ezine or lit journal! I’ll post if and when it runs; if it becomes a cherished, “We are pleased to inform you…”
allfornow – mitch
The Beefeater and the Donnybrook
Update: 4.11.17 – Hi, from a sunny day in April, beside the lake,
Janice and I have been travelling and have both been down with a cold lately. My blog activity has been limited, though I have been able to keep up with daily writing. Today I heard from editor and literary paragon, Charlie Fish, that another of my stories has been accepted for his award-winning site, Fiction on the Web.
Feedspot has named FotW a TOP 20 short story site on the internet!
Here’s what Charlie says about FICTION on the WEB: “It is a labour of love. Every single story on here is hand-picked and carefully edited by me. I don’t have a staff, and I don’t make any money. I do this because I want to give authors a chance to get their work out there, and I love sharing great stories with the world.
FICTION on the WEB has been online since 1996, which makes it the oldest short stories website on the Internet.”
Here are a few snippets from my latest story:
The Beefeater and the Donnybrook
By Mitchell Toews
Copyright Mitchell Toews ©2017
MICAH JAMES WAS shorter than average and had an interesting kind of face. His eyes were recessed and penetrating and his complexion had the weathered texture and ruddy colour of a mountain climber or a big game hunter. He was neither. Micah James was a quiet, middle-aged family man – an engineer working for the City of Halifax in Canada.
The Jameses were leaving together soon on a long-awaited trip to London. His wife, Marion, had planned the trip from the packing process through tipping and all conceivable forms of disaster planning.
[SNIP]
“Ok, I’m on it! Walk will do me good.” Micah said, giving Marion an assuring glance and summoning up some energy for the trip. It was fine – the kind of little blip he had been secretly hoping for.
[SNIP]
Twisting in his crouch, Micah was eyeball to kneecap with a pair of creased black pants, gold piping on the sides. His eyes followed the stripes up to a white satin tunic and topping that, a dapper red fez. Then the voice again, but softer, “Are you alright, mate?”
[SNIP]
He waited in line at the reception desk, listening to an instrumental version of a Bob Dylan song. It was piping out of a speaker in the tile ceiling above him and he laid his head back to peer at it. Thinking of his own rapid descent into hell, he picked detritus from his oily beard; bits of styrofoam and other rancid urban spod. His thinning hair hung in limp disarray and the belt of the raincoat had come loose and was dragging on the ground behind him like an obedient, filthy snake.
[SNIP]
See it on FotW on May 19: an ever-worsening yarn that plays out on the streets of central London.
Other stories that have appeared on Fiction on the Web:
Nothing to Lose
July 8, 2016. A baker and former hockey player reminisces on his colourful history as he delivers buns in the dusty Manitoba sun.
Heavy Artillery
Oct. 30, 2016. The story of young Matty and his characterful neighbour encountering a travelling salesman in the sleepy Manitoba town of Hartplatz.
The Preacher and His Wife
Jan. 23, 2017. In Hartplatz, rural Canada, a neighbourhood scandal brews when young Sarah reports that her grandmother’s engagement ring has gone missing.
Mitchell Toews 