Alison Clayton

“Three points on a triangle” by Alison Clayton

Submitted to Contest #105

He was outside. Banging on the door again,  shouting obscenities with drunken breaths. Responsibility and a sane mind had left him on the fourth glass and by the seventh , he had turned into the stranger we despised. We had no understanding nor sympathy. A hell of his own making yet he subjected us all to his misery.  Fear pervaded our house, seeping under the doors and through cracks in the window frames. The safety of the last few hours was shattered in an instant . From the warmth of  my curled up foetal positi...

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“Carbon Copy” by Alison Clayton

Submitted to Contest #103

The photo I held in my hand provided answers to many of my questions. It also raised more questions for which I wasn’t sure I wanted answers.It would never have happened if it hadn’t been raining. Rain always stopped play, and this Tuesday evening proved no exception to the rule. Plans for a quiet wine bar with friends, followed by a walk in the park, sharing gossip, whispers and laughter had all been put on hold by the not-so-friendly weather forecast for that summer evening. And so it had happened that, with the rain dripping down the wind...

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“TEN YEARS OF WAR” by Alison Clayton

Submitted to Contest #97

Hot and stifling, the slight evening breeze brought no respite from the constant heat that pervaded the city in the summer months. At one time, at this time of night, the streets would have been packed with neighbours and friends out walking in the parks or by the edge of the river, picnicking and spitting sunflower seeds onto the arid floor. Cigarette smoke mingling with the strong fragrance of coffee, children would scream in excitement as they bravely shot air gun pellets at rows of balloons strung in line, floating in the river. Now the ...

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“Behind the mask” by Alison Clayton

Submitted to Contest #94

David glanced at his watch with a mixture of excitement but mostly subdued guilt. The feelings never escaped him and it had been two years since they had begun. It was a war inside him. The guilt was overwhelming but the winner was always the same. The sense of adventure, of secrets hidden and delight won over every time. No contest. Or maybe now, it was something darker, more harmful that kept him going back? “I’m off now,” he said as lightly as he could manage, directing his remark to the back of the woman, washing up the remains of their ...

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“Shelved and forgotten” by Alison Clayton

There are many interesting and attractive books on display in a library, but maybe it is those that live behind the scenes which tell the more fascinating stories. Those that remain boxed up, hidden in cellars or left on dusty shelves, away from the eyes of the public’s view….. Ray turned a page of the book he was reading. It was the brand new crime thriller by Peter Jacobsen and it should have been mesmerising him according to the reviews. However, Ray was finding it very difficult to concentrate, his mind only half on the words he was lo...

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“The journey home” by Alison Clayton

Submitted to Contest #90

Jenny looked at her watch. Just made it. She’d been lucky to make it onto the train. With the weather the way it was this November evening, meant there were plenty of others in the same position as her, trying to make their way out of London on the 5.05 train to Birmingham. Dark already, it had been a hell of a miserable day. The wind was already mounting and had several times turned her umbrella inside out on the way to the station. She had left it in the nearest rubbish bin, resolving to buy another as soon as possible. Now darkness had fa...

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“THE LIFE OF BEA” by Alison Clayton

Submitted to Contest #86

A story of flowers? What could be better than the life of Bea? Bea did not remember the beginning of her life but it had involved a lot of pampering. She knew this because in retrospect, her life as far as she did recall, had included a lot of looking after the other newborns although newly laid would probably be a more appropriate word to use. On her real entry into this world, when she had first seen the light of day with her five eyes, her task had been to clean out her cell, ready for its next occupant. Shoved into adulthood at the prec...

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“Ripples of an event in time” by Alison Clayton

Submitted to Contest #84

Josie woke to the alarm. It still seemed dark. As dark as every day, where the invisible black ink clouded her, shrouded her, infringing into her very being and seeping through her emotions. She moved over to hit the snooze button and her dozing mind brought her back to the same thought. The one she woke to every day. It's never going to be the same. They're not here. If only she could change things. Groaning, she picked up the phone and squinted at the two smiling faces on the screen. It was sunshine and they were happy. They stood close ...

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