Anna Frederiksen-Washington

“The big bad wolf” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #277

It is the end of November and the darkest time of the year in the Northern part of Sweden. The snow has fallen, and the trees are dressed in their white coats for the long winter. People are getting ready to celebrate Christmas and the village is alight with a pageant of pretty lights. There is a scent of gingerbread and mulled wine in the air, where people gather at the market to buy those little trinkets that end up as a gift under the tree. Towns people have been busy handcrafting wooden toys, knitting jumpers and hats, making candles and...

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“O'l Luther” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #275

The road between Quorn and Hawker seemed to go on forever and the persistent rain on the windscreen did not help to break the monotony of the scenery outside. There was nothing out there except dried-up saltbush and dead trees standing as a reminder of how harsh this landscape could be and how hard it was to survive out here in this bleak and barren land. George and Elsa had passed the ruins of an old homestead closer to town and wondered how anybody could make a living out here. It was not for nothing they called this area the Outback and t...

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“The driftwood chandelier” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #271

Alicia loved beachcombing whether it was on the local beach near where she lived or on one of the more remote tropical beaches she visited while on holiday. The windowsill in her living room was filled with unusual objects and when the light captured them in the late afternoon the colors flickered and danced across the room. There were colored glass bottles, broken pieces of crockery, well washed by time, rounded into interesting soft shapes. A dried seahorse hung from a nylon string in the window and sea urchins and shells filled the bench ...

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“Stories from the Emporium” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #251

The good thing about leaving the mainland and settling on an island is that it is all up to you to make it happen.Anita sat on the porch looking through the branches of the old pepper tree towards the bay where the water was an intense blue now in the late afternoon. She took another sip of the chilled wine and thought that she should walk down to the foreshore and watch the seabirds even though she felt tired from painting and cleaning. American River was known for its birdlife, and it was not unusual to see pelicans and black swans swimmin...

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“Eyes of the beholder” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #242

The bell rang as the door opened and the moment she heard the thump, thump, thump from feet shaking off the snow on the mat, she knew it was him. None of the other customers brought the snow inside. They cleaned their shoes on the doormat outside. But not him. Susan could not work out why he did it, if it were to annoy her as he knew she was the one that would mop up the water once the slush melted on the wooden floor. She turned just as he brushed the snow off his hat and hung it together with the coat on the stand. He rubbed his hands toge...

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“Mona Lisas eyes” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #242

It is Sunday morning, and the streets are almost empty. Some early risers are gathering around the coffee wagon in the city square, or perhaps they are the late-night party goers on the way home after a night out. This is a city that never sleeps, not even on an early Sunday morning. Well, some places are dimmed down allowing the night staff to carry on with their work in privacy. The Art Gallery is one of them. It is the time when the cleaners are busy wiping the shiny parquetted floors and dusting the leather furniture making the rooms loo...

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“A secret in the shed” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #242

Tom had not been long in the small town but had already established a name for himself as a skillful gardener. The skills he had learned on the mainland as a horticulturist came in handy here in the remote part of Tasmania and the customers appreciated innovative ideas for a more sustainable garden. A few of the old residents needed a hand, especially with the heavier tasks, and Tom was always happy to oblige. What his customers did not know was that he would take a photo of them which he kept on his computer in the shed, using them as a mod...

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“The Northerly” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #240

The last step creaked as Tom walked down the staircase. It was there to remind him that it had to be fixed before somebody stepped through the old wood. But not today. It was far too hot already although the sun had only just come up over the saltbush horizon. He did not get much sleep; it was almost impossible to fall asleep on these hot nights and it was the fourth day now in a row with temperatures around 40 degrees. You would think you would get used to it out here where there was little shade from the scorching sun, but the heat always ...

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“Miranda and the blueberry bush” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #239

Miranda did not have a good day at school. She knew already in the morning when she put on her new shoes that the other girls would tease her. They always did when she wore something new. The black shoes were comfortable, and she liked the zip as opposed to shoelaces. It was so much easier. She knew they were expensive; her parents usually bought good quality clothing. Mum said to ignore the girls when they teased her and said it would get better when she started her second year. But this was grade two and it had not got better.- Look at you...

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“Life in a small town” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

I leaned the powder blue vintage bicycle against the old shed. For a moment I was taken back through the years to when I was a young girl, around about thirteen years old riding my bicycle through the cobbled streets of Amsterdam. I smiled to myself. That was a long time ago. Now after all those years ago in another land and another time the smell of the rosemary that I was cutting brought me back to the present. I was trimming the rosemary plants in the garden section of the nursery and the beautiful scent was strong and intoxicating. I lik...

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“A Lucia to remember” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #232

A Lucia to rememberWith the passing of time, you have the luxury of perspective, and those moments you shared with others long ago take on a different meaning. Usually, it is the nice things we remember pushing the more unpleasant moments behind. I was born in a small rural town in the heart of Sweden. Warm, long summer days and cold, dark, snowy winters. Frozen lakes, skiing and skating, building snow men and watching the snowflakes fall outside my window, imagining the world outside. Traditions were something we held close to us, especiall...

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“The First Snow” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #227

November is a very dark month in Stockholm. This year it had seemed longer and more depressing than in previous times. Peter would drag himself out of bed in the mornings and found it hard to get motivated to start a new day. It was dark when he went to work, and it was dark when he finished at the end of the day. It was not welcoming to come home to an empty, dark cold house and he found himself longing for the change of season. This Sunday morning was different. The first snow had fallen during the night and now as he stood in the verandah...

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“The Birthday Party” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #221

The darkness was absolute. All she knew was a feeling of confinement. She could not move, and she could not breathe. There was the smell of damp rancid earth permeating the air. Then she awoke. Carina laid in her bed for a long time, staring into the half-light of a new day that was only just dawning. It was the same dream with the same feeling of absolute terror in which she felt no escape. Where did it come from and what did it mean? She could hear the birds beginning their morning song outside. Those beautiful little birds. She knew every...

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“Owlva” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Christmas at my grandparents’ house was always special. The food preparations started weeks ahead with the making of sausages from the meat my grandfather brought home from his butcher shop. Gran grinded the pieces in her hand-held meat grinder, added spices and pushed it through another machine which filled the intestines. We tied string in sections making sausage shapes, some were small, others bigger. My grandfather, being a butcher, used to say he would never buy a readymade sausage from a shop as he knew exactly what they put in it, and...

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“Corner of the Eye” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #219

Corner of the eye One of Darren Fishers first memories was of a tiny wooden glider. It represented much of his childhood. His family was poor, and it was not so much what he had as a child but what he did not have, that he remembered the most. The glider was brightly painted in the widow of the toy shop. When he had asked his mother if he could have it, she looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “I am sorry, we can’t afford to buy things like that. You need important things like socks and shoes. Perhaps one day.” He knew instinctively that d...

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