Iona Cottle

“Intentions” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #48

Work is difficult for everyone, at some point or another. Whether it was that one co-worker who insisted everything was your problem, or the one who was just so incompetent, or the commute; everyone had a problem. The way most people dealt with it was by venting over drinks, or whining about it to their partners. Amelia couldn’t do that though. Not only did she not currently have- or want- a partner, but because she was still utterly convinced no-one in the world would have the same problems as her. Maybe she was wrong, and maybe if she sp...

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“Powder-keg” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #47

Tugging your sleeves into their proper position you get out of the cab and pay the driver with a whole note, regardless of what the fee was. Standing about fiddling with small change looks petty, whereas you don’t even look at the man as you hand over… whatever that note was. Money doesn’t really mean anything to you. With your back straight, shoulders loose and your head held casually at a carefully calculated angle, you walked up the steps and into the hall. As the waiters bow you give them a slight nod of your head. It looks good to ackno...

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“Alive Again” by Iona Cottle

“Hey, Mum!”“You don’t need to shout, Elsa. What is it?”Elsa leant round the door. “What’s this box of papers on top of the dresser?”“What box- Oh, those. Oh, that’s nothing. Just some old work bits. That’ll all go in the attic in the new place.”“You keep this up and there won’t be any space in there,” Elsa called as she wandered back to the other room.There was a scraping, then a shuffle, before the muffled cursing and the sound of Elsa staggering, and almost falling. May had long ago given up trying to help her daughter, knowing how damn st...

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“Not Always” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #46

“-so yeah. I’m not sure what’s going on at the moment.” Alice sighed. “Like, I know where they’re supposed to be going-” “So why don’t you just write that?” As usual Jenny was far more interested in the biscuits than in what Alice was saying, and she was currently digging about to find the last of the bourbons hidden at the bottom of the pile. After all these years Alice was used to her sister’s attention only lasting as long as the snacks did. “It doesn’t work like that.” How many times had she tried to explain it over the years? “Of ...

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“Next Time You'll Listen” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #45

“Tea’s late again,” Andrews sighed. “I know. It gets worse every day. We really need to talk to house-keeping.” Smithson shook his newspaper out as he turned the page and tutted. “I see the protesting is back again.” “Wastrels. What are they complaining about this time?” “Who can say. They’re never happy, are they? Want the world for nothing, never want to do a day’s work in their life. Blast it, where is that tea-lady?” “Ring the bell again, old boy. Drat it all, we have to go to the chamber anyhow.” With a sigh Andrews downed the l...

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“A Few More Red Lights” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #44

“See you round then.”“Yeah. Goodbye.”It feels so formal to say that, but I can’t bear to say it any other way. ‘See you’ or ‘laters’ are more natural, but that would just be lying. I can’t have the last thing I say to Alex be a lie.He smiles at me and turns to head home, waving over his shoulder as he goes. And just like that he’s gone. I can’t help wonder if he’s the last person I’ll ever see.The walk home is quiet, as it always is this time of night. The plan had been to take in all the scenery, to fix the memories of my home-town in my mi...

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“Our Grounding, Your Fall” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #43

The doorbell rang, just about breaking through the noise of my Playstation. I looked up for an instant, trying to remember if Mum had mentioned anyone coming over. Maybe someone had dropped in as they were going past. Mrs Baker liked doing that, as did Gran."Aw man..." If it was Gran I'd have to stop playing video games. She'd always go on about how it 'rotted my brain' and 'made me violent'. Whatever. They teach better skills than knitting does anyhow. I mean, when am I ever gonna need to knit? That's what shops are for, geez.I started raci...

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“In Sickness” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #42

“George? Why are you still here?”“Oh, hey Simon.” With a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, George waved at his wife’s hospital bed. “You know what Katie’s like. She doesn’t like to be alone.”Simon tried to smile back, but it was impossible not to notice the dark circles round George’s eyes. “Yeah, I know mate. How long have you been here?”“Oh, it’s okay. The nurses don’t mind me staying past visiting hours-” As George looked round the room, at the door out to where the nurses were busy doing their rounds, Simon realised his eyes weren’t focu...

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“Who Hunts?” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #41

The building loomed up against the fading daylight, a grim black monolith on a deep grey backdrop. Even with all the city lights around, the patch of ground the desolate building stood on was shrouded in shadows.“Come on Ali. You’re not scared, are you?”Ali tried to not look worried, but he was still subconsciously chewing his lip. “’Course not. It’s just… well, are you sure it’s safe?”“So you are scared?”“I’m not scared of ghosts, Darren. I’m just worried that the floor’s going to give out-”“Oh come on. It’s not that bad. Buildings have to ...

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“Each Side of the Bars” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #40

“Oh for pity’s sake, Jim. What are you in for this time?”“Save your pity, Matt. It’s nothing-”“You don’t get thrown in a police cell for nothing.”“-nothing serious. Let me finish will you? Geez, you never change. Apart from your suits- pinstripe now? For real?”“I’m not here to talk about my wardrobe with you.”“Can you talk to someone about it then? Does Alicia really let you leave the house like that?”“… We’re not living together. Not at the moment.”“Oh damn. Hey, I’m sorry mate. Is she… is she still talking about divorce then?”“Yeah. Counse...

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“Lightship” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #39

The sky was getting dark, a sign of the storms brewing in the upper atmosphere. With a bitter smile Adam remembered the days when he didn’t care what the weather did. If it rained he’d get wet on the way to the office, but there was always somewhere warm to dry off again. Nowadays however, the offices provided no shelter. All the buildings were open to the elements now, the people who knew how to repair them gone just like all those who’d taken shelter for granted. Just like everyone.There was still a way to go before he got to the coast, so...

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“Never A Sight” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #38

I can’t remember when I first noticed the portals.It seems a stupid word for them, but I’m not sure what else works. Portal implies that you can travel between them, and maybe some people can. I’ve never worked out how to do it though, and I’ve never dared to mention them to anyone else. They’re my little secret, my little piece of magic.At least, they were. I’m not so sure about that now.To begin with I thought the patches on my walls were damp or mould of some sort. In that really grown-up way that everyone does, I ignored them, hoping the...

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“My Blood's Secret” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #37

“Hey dad, what’s up?”“I wanted to talk about your sister.” He was speaking fast, and I could almost smell the alcohol on his breath through the phone-line.“Oh, okay. What’s happened?” A dozen different scenarios raced through my head, but he sounded angry not upset. She’d done something, not had something happen to her.“Stop telling her to get a blood test. Her baby will be fine.”“But- isn’t it worth checking? If she’s a carrier for sickle cell-”“She isn’t. Your mother wasn’t a carrier, and neither am I.”All I could hear was the static of th...

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“Like Father, Like Son” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #36

Tuesday 19th August, 1997My name is Matthew Cook and I am ten years old. Today is my birfday and my dad gave me a notebook to do my writing in. I want to be a writer when I am older and an adult, so dad says that I need to practise all of the time and so I am going to start by writing a dairy.Today we went to the beach for my birffday birfday which was fun. Even though my sister has to come as well and she kept crying bcos she is a baby. It was sunny and we had ice-cream then we had pizza when we came home.I live with my mum and dad and sist...

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“Don't Touch” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #35

The first day of that week, just after the sun had begun to shine again after all the months of winter, she noticed the shapes under the snow. It was little more than a bump at that point, more shadows that structure, and other than noticing the prettiness of the contrast she ignored it and headed home.On the next day’s commute home she spotted it again, and had to remind herself of it, having utterly forgotten about it by the time she’d reached the end of the road the day before.For the rest of that week she checked in on it, but the thaw w...

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