Kate Kilbee

“Putting Your Foot In It” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #211

There's a new kid on the block and I think he's dangerous. The way he wears his hair, long and greasy and falling over his face, unnerves me. It's like a long black curtain concealing his expression and his intent. It's completely at odds with the way he walks, bouncing along, his hips swinging as if dancing to an imaginary boombox. His clothes are head to foot black but he's not a Goth. He doesn't seem to hang with a gang either so that's not why I find him disturbing.Even with the hair and sometimes a hoodie over it, occasionally there's a...

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“Intoxicated” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #179

Trigger Warning:Contains mental health issues and reference to war and the gore it entails.He remembered his first sight of her as she rose to her feet from the sea wearing nothing but water. How he'd jumped in naked and joined her, no inhibitions. How soon their laughter filled the cove as if they had been born for these first moments.He knew instantly that he loved her and that she loved him too, her eyes shining with a warm, inviting radiance. Dancing in the moonlight on his porch that very same night, her hair silky soft against his skin...

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“Seasons Change” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #168

The tree was part of me. I made a detour so I could see it every day as I went shopping in the nearby village of Laverton. I saw it as the seasons changed and the years rolled by. I lived alone and dreaded the day, possibly not too far away now, when I would be too old or ill to make the trip. I would never cease to love the tree as it was part of you too.There was a warm May evening from so long ago etched perfectly and permanently on my heart. "Surprise!" you'd yelled when I opened the door and saw you, bike in one hand, picnic basket in t...

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“Just One Step” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #167

There was my bridge, my darling bridge, and all was right with the world. Just one step and my feet were on the wooden planks, my hands holding on to the iron railing on each side. Bliss. I turned upstream and lifted my chin. The summer breeze blew gently onto my face. It was also caressing my bare arms. Closing my eyes with a smile I breathed in. My nostrils were cooled by the air rising up from the water below me. I reached up, unclasped my long, curly hair from its clip and shook it free. I knew it was going to be a nice day. I was twenty...

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“There Is Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #165

"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus The clinic loomed large in front of me, awash with the smell of antiseptic and bleach. I felt as if my feet were frozen to the ground as I drew to a halt, the magic vault in front of me, absolute discretion. Through the double glass doors I could see the corridor flowing ahead of me into the distance which got me moving again. Decision made, I left lighter than when I had arrived. ************************** Highfield House had been the most wonderful place to grow up in....

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“Closing The Circle” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #163

Damn the traffic. Three hours sitting in a traffic jam, horns blaring, angry drivers thumping their steering wheels even though it was futile. The sun went down in a blaze of red, burning like hot coals. It was a stunning contrast to the concrete of the motorway, the traffic moving slowly now, too slowly. I had meant to get there in daylight. I'd hoped to see the outside and inside of the house, a house I'd left hurriedly twenty years before. It was not to be.I dissociated from all the cars. My mind was full of the past, the rustle of beauti...

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“There's A Fly In My Soup” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #162

I didn't really need to look at the menu but I had been taught impeccable manners so I still did. Then I ordered the same thing as always; creamy tomato soup, a fresh crayfish and avocado salad and strawberry and apricot compote, which you could taste before you ate it as the scent of the fruit was mouthwatering. Enrico is a two times Michelin starred chef and his food is to die for. I ordered for my fiancé Jeremy too as I knew what he liked so it was the tomato soup and a chateaubriand steak done blue. He didn't eat desserts.Jeremy is alway...

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“Deep Lies, Dark Truths” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #161

I’d walked this path over and over in my dreams but this time it was for real. The fragrance from the flower borders was intoxicating. Lavender, roses, jasmine, gardenias and many others I couldn't name. The path stretched out into the distance as if to touch the future. My mind wandered back to the past. Six years earlier, a bar, another boyfriend lost, glass in hand, tears already dried on my cheeks. No friends, alone again. Alcohol was of no interest to me, never had been, but I'd been dumped so many times now I’d thought it might help....

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“The Perfect Witness” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #158

The boy saw everything from his cosy den inside the hedge. He'd found it months ago not far from his own street. He liked to sit there out of sight. School meant taunting, bullying, a gang of boys who were relentless, violent. "Your mother would sleep with anybody. She's a tart. Does she do it for money?""Don't be stupid. His mother's too ugly!""She probably has to pay the men!"This was followed by lots of rude looking gestures and pointing.The taunting would be followed by lots of laughing, pushing and shoving between the bullies. Then...

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“How Green Is Your Love?” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #157

The two people in our story were teenage sweethearts. In the beginning he loved her free spiritedness and she loved how their conversations were light and easy. In the end, after just three months, it wasn't enough. Their problems outlasted their love. He became jealous of the way other boys looked at her and of how she chatted to them. She found him to be dull and boring and dumped him after three months. There were no other parties involved though she found a new boyfriend in two weeks. He found a new girlfriend in a year. They met ag...

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“Pacing Myself” by Kate Kilbee

Trigger Warning: this story contains themes of mental health and physical violence.I'd rearranged the house years ago so I could walk the full length of it, living room, the wide tiled hall, through the kitchen, into the sun room without any furniture obstructing me. I paced up and down, up and down the house from morning till night with only a few necessary breaks. I've no idea how far I travelled in a day, week, month, year. Whilst I walked, my mind played out the past on a constant loop. I'd met Liam late in 2011. He oozed charm...

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“Blue” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #154

My dad had beautiful blue eyes. He was also my hero, very sensitive, so funny and he loved to cuddle me to sleep, but none of that stopped him leaving me when I was six.  Even so in my teens, twenties and beyond I was only attracted to men with blue eyes, but just the ones who were sensitive, funny and liked to cuddle. Also like my dad they soon showed their true colours. I learned that sensitive meant weak, funny meant they had baggage but I kept searching for the right man. I was convinced he was out there but time after time it was...

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“Electrifying” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #153

Four female friends who used to work together were enjoying their monthly chat over coffee and pastries. In the past they'd worked for a company called Weston, whose attitude towards women was appalling. Criticism of their work and overt sexism was rife. One particular director was known for lunging at a woman if he caught her off guard in the canteen.  "Give us a kiss darling," he'd say with a strong whiff of halitosis, or "Nice puppies. Do they want to come out to play," whilst staring down her cleavage. Women were classed as lackey...

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“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #151

Smoke on the horizon. My husband learned me to say that to myself, said if I could see it, he was on his way. He told me what horizon meant. I promised him I'd be waiting. I thought there'd be more people on the dock but I'm early. I need to see my George. He's been a clerk in the Second Class Purser's Office on different ships for years but no more. I'd usually come to wave him off. I'd really wanted to, what with this being his last time, but I couldn't. I hated he worked at sea but while he was away I kept those personal times when we w...

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“Angels And Hot Chocolate” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #142

My Pampas grass was whirling and twirling like a dancer wearing a feather dress. Before long the branches would be snapped clean off.  The storm was wild that evening. Clouds scudded through the sky at speed. The weather forecast had predicted the wind increasing to sixty miles an hour with gusts of eighty. There was even the odd crack of thunder expected.  On my drive home I'd seen people being pushed and pulled in all directions, in some cases being lifted completely off their feet whilst their shopping, yanked from their han...

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