Kayley Dickins

“Bartender” by Kayley Dickins

It had always been his partner who was the better one in undercover situations. One of them had to be the best at it he supposed, they each had their strengths. He was a marvel to watch, changing only his attitude and deciding he would be confident, or surly, or friendly, or uncertain. Everything else was still him, and anyone who knew him could see that. Everything he did was what he would have been doing anyway, but this time he was A Confident Person, and somehow that was all he needed. It was the simplicity that was the beauty of it, tha...

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“Fowl” by Kayley Dickins

The long since forgotten bread bag swung in the warm breeze and he was looking at his partner like he had asked very politely for his shoes so he could barbecue them, sprinkle them with salt, and enjoy them for dinner with the family on Sunday. His mouth was open and he did not seem to be aware of that yet, in fact it seemed to be benefiting him, portraying and therefore releasing the smallest scrap of the astonishment written in his every bone. Laughing incredulously seemed the right response here, the logical next step, but it did not hold...

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“A Contemplative Silence” by Kayley Dickins

It was a normal day, weather very middling, his mood and even that of his partner very middling, events planned for the day very middling, it was yet another normal day and he had had enough of them. Enough of them twice over, enough to give some out charitably to everyone he met, just in case they were having a bad day and wanted to switch one out. He would take the bad day just for the excitement of something different to do. Like eating the same bowl of plain cornflakes every day for breakfast - and with no milk at that - he was not sure ...

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“Flowers” by Kayley Dickins

The look on his face was one of disdain or distaste. Something beginning with ‘dis’ anyway, possibly even disagreement. A pea had escaped a fork at some point in the last half an hour, and he flicked a finger at it as if it took him a lot more energy than it was worth the interest of seeing where it ended up next. Sadly, the final destination of said pea did not appear to fascinate him, he had given up watching its progress before it had even stopped rolling and reverted back to his previous monotonous scooping of a lukewarm roast into his m...

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“Mixing Drinks” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #105

He had had to do it, it had been necessary, just one of those things that needed to be done. Once it was over he could explain it all away, plead with those around him to understand why, tell them all about each and every detail of his decisions that had brought him here. They would understand, they had to do so, he could not live with it if they did not. Half of him hoped they trusted him enough anyway, at least some of them, or on second thoughts, perhaps just one of them. He could never see his partner sticking around someone he did not d...

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“Fun New Talent” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #105

If there was any lesson he would desire to be learnt from this experience, it would be that every time someone said “I wish I knew what I looked like from the back”, they were delusional. Ignorance is bliss is it not, they simply do not know how lucky they are to not have to be faced with, well, themselves. He had not been too surprised to awaken from those much too common dreams of work, and not open his eyes to his own ceiling, but instead to his partner’s. He was, however, rather surprised, when he blinked and was back in his own room, ...

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“Potatoes” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #104

Of all the places in the world, they had spent their only day off - like gold dust at the moment - on a potato farm. Familial obligations, a bad case of the flu for Uncle Richard, and a willingness to get out of the city had led them to this point, trying not to bash their heads on the ceiling of the car as they drove down a driveway seemingly made of very inconvenient and very small mountains. The harvesting needed to be done, and somehow that job had gone to them. To be fair, at the time he had not minded, had even been slightly excited at...

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“That Dreaded Spare Key” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #104

To say he was looking forward to going home was to put it very lightly, almost imperceptibly so. It had been the main thing on his mind all day, whenever something went wrong he had resumed his ‘I can go home soon’ mantra and it had made him feel the littlest bit better. The thought of ordering dinner in, blending in to the sofa, and putting something mindless on the television was all that was keeping him going. Of course, in true bad day style, it was nearing on two hours past the time that he should have been finishing work when he finall...

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“Disagreement” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #104

“Are you coming tonight?” And there it was, the olive branch. Very few leaves and the bark seemed to be beginning to peel but a little careful inspection and it would reveal itself to indeed be an olive branch. Regardless, that was all he was going to get for a while so he figured he would be happy to make do with a singular branch. With any luck the rest of the tree would follow on later, he just needed to be patient. It would not be at all beneficial for him to mess it up now, he had spent too long thinking already and his partner was st...

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“Sign Pile” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #103

I’ve something I need to tell him. Never have been the most decisive person, always playing into whatever other people wanted the decision to be, reading them for any clues I could find to help me on my way or just blatantly making them choose instead. I would say that nobody wants to make a decision that the other person didn’t want you to make, but it doesn’t seem everyone else has this same problem so that is probably not true. The problem is you see, I just don’t care. I care, don’t get me wrong, but I’m flexible, so I don’t really care....

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“Culpability” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #103

“It was not your fault” It was morning and the sky was the kind of pale grey that verged on being yellow if you caught it at the right moment. The kind of weather where it doesn’t really do anything at all for months on end, becomes cold and damp and grey one day and decides it is quite happy there. Inside the office was murky with old cigarette smoke and the large wooden clock hung on the wall was either ticking louder than usual, or he simply had not paid enough attention to it before. This was not the first time he had heard that senten...

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“The Streets of Paris” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #103

It wasn’t even of them together. It was of Him on his own, back to the camera as all the best photos are, staring off at something in the distance. He was walking down a street, it was raining and the smooth slabs of the pavement were shining with the reflections of the lights on the street in red white and green. Not that it was Christmas, it had been July at the time just about as far away from Christmas as one could get, but the lights provided a beautiful effect anyway, albeit a slightly too festive one. The photo had been taken as one o...

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“A Nice Person” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #102

It was a running joke that he thought too much, the kind of running joke that becomes such a common occurrence only because it isn’t actually a joke. It was always said in a jokey tone, but it was always really meant as a warning, a reminder of the need for perspective and to take a break from the ever growing tree of thoughts he was climbing. He knew he thought too much, didn’t know what exactly they expected him to do about that, but he appreciated the reminder nonetheless, it did the job every time; shook the ground beneath his feet just ...

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“Hero / Villain” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #102

There had been one too many this time. One too many absences of apologies, one too many warnings that went ignored, one too many evenings spent at home with a bleak view out of the window and a whiskey in his hand that he wasn’t sure he could even taste anymore. Those who knew him would have been surprised it hadn’t yet reached the One Too Many Stage where he handed in his badge quite dramatically, quit on the spot, and questioned instantly why he hadn’t done that a long time ago. As it was, this was the One Too Many Stage where he just bega...

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“Comprehension” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #101

“I’m not sure I’m getting what you’re getting at” The emphasis was on the second ‘I’m’ and the ‘you’re’, hand gestures accompanied each of these words, first pointing toward himself and then toward his partner. He was making some kind of joke about his play on the word ‘getting’, it wasn’t funny and although intending on lightening the mood, it just ended up making him look childish and uncomfortable. He was uncomfortable but what he wasn’t, was sure what to say next. He felt it was not his turn anymore, felt he had made it pretty obvious ...

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