Sally Atl

“The unwelcome guest” by Sally Atl

Submitted to Contest #275

It was Friday evening when I entered the living room with a bowl of noodles and found a person sitting on the carpet. It was raining outside. Or was it snowing? At least, it was a cold season. It is not important. The days and months had blended into one for me by that time. What mattered was that it was a Friday evening. All this long workweek just to enjoy a sprinkle of fun that weekends used to be before my unwelcome guest’s arrival. I was confident that the door was locked. But then again, I had become forgetful lately. My wife comp...

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“3 a.m.” by Sally Atl

Submitted to Contest #272

When this story happened I had nice black hair and wasn't bald like now. But I have to tell someone this story. Maybe then it will stop haunting my mind and I will drink my tea in peace. We were fresh married and were renting a one-bedroom apartment in Ulaanbaatar. You know these nights when it is especially dark and cold? It is then when it all started.I woke up at 3 a.m. to my wife eating loudly in bed. I waited for a few minutes, but no luck. She continued eating, slurping, and smacking. Finally, I burst out:  “Stop smacking! If...

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“The red tie” by Sally Atl

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #255

For the last fifteen years of our marriage, my husband always wore the same blue tie. Today, however, when he appeared for breakfast, he was wearing a different color. He sat opposite me and grabbed a fork. I stared at the tie. Red, so alarmingly bright. It was bothering me. “Everything alright?” he asked. It was not a big deal. Maybe I had just gotten too used to seeing that blue tie and didn’t like the change. But inside me, a small voice protested. “Yeah,” I said and took a sip of orange juice. It left a bitter aftertaste. I tried to eat ...

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“When the cheering dies down” by Sally Atl

Submitted to Contest #201

Thousands of people are chanting his name, and their candles’ lights wave in the darkness of the stadium. The joy and excitement that lived in his dance and voice disappeared when he left the stage and hid behind the curtains. Sweat drips all over his body and he starts shivering from the cold. It takes twenty or so minutes before the voices die down. When he turns to see it again, the stadium looks empty. Someone covers his neck with a towel:-"You did well. Your car is waiting for you.”The driver, whom he called Tiger for his raspy voice, l...

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“The fairytale book” by Sally Atl

Submitted to Contest #167

The pages from the book were pressing hard on me from above and made it difficult to breathe. I did not know how much time had passed. Perhaps a week since Dan picked the book up to read. Or a month. Or a whole year. When no one reads the story you are in for a long time, the sense of time disappears. Sometimes slow steps came from the room. Dan’s grandmother would enter the room to dust off the shelves or to watch the TV. She’d sit there quietly with the lowest volume set on the TV so that she could hear the rest of the family come home. Th...

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“Mr. Hernandez's story” by Sally Atl

-I quit.It was the first time Mrs. Campbell and Jess, her good friend since college met after a long time. They were sitting in a Vietnamese restaurant downtown, the steam from the pho rose over the tables nearby.Jess laughed at first, as amused by a cute joke, but then made a concerned face as she realized her friend was being serious.-I'm resigning tomorrow. I'm gonna be an online tutor.-Like you did twelve years ago...So all these studies, licensure, and leadership certificates...All for nothing?Mrs. Campbell nodded after each remark and ...

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“Talking to a statue” by Sally Atl

Submitted to Contest #144

Do you remember how we took this photo? It was Halloween 2016 and we were already seventeen. But we still went Trick-or-Treating. We shamelessly took Oliver's toy bucket with us and filled it to the top with candy. We were young, almost children. And our friendship, so pure and innocent, reminded me of those watermelon ice creams, which we often bought at the roadside shop. They don't make it anymore but the taste is not forgotten. The streetlights burned dimly in the darkness, and the conversation of children could be heard far off at the t...

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