Valerie Preston

“It's Not All Its Cracked Up to Be.” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #223

I hadn’t written a word for at least twenty minutes. My brain was heavy with a fog of nothing. It had shut down in the area of thinking and writing and I couldn’t have cared less. I looked around the room to the serious faces, concentrating, wanting to get a great mark. They had probably swotted every night for weeks and the brains of these people were sending vital information to the hand that held the pen. One guy was chewing the end of his pen furiously, as if he hadn’t eaten in a week. Then he started to cough as the tiny bits of plastic...

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“I Hear The Voice But Cannot See The Face” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #222

The wooden seat felt cold beneath my layered-up bottom. Icy wind blew my already messy hair around and I pulled my half coat tighter around my chest. My hands were freezing and looking a tinge blue so I put them in the pockets of my jacket while glancing around at the almost empty park. My eyes travelled down towards the ground and I noticed that my shoes were beginning to come apart at the toe so I made a mental note to stick the sole to the bottom of my shoe when I arrived home. ‘I’m not sure if I should just buy a new pair’ I thought ‘th...

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“I'll Miss You Too Joe - Not Just The Coffee” by Valerie Preston

The pungent aroma of coffee filled my nostrils. I ranked it in the top three of my favourite smells. It beat fried onions but was on a par with the perfume of an old-fashioned rose, delicate and sweet. Just the smell of the coffee seemed to bring me to life – like an addiction. It must travel straight up to the brain, and tell it ‘wakey, wakey’! I enjoyed the café more when it was almost empty. Truth be known, I loved walking into this café at any time really, but the freshness and newness of both the day and this place, gave me a feeling of...

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“They Are Only Games After All” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #215

The dark and stuffy room was silent. Linda was nervous, she knew that she shouldn’t be doing this, but it was just because she cared. She walked on tiptoes – she knew he was at work but it was just instinct to keep her heels from touching the tiles. And to shut the door. Switching on the light she blinked with the sudden brightness and looked around his bat cave. It was a tip. Chip packets and empty coke cans lay on the arms of the couch and the floor. One of them must have had some liquid left in it as a dried up brown puddle stared at her ...

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“Whatever It Takes To Cope” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #205

Milly had been my pet for fourteen years. The day she died was when a part of me died too, another little piece of my heart. She was given to me at eight weeks of age, a tiny soft bundle of fluff. From the minute I held her, she clung to me as if her life depended on it, and in a way it did, and mine on hers. “Mrs Wilson, this is our way of saying sorry for your loss. We know how lonely you will be without Mr Wilson, so we thought a puppy would keep you company”, and all the girls from the gymnastics club that I taught at, stood on my fron...

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“Not For Everyone” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #204

Spindly and spikey spinifex rolled across the yellow floor, over and over it went at a dizzying speed into the barren beyond. Howling winds picked up sand and carried it across the dessert plain, swirling it into the air. It was hot and the fireball of sun glared down on the dry earth, scorching and drying everything beneath it. “Windy again” the old bearded man spat out through toothless gums. “Yep” she replied taking his money for the petrol he had just filled his rusty can with. “Be seeing yer”. “Yep”. Most of the old people in this d...

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“I Never Knew You But You Will Change My Life” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #203

“Right, gather around everyone. One, two, three, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Richard, (‘old man’ someone yelled out), Happy Birthday to you”. “Hey, what about the ‘Hip Hip’s” … “Forget about those, and ‘why was he born so flaming ugly! Let’s eat the cake!” The noise of the party had lifted. It was of course the alcohol that did that. No matter who it was, even the demure Kitty, when someone had a few drinks inside them, they got less inhibited and more vocal. The music even seemed louder, Elvis was yelli...

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“A Very Unlikely Friendship” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #202

I will be the first to admit that I was born with the proverbial ‘silver spoon’ in my mouth. I’m not a snob though. I know that a lot of people believe that if you are rich, have a well-paying job in a good company then you must be a bit snobbish. I just think of myself as extremely lucky to be born into the family I was, and really, I had no say whatsoever about which mother and father I would belong to. I enjoy being well paid, although I work long hours, and I prefer quality food to cheap meals, oh yes and I do like my luxuries as in my ...

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“It Comes Back To Bite You” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #201

“Luke, medication time” the familiar voice said. “Sit up now, here you are. Hold out your hand, two tablet, here’s your water. That’s it, pop them in your mouth and drink your water down. Good man. I’ll be back later to check on you.” Luke could just make out the silhouette of Lucy leaving the room. He knew she was one of a few people who came in to his room to check on him, give him medication, and just check on his general well-being, especially when he was having a ‘down’ period. His bed was warm and cosy as he pulled the soft cover up ar...

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“My Lips Are Sealed” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #200

 I couldn’t believe what I had just heard! Of all the people for that to happen to - our close friends. I was a bit shocked to say the least. I had known John and Lily since we all met at anti natal classes, and my oldest child was now twenty nine, so nearly thirty years. My husband Tim and I had been laughing about something while I was puffing and panting on the carpet, pretending to give birth! The couple next to us started to laugh too and I heard him say to her “ease up on the puffing, or on the day you’ll have a heart attack befor...

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“So So Tempting” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #199

It had been a rough day. I felt depleted as I walked to my car and pointed the keys at it, waiting for the beep noise. Sitting in the worn dark velour seat cover I put my face into my hands and began to cry. ‘This is so silly that I cry every time a patient passes away. They’re not my mother or father’ I told myself sternly. But it made no difference, as all I could imagine was the soft skin on the bony cheeks of Mrs Cartwright and her lying in her bed, struggling for breath and calling out for Bertie. I held her hand and said that Bertie wa...

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“It Only Takes One Interested Person” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #198

I hated school. In fact, I hated everything. I felt as if I had never fitted in anywhere. I just don’t think I was born with the enthusiasm or interest genes! ‘You’re just different’ My mother told me during one of my ‘woe is me; I’m good at nothing’ times. ‘Different, who wants to be different” I thought after she told me that. I didn’t really know what she meant by it and I wasn’t going to ask her to explain - her explanations or stories were so long winded that I usually fell asleep standing up! The truth was that I knew I didn’t really t...

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“I Always Mean Well But......” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #193

Someone was crooning ‘Why me Lord’ on my car radio. The windscreen wipers seemed to be going back and forwards in rhythm with the tune. I don’t even know what the words were to the song but it sounded sad and I felt sad. My tears were falling like the rain outside. “Why me?” I wailed along with the voice. I think I picked up somewhere in the words that he was talking to Jesus but I was talking to the universe. “Why am I so clumsy? I try to do things to help people and it always turns out a disaster…like today” and the thought of what ha...

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“You Never Know Where you Will Find a Treasure” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #192

Not everyone likes charity shops. For those who don’t shop in them for a genuine need, if no treasure is found, they are terrible! I actually call them ‘opportunity’ shops. And it is a great opportunity when you are in the them for a few reasons; Firstly, you CAN get a bargain - like a two-hundred-dollar dress with Virginia Westwood on the label for five dollars. Now that is what I call a great bargain. They are terrific places for the people that actually have to be thrifty, not having much cash they need to buy cheaply clothes, crockery,...

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“Flowers - Nature's Soul Nurturer” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #191

“Hello Diedre. How are you love?” Mrs Lincoln the florist asked as she cut off some surplus leaves from a bunch of carnations. “Pretty good thank you” came the reply from Jennifer as she walked around the light and airy shop. Today there was a delicate perfume floating through the air that Diedre hadn’t smelt before and she was intrigued. “What’s that lovely perfume I can smell?” she asked Mrs Lincoln, who was drying her hands on the pink and purple pinny she wore for as long as Jennifer could remember. “Oh, lovely isn’t it. That is the new ...

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