After Bedtime

Feb 1, 2016 | Short Stories

After Bedtime

This is the first of a series of short stories I’m going to post here so you can get an idea of the stories I write. These are flash fiction pieces, some have been previously published elsewhere. A new story will be published on the first of each month.

“They’re talking about us!” One little girl whispered to her sister, then clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles. Two little girls sat on the stairs, hands clamped tightly over their mouths so the grown ups having a dinner party couldn’t hear them.

They had been put to bed what seemed like hours ago. The smells of the food, the clinking of glasses, and the bursts of laughter from downstairs had driven them to their current perch, on the stairs, hidden behind the pot plant and the shadowy hallway.

Two little girls, dressed only in their nighties, huddled next to each other, straining to hear the words being spoken about them by their parents to friends from long ago. Tales of achievement and embarrassment, punctuated at regular intervals by uproarious laughter and the clinking of wine glasses being refilled.

Desperate to remain undiscovered, two little girls make themselves as small as possible, hiding in the shadows. Secret glances pass between them as they hear errors in stories and will themselves not to say anything that will give them away. They follow the sounds of the dinner party as it moves from entree to main to dessert, and the sounds of conversation getting louder as the guests drink more wine, and forget about the two little girls who are supposed to be asleep upstairs.

Fast asleep, two little girls are discovered, huddled together on the stairs. Picked up by their parents, disappointed but unsurprised at their discovery, and tucked into their bed. Warm and snuggly, two little girls dream of dinner parties with yummy food and ladies in beautiful dresses.

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