Tags
Fiction, flash fiction, short stories, short story, story, writing
“How about the seaside? Can’t beat a nice holiday by the seaside. Sunshine, sand and sea, chip suppers and sunsets-”
“Don’t be daft. He wouldn’t like the beach.”
“How do you know?”
“He wouldn’t want all that sand in his fur.”
“We can brush ‘im! He likes a good brushing.”
“We’re not going to the seaside, Gladys. That’s my final word on it.”
“Fine. I’ll just cross off half the list, then. It’s not like we’re limited by which of these places will accept pets, or anything.”
“Oh will you stop your moaning? There’s plenty of choice left. How about a nice city break? Look here, a nice hotel, close to sights and attractions. We can take him to the big galleries and museums-”
“The city? The city’s no place for a holiday. You want to relax, enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. You can’t do that with traffic and skyscrapers all around you.”
“Gladys, I happen to find the city quite relaxing. And you know full well that you enjoy a good museum as much as the next woman.”
“Well, if it was just your holiday you could go wherever you want to go. But it isn’t. ‘Ere, ‘ow about this one? Nice quiet cottage in a forest, we could take ‘im for nice walks through the trees.”
“He doesn’t like trees, Gladys. They’re too tall.”
“Says the woman who wanted to take ‘im to the city. Everything’s tall there.”
“Right. Fine. I’m calling the usual place. It’s been good enough every other year, don’t see why we need to go anywhere different anyway.”
“Well, there’s no need to snap, Doreen. I just thought it would make a nice change.”
“Hello? I was wondering if you would still have a twin room available for the Easter week… Yes, we have booked before, Doreen and Gladys Cummings… Yes, the ladies with the weasel… Well if we could have our usual room… Oh, that would be marvellous. We’ll send a cheque straight away.”
“I don’t see why we’re always ‘the ladies with the weasel’. It hardly seems fair, does it?”
“I don’t know what you mean, Gladys. We can’t expect the hoteliers to remember the names of all the pets that visit them, can we?”
© Kari Fay
(Author’s Note: I know, it doesn’t really go anywhere… )
The Best Place By The Fire 