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Gordon Lawrie

Seconds To Midnight

28/4/2017

 
In Earth's final hours, a Saviour appeared: an ordinary woman who could do one extraordinary thing: listen. She listened to everyone, the poor, the weary, the sick, the desperate; she listened to everyone.
 
She heard answers in their own voices: the way to salvation from poverty, sickness, ignorance, and desperation. Most immediately, from destroying the planet.
 
"Blasphemy!" cried the Christian.
 
"Blasphemy!" cried the Jew, the Hindu, the Muslim, and the Buddhist.
 
"Kill her!" they all cried, even those of no religion. It just seemed easier.
 
They killed her, then fought amongst themselves. They were still fighting when the lights went

The Tree

21/4/2017

 
It began as a fluttering seed that fell, unnoticed to the ground. A bird had digested it, and the boost to its fertility had it up and running in no time: eighteen inches in the first year, four feet by the second, seven feet by the third.
 
But its roots were growing at a much faster rate. In the first year they shot down over 30 feet, then still further in exponential leaps in subsequent years. Nobody noticed, of course, it was all happening out of sight.
 
The tree eventually popped up in the centre of Sydney. With an earthquake.

In A War Zone

14/4/2017

 
Picture
Image: Frank McGrail
The school's misfortune was to occupy a key strategic position, and government forces and rebels alike felt it necessary to shell it to smithereens. Fortunately, everyone escaped.
 
Everyone except Effie Frogspawn. Too preoccupied reading her Sunday Post and Weekly News – the school's librarian never read books – she'd yet to notice the mayhem around her. Only when a mortar hit the Girls' Toilet directly underneath did she finally appreciate her danger. By that time she was airborne.
 
Miraculously, she suffered only minor injuries. Still clutching her two newspapers, she found a nearby park bench and continued reading where she'd left off.


The building where I worked for almost 30 years – yes, that was a school – is currently being demolished. The Sunday Post and the Weekly News are two of Scotland's more widely-read news publications; they're not so widely respected for their journalism. Those connected with the Portobello High School in the 1970s and early 1980s will recognise the character.

As far as I know there is currently no civil war in Edinburgh.

Caroline

7/4/2017

 
This is essentially my recollection of a true event.
The young woman greeted me cheerfully in the corridor.
 
"Will you marry me?"
 
"Marry you?"
 
"Go on, it's the 29th February. I can do the proposing."
 
"Interesting idea, Caroline. I really like you, but there are difficulties..."
 
She smiled innocently. "Such as?"
 
"Well... for a start, I'm your teacher. You're fourteen, I'm a bit older. And I'm already spoken for – I've been married for 30 years."
 
"Nonsense," she said. "Love will out."
 
I chuckled. "Caroline, one day you'll make some man very happy." Everyone knew that half of the third year boys had experienced a little of Caroline's 'happiness' already.

    Flash Fiction

    Flash fiction is very, very short fiction indeed - short stories of any sort of length from a Haiku to ten minutes' reading. Good for when you're in a hurry. This series is a selection of contributions to Friday Flash Fiction, where there's a limit of 100 words. I try to make all mine exactly 100 words.


    Collections
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    If you enjoy these stories, why not download Gordon's first two collections of these, called '100 Not Out' and '200 Not Out'? Available for all types of e-readers including Kindle and iPad, for free. Completely free, no strings.

    Click on one of the images below...

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