100-word writing contest 2022
1st Place
Bernadette Knight
POWERtalk Brisbane Central
My protector
My older brother has always looked out for me. As a six-year-old I admired my brother who came home on Saturday afternoons in his dirty whites after playing cricket.
One day, I curiously searched his cricket bag and found this hard, curved object. I tried it on covering my nose, across my mouth, but it didn’t fit snugly.
Holding it on my hand, I asked, “What’s this?”
He simply replied, “My protector.”
“How do you keep it on your face?”
“My face!” he laughed pointing, “no, I wear it in the front of my pants.”
Yuck! The dawn of realisation.
2nd Place
Karen Horbach
Diamond Valley Communicators
Farewell
Their holiday house held a lifetime of memories. But now here they were, the family gathered at the ocean’s edge for a day of solemnity.
Mum’s and dad’s ashes ready to be scattered. Theirs had always been a relationship filled with absurdist humour, but not today. Today was to be grave and ceremonial. There were quiet murmurings and tears as the lavender and rose petals swept out on the waves, co-mingled with ashes. A beautiful and serene farewell ………….. interrupted only by a swimmer appearing round the bend who forged straight through. Oh how mum and dad would have laughed.
3rd Place
Mary Wong
Brisbane Central
Meaning
They wouldn’t come. They never did. All those years of inviting people. The fabulous parties with fifty RSVP’s and only ten attending. Why would today be any different?
As the hour approached, Sheila saw the cars parking outside the ancient church – the church of her childhood. She watched it fill beyond capacity. Hushed voices, smudged faces. She heard their words – how kind she was, how caring, how she gave her all. She discovered the truth of her existence – that she had never been alone, and always appreciated.
A smile played around her lips, as she hovered momentarily before dissipating.