Competition One Shortlisted: The lists this woman could write if her scoundrel dad hadn’t smoked away all her money for pencils by Martha Lane
Shopping (if only)
Soap that smells of lavender and patchouli, makes skin creamy
A satin dress, matching gloves. The colour of crabapple jelly
New bedsheets – NOT WHITE!
Coal (for burning old sheets, hah)
Bread, pillowy soft with crusts so crunchy and chewy your jaw gets stronger from eating it. Fancy crabapple jelly now…
Potatoes, enough to stretch a tummy until bursting. Desperate to try mash, a golden river oozing
Butter
Eggs, all double yolkers. Make the boy eat them for breakfast, serve him right
Meat, crispy glistening goose already roasted. Warm grease sticking to the inside of cheeks, taste lasts for days. Comes with a tidy-upper
Fizzy cider, doesn’t matter so much what it tastes like, just want to feel dizzy and numb
One chocolate bar, no need to share. Shiny ticket tucked inside, no need to tell anyone
Shopping (actual)
Red cabbage
White cabbage
Tobacco Tobacco
Tap shoes for Dad now he’s miraculously able to dance a fucking jig
To do (tomorrow)
Scrub floors, double scrub by bed
Boil tobacco stains out of sheets
Boil the grandads’ pants
Boil cabbages
Boil head
Shift 12-6
Darn boy’s socks
Sew hole in his coat elbow
Sew mouth shut if Dad mentions trip one more time
Find scarf, in case factory’s chilly
Weekly long john rotation
Grandmas first in bath this week
Clear gutters
Sweep step
Mournful musical number that thrusts everyone else’s story forward
To do (maybe one day)
Sit down
Try hot chocolate, want a whipped cream moustache
Find first name
See the sea
Breathe deeply, smell grass
Be touched without expectation. A foot rub, long strong fingers. A palm cradling a cheek
Fly like a bird – maybe grow feathers
Stop tending
Have a magical experience
Or just a magical invite
Or a regular invite
To anywhere
Martha Lane is a writer by the sea. Her work has appeared in Perhappened Mag, Northern Gravy, Free Flash Fiction, Ellipsis Zine, and Reflex Press among others. Balancing too many projects is her natural state.
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