Competition Twenty-One Shortlisted: Radio Free Europe by Karen Arnold

There is ice on the inside of the window. I put my face close to the thin glass and breathe warm air onto frost flowers. The cobbled streets of the old town are deserted, the curfew has hours to go. Rooftops shine in the moonlight, dull slate made liquid and mercury. A scrawny cat watches the shadows intently, the plume of her tail beating time. Something is cowering in the darkness, a tiny heart vibrating. I watch the cat pounce, fast as a sniper’s bullet and I think run little mouse, run. We are all frightened mice now.

I trace your initial in the frost, over and over until the tips of my fingers burn with cold. I pull the sleeves of your heavy woollen jumper down over my hands, bury my face in the thick blue wool that still smells of you, of the thin hand-rolled cigarette always burning between your fingers as you gestured and argued with friends, of the pine sap and sawdust from your workshop. Your side of the bed is empty and cold. I know now that you will not be coming back and the knowledge hits me so hard I fold like a jackknife as the church clock rings out midnight.

On the last stroke, I drag the wireless set out of its hiding place, tearing a fingernail on the rough floorboard. I can still hear your voice listing the sequence of switches, the frequency to broadcast on. Valves glow faint in the dark and there is a hum soft as honey bees in a summer meadow. I swallow hard and start the broadcast. Words float up into the night sky like embers from an Autumn bonfire

“If there is anyone out there, this is radio free Europe calling.”

Karen Arnold is a writer and child psychotherapist. She came to writing later in life, but is busy making up for lost time. She is fascinated by the way we use narratives and storytelling to make sense of our human experience. She won the Mslexia prize for flash fiction in 2022 and was placed second in the Oxford Flash Fiction competition in 2023. She has work in The Waxed Lemon, The Martello,and Seaside Gothic amongst others. She can be found on twitter @Aroomofonesown4