Competition Twenty-Seven Shortlisted: A Quiet Night In by Alison Wassell

You were home all evening. I helped you with some algebra, leaning over your shoulder inhaling the not-my-little-boy-anymore scent of you, striking out your mistakes, promising you’d get it eventually. Anyway, who formulates a quadratic equation to solve a real life problem?

Afterwards I made us hot chocolate with marshmallows on top, the way I did when you were little, wiped away your frothy moustache with my finger, said something about how you’d soon be shaving. You said “Shut up, Mum,” and pushed my hand away, but not in an aggressive way, because that’s not the kind of boy you are.

We curled up on the sofa to watch that new horror series on Netflix with the dog snoring between us. You switched it off after twenty minutes saying there was too much blood. You’ve never been a bloodthirsty boy. We settled on a Rom Com starring Jennifer Aniston. You hid your face in a cushion whenever there was kissing, but I could tell you were enjoying it.

I insisted on watching the news. It’s important for young people to know what’s going on in the world. There’d been flooding down south, and people were being rescued in boats. A fireman was cradling a kitten in his giant hands  and I saw you wipe away a tear. You’re as soft as marshmallow on the inside.

You were tucked up in bed by 10. I sneaked in to look at you an hour later. You look much younger when you’re asleep.

So, listen carefully. If anyone asks, remember you were nowhere near the Co-op last Wednesday around 9.15pm, that you’ve never owned a yellow hoodie, nor a pair of black trainers, and that the boy with the knife must have been someone else’s son.

Alison Wassell is a short story, flash and micro fiction writer with absolutely no ambition to write a novel. Her work has been published by Fictive Dream, The Phare, Ellipsis Zine, The Disappointed Housewife, Raw Lit, Idle Ink , Bath Flash Fiction Award and Retreat West.

@alisonwassell.bsky.social

@lilysslave

Photo – manassanant pamai via vecteezy