SHORT STORY WINNER
Dadsdeadtemporary-WhatsAppGroup
by Haydn Cavanagh
FIRST PLACE £200
Haydn lives in Yorkshire and is a compulsive writer; he loves making stuff up and creating something from nothing. His preferred genre is situational comedy, where he likes
to experiment with characters and dialogue. Haydn is delighted with this prize, particularly as last week he received his first rejection for his first novel.
MONDAY
Briony, Mum, Holly +
Briony OK, Dad’s dead, right? I’ve started this group to ease communication over the coming weeks. It’s not gonna be easy what with covid and us being in lockdown. It’s going to be hard until after the funeral. We need a plan.
Mum Your Dad always said… You can beat an egg and you can beat a dog but you can’t beat a plan. Oh my god that’s set me off, sorry.
Holly Don’t apologise, Mum, you’re bound to be upset.
Bri! You CANNOT call the group Dadsdeadtemporarygroup.
Briony Why not, it’s not like he’s not dead, is it?
Holly He’s not TEMPORARY dead, though is he? It all feels pretty damn permanent to me.
Briony I don’t know how to change the name, it’ll do as a working title.
Anyway, due to Corona this is not going to be an easy gig. I’m not even sure I know what Dad would have wanted. Any clues you guys?
Holly I’ve not been able to think about it. I’ve just been weeping into my wine
Briony I’ve just been bloody angry
Mum I don’t even know where my emotions are.
Holly Aw Mum. That’s normal, it’s all a part of grieving. Bri’s cross. I’m miserable. You’re numb. OK?