DIALOGUE-ONLY COMPETITION WINNER
Toeing the Line
FIRST PLACE £200
by Lee Irving
Born in North Yorkshire, Lee Irving is a part-time History Teacher living in Oxfordshire. When he isn’t cycling or teaching, he can usually be found writing, whether it be micro-fiction, full-length novels or everything that lies in between. Gratitude won the March 2022 #FlashFiction101 competition, and Assisted Suicide has just been published in the Anansi Archive’s anthology Gambles and Balances. He really enjoyed the dialogue-only challenge, and he is delighted with his first win for Writing Magazine.
Read the judges’ comments at http://writ.rs/ wmjuly22
What are you doing that for?
Doing what for?
Taking off your shorts.
Why shouldn’t I take off my shorts?
There’s people.
I know there’s people.
But that man’s watching.
So, let him watch.
He can see your pants.
They’re not my pants.
Yes, they are.
No, they’re not.
Yes. They. Are.
No: they are my bikini bottoms.
Well, whatever they are, it’s rude.
It’s not rude.
Is so.
Is not.
Is so.
If you think that’s rude, wait until you see this.
Stop it!
It’s all right.
It isn’t all right. Why are you taking all your clothes off?
I’m not taking them all off.
I’ve finished now.
But that man is still watching. Now he can see your bra.
It’s not my bra. Anyway, how does he look?
I don’t know.
I mean, is he smiling, or does he look… disappointed?
He isn’t smiling. What does disappointed look like?
Like this.