OPEN SHORT STORY WINNER: BLUE

By Isla Blackley

Isla Blackley is from Glasgow, Scotland. She was shortlisted for the writing competition for the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival in 2022 and came second in the 2022 Mountaineering Scotland Writing Competition. ‘Little Blue’ is her third published short story.

W ould you remember the icicles dangling from above the windows? How they lit up against the gunmetal grey council scheme. Who needed decorations? We certainly didn’t. The icicles were blue, like the forget-menots which covered the grass by the swing park in the summertime, tiny little points of lilac-blue like stars trapped in a green sky.

What I didn’t know then was we couldn’t have afforded to fritter the little savings we had on Christmas decorations. I would notice the lines forming between your eyebrows when you thought you were alone in the kitchen. Then, as soon as you saw me how this shifted, your face a sun breaking free.

None of this stopped you from sharing the magic of that time of year. For us, it was simply different from the lavish ways it’s often depicted in popular culture. On Christmas morning, you taught me how to be grateful for the feeling of being loved, in addition to whatever small but meaningful gift you would present me. Or, in the warmer months, we picked the forget-me-nots and other wildflowers and pressed them, placing their flattened, preserved shapes in between glass to make necklaces, earrings and hanging ornaments. I came to understand that, even if in a busy, stressful place, one needed simply to look upwards and find really, there was endless space. Or focus one’s attention in one place, and find clarity there.