#AStoryAWeek | Week 8 (Feb 17 - 23): What Have I Got In My Pocket (Excerpt)

This week's #AStoryAWeek has been entered into a competition. I know. Exciting stuff. The brief is that it has to start with the sentence "If you can guess what I have in my pocket, you can have it.” and be no more than 750 words long. Interestingly mine is EXACTLY 750 words. I wonder if I get bonus points for that? The competition closes on February 24th. Wish me luck. If you believe that it can be controlled by wishing for it.



Week Eight | 750 Words

What Have I Got In My Pocket?

“If you can guess what I have in my pocket, you can have it.”

It occurred to Matty that in other circumstances this would just be the worst chat up line she had ever heard. But these are not other circumstances. The evening didn’t even start with a drink; it started ten years ago on a beach with her mum, her brothers and sisters, and a strange man with a heavy stare.

It hadn’t been a particularly good day at the beach. The breeze had a malicious nip to it; a pair of ice cold tongs in its unruly hands, and they pinched and poked Matty until her sinuses felt like echoing caverns and her ears were numb. Matty was doggedly trying to make the best of things. She unrolled the picnic blankets, handed out packets of crisps, and smiled through aching cheeks. Her mum, who looked wearily glad to be there, was settled in a deckchair, wrapped up in one of Dad’s old coats. Kimberley, the eldest, was eyeing the sandwiches with disdain, whilst John had trailed off along the shore, dragging an unwilling Luke and a stumbling Susie with him.

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