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Happy Endings, by Emma Baird

21/2/2014

 
“Order, order!” A bossy woman with a loud hailer had entered the hall.

The Tales for Children section jumped to attention. Half-formed sprites, fairies, devoted pet dogs, adventurous boys, plucky girls and a few orcs tried to curb their excitement. The moment was finally here...

Clorinda grinned widely. Tales for Children was considered an easy ride for most character placement. Happy endings were a must, surely?

Her name was called and her story assigned. The bossy woman sighed to herself. Clorinda was off to be a stepsister. Later versions of the tale would be kinder; this particular version of Cinderella meant Clorinda was to be put in a barrel of spikes and rolled down a hill.


Gordon Lawrie added this sequel the same day...

“Order, order!” A bossy woman had entered the hall, bearing the results.

The Friday Flash Fiction section jumped to attention. Pastors, ex-teachers, display-cabinet-copywriters, proposal-writers, screenwriters, editors and media directors tried to curb their excitement. The moment was finally here...

Emma grinned widely. She’d considered Tales for Children an easy subject for flash fiction. She must win the competition, surely?

The winners were announced but her name wasn’t called. The bossy woman sighed; Emma, it seemed, had exceed the wordcount by 16. And the mandatory penalty was to be put in a barrel of sharp criticism and rolled down a hill.


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    "Classic"
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    Since Friday Flash Fiction began in September 2013,
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