She didn’t want to come in for a cuppa with her new landlord, but to say no would have been impolite.
‘How do you take it?’
‘Two drops of milk, half a teaspoon of sugar, please.’
‘How very particular,’ he said. ‘Never heard that before.’
‘Do you make lots of tea, then?’
She should have declined, in a polite fashion. He appeared nice enough, but something about him scared her.
‘You could say that.’
He handed her a cup.
‘Hope it meets your standards.’
She nodded, even though it tasted funny.
Poison, she realised as she tumbled off her chair.
***
Story 12 of 31 for Story A Day May – this is what happens when I listen to Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads while writing…
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Love the “twist” at the end!
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Great job! I think the flaw of being too polite has been the downfall of many, especially women. We’re programmed from the time we are young to always be polite. No can be the hardest word to say.
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Thanks Jenn! I think about this a lot at the moment – I don’t want the kiddo to be rude, but I don’t want to overdo it with the emphasis on being polite, either. I’ve been far too polite to people who didn’t deserve it, I don’t want her to make the same mistake…
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Same here, I’ve been so polite to people who didn’t deserve it at all. A very difficult balance.
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Oh man!! Time to be rude!! Very interesting, even from a metaphorical perspective on ‘poison’ and ‘falling off one’s chair’… 🙂
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Thanks. I’m glad you picked up on the ambiguity – this started out with her having a spiked drink in a bar, but then Nick Cave put his influence on me 😈
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Great, unexpected ending
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Thank you!
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Great story! I think you are on to something about being too polite. Sometimes we just need to listen to our intuition.
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Yes, definitely. Thanks, PJ!
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These short stories are great. Reading them makes me realize that you get a lot into a short bit of writing. It’s a bit like a haiku I suppose. Nice work.
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Thank you 🙂
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Well done.
Tim
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Wow good one. Surprised me. I don’t know why he is indiscriminately killing people through poison in their tea!
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What a fetching title. As a reader, I was drawn right in. And such a clever, wry story. Makes me wonder what might come next. Thank you for all the engaging work!
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Wow! That was a brilliant twist!
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Thank you!
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Amazing twist. I can understand her hesitation, I’ve experienced those hesitation moments and it’s easy to let things slide when you really should not!
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