MyQOTD Short Story Kindle Competition Compilation compiled by Faydra D. Fields
Synopsis:
In February 2011, the owner of the My Question of the Day blog, Faydra D. Fields, gave away a 6″ Kindle to the winner of her short story competition. This compilation includes the stories that were submitted for the competition, along with information about the judges who chose the winner. As an added bonus, Faydra has included the first chapter from her upcoming book, “The Pride.”
Excerpt:
Harold sniffed, “Maddy, you’re about to make me cry. Stop…”
After looking down and taking a deep breath, he paused. Gazing into Madeline’s eyes, Harold focused — his soul was speaking directly to hers.
“Look. I married you. You became mine. So did she, whether she liked it or not. Schools nowadays just want to get these kids in and out. That’s it. I taught Maxine how to read for the most part. I stayed up late at night making sure that she did her homework. I took days off work to get these so-called teachers to act right.”
Although Madeline’s eyes were weary, her beautiful teeth shined through parted lips. She slid out of the seat and sat on Harold’s thigh. As her arms wrapped around his neck, she exhaled, “I love you so much. Thank you.”
Madeline felt Harold’s leg buckling under her weight but continued talking.
“I had to be the strong one her whole life. The first time she saw me cry was the morning I found out my mother had died. Everything was going wrong in my life. My car had broken down. I was about to be fired for being late so many times to a job that wasn’t paying enough to make ends meet yet was paying too much for me to get food stamps. Nobody would take care of Max when she got out of school and I had to work. My mother had to die with all that other stuff going on.”
Harold started to visibly sweat and breathe hard, his leg shaking violently. Madeline kept a straight face as Harold’s strength was quickly fading.
“You okay?” Madeline said as a suppressed giggle escaped her lungs. “Because… I can get up, you know.”
“No, Baby. I’m good.” Harold grunted as he flexed his calf muscle. “Go ahead.”
“You sure? Because…” Without notice, she tickled Harold’s weak spot — his knee.
Harold laughed loudly as his leg kicked out causing Madeline to bark as they both fell on the floor. The whole house thundered as two adults chuckled like kindergarteners in each other’s arms.
The old grandfather clock was still humming when a bedroom door slowly creaked, revealing a baffled teenager with an ear bud in one ear and the other dangling lifelessly.
“Oh, yuck!” Maxine spit out as her words seemed to push her head back on a swiveling neck. “Um?”
(from the winning short story)
Copyright© Joey Pinkney and/or Sola Mente Publishing. All rights reserved.
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I like the short story excerpt. Makes me want to read more of the Compilation. I remember meeting Faydra on Facebook and Twitter. She talked about “The Pride.” Congratulations for writing the winning story, Faydra. I almost wrote Dr. Faydra. Maybe that’s in your future.:)