Hello there folks, another story for you today, if you would like to hear this as read by my good self then please have a look on the audio page for the direct audio file, or better still click here: Original Short Stories to go directly to the podcast series in iTunes!

Here we go then:

Not Quite

By Daniel .M. Brown

The alarm clock rang out, an old fashioned clock with the two bells on top. Jackie half heartedly stretched a hand out to hush the din, blindly scrabbling on the familiar table top until she hit the mark. The sound stopped as she drew her hand back into bed yawning, her eyes watered as she opened them to find the curtains were not closed properly and the sun was rudely shining through at her.

A moment or two passed and her eyes adjusted, it was ten in the morning already, there were a few things she had to do before the end of the day. But as she thought about this she was startled slightly by Mark turning beside her. She turned her attention to him, he was still asleep, nice and peaceful. She looked at him considering how lucky she was to have ended up here with him. She really did love him and it caused her pain that they couldn’t spend more time together like the previous night. They had stayed in, had the usual nice meal that so many couples unimaginatively sit down to eat and then cuddled up on the sofa to watch a film.

She was fetched out of this daydream by the sound of the postman delivering a few letters, it didn’t sound like anything exciting had arrived. She looked around the room ready to get up. Slipping out of bed she went and sat at the nearby dressing table. There at the table she couldn’t help but admire the little collection of expensive jewelry that she had acquired. Gifts from her husband, she thought how blessed she had been in life, she worked only as a volunteer for various charities as she saw fit, they didn’t need the extra income. Looking round the room she took note of the various trinkets that were on shelves and the windowsill, a few expensive ornaments that she had picked up on various shopping trips and all manner of souvenirs from the holidays she had been on, a couple of things that she personally thought were a bit creepy, a tooth from some poor animal that they had found in Africa, and another from a shark. The diving trips were some of her best memories.

Mark stirred in the bed and she thought how she had once had to put up with a normal double bed, now it was king size, she really had come a long way she thought. Marry the right man and everything will work itself out. Just having this moment of calm she had really come to realise that she really did have everything, no money worries, a nice house, the love of her life asleep in front of her, her time was her own to spend as she thought fit.

“Yes.” She thought, “I really have got everything”

Then there was a sound on the stairs, some shuffling, Jackie mistook it for her cat. Then the bedroom door opened with a jolt. She jumped up realising what had happened.

There in the doorway, home from his business trip two days early, stood her husband.

The End.

Thanks for reading/listening everybody,

take care of yourself and have fun,

dan