WRITE NOW, I'M FINE

 Chapter Ten - To Have and to Hold David enlisted a year after Liza’s funeral, when it became clear to everyone that the McDonalds had ceased seeing themselves as parents the moment they identified the body of their youngest child; their God-given child. Virginia McDonald had never referred to David as her Adopted Child, but soon David found he wasn’t being referred to at all. To say that Shirley didn’t take the news well was an understatement.  Mrs Mertz was well used to Shirley’s antics by then –  had even, in an odd way, grown accustomed to them – but the temper tantrums of an entitled teenage girl were just one of many things she had built a career on, and the Shirley who left the house that Friday morning, nose in the air as usual, was not the Shirley that returned. Mrs Mertz was giving Cora a refresher on polishing when she heard the school bus drive up, and went out to the front hall to meet the girls. Stella always gave her a quick hello and a smile – the two of them enjoyed a

 Chapter Nine - Veiled Insecurities It was months since she last flicked through a bridal magazine, let alone bought one, and the thought of trying on gowns with Guy’s sister made Chloe want to hurl, so the only reason the moth-eaten veil she found crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the box of treasures was of any interest to her was because of its connection to her family – her other family. It was a floor length, Point De Gaz piece, circa 1910; Chloe knew that because of her mothers collection of vintage wedding photos.  Ludmilla Brady found a picture of a 1920’s bridal party amongst hundreds of other old photos at a flea market at the age of twelve, and had amassed more than a thousand of them by the time she died. It was the one very un-hippy thing about her. The photos were presently languishing in a storage locker, and Chloe knew she should probably make a decision soon as to whether she should hold on to them for sentimental value or have a valuer tell her what they were worth

 Shirley, on the other hand, possessed the stubborn resolve of a cat raised by royalty, which was exactly what she was, and she wasn't about to let a little thing like the wilting bows of the family tree knock her off her pedestal. She shot out of the driveway on her bicycle with Lisa's present in the basket and flew down the steep road without bothering to slow down before navigating the blind corner at the crest of it. There was barely a motorist for miles who hadn't encountered the spearmint green two-wheeler with the sky blue basket bearing down upon them at some point and so, with the exception of the ice truck driver who unwittingly brought about Aunt Emma's somewhat premature demise, most of them approached the turn as though they were stuck behind a funeral procession.  But on the morning of Liza McDonald's sixteenth birthday, one such driver assumed that because the party didn't start until eleven-thirty Shirley Thomas, who always arrived late to partie

 7. The Elephant In The Room What the elephant was doing at the bottom of a box and not holding court on the fireplace mantle in the parlor was a question for whoever had dumped him there. Then again, he had been in plain sight the whole time, and Chloe only noticed him when the sun glinted on one of his delicate, rose-tipped ears. Maybe he was just one of those creatures who was destined to go unnoticed. Maybe the thumbnail-sized crack in his leg had something to do with it. Chloe didn't have that problem anymore; the jade her family left behind virtually guaranteed she'd get attention.  8. The Dodo 'Why are you going over there if you hate her so much?' 'Who says I hate her?' 'You do, all the time.' Shirley had to admit it was true. On her list of most detested things on Earth, her best friend Liza McDonald ranked second only to cockroaches, and the only things separating them from one another were the extra legs. Liza loudly insisted upon having first

Daily pulled open the hatch. 'Fifteen years, and I'm not used to this yet.' He didn't find little June Thomas curled up in the foetal position, bound, gagged, and shivering.  'What the hell is this?' He held the object between his thumb and forefinger. A young officer named Dunnard cut through the silence when no one else was brave enough to offer an explanation. 'Looks like a bunch of numbers, sir.' 'What about what it says at the bottom of the page? Interior?' 'I guess it's a map of the inside of the house.' Daily shook his head. 'It's a wonder you're not a detective already.' He waved the paper at Finn. 'What's this about?' 'The gradual degradation of the public education system, Sir.'  'The numbers, you degenerate, what do they mean?' 'I would explain, Detective, but giving you all that information would be a waste. Sort of like giving a street beggar a hundred dollar bill.' Dail

 Hilda closed her office door, sat down at her desk and waited for the police to arrive. She took a drag on her cigarette and opened the top drawer. Once Stella Thomas told them that the war hero gardener-cum-busdriver had drugged her and hidden her away in his lair, with a view to doing God knew what to her when he came back from doing God knew what to her sister, Hilda's career would be over. Then there would be the criminal charges, but that wouldn't be enough for a family like the Thomases. The mother would launch her own investigation, and in the course of doing the grunt work for their lawsuit, her lawyers would dig up all sorts of things that were better left buried. Hilda closed her eyes and saw the twisted look on her father's face the day she came out to him. She didn't want to be there to compare it to the looks on the faces of the locals when word got out that the second bedroom in her rented cottage had never been slept in.  Finn ran an ivory comb through J

 The loudest and most active voice amid a sea of chatterers on the school bus, June had never noticed the man who drove her to and from school every day, which was why she didn't notice he had been replaced until her sister pointed it out on the ride home three weeks before June went missing, and even then she shrugged. When Stella shared the news with her mother, she got exactly the reaction she was expecting. Dahlia got on the telephone and rallied the support of other mothers and arranged a meeting with the schoolboard the very next day. After listening patiently to the women, whom she would dub the Jabbering Gentillery to her partner, Vera, later that evening, headmistress Hilda Abernathy assured them that there was no cause for concern. 'Mr Finn came to us with an unfortunate injury and a glowing reference from the army, and we would have employed him as a driver then and there but, as you all know, Mr. Philips was a veritable institution by then.' She looked around th

I just realised how loooooong this chapter is, so I'm releasing it inparts.  6. The Flawless Diamond (Part I) June resumed her post as Dahlia's favourite child as soon as the ambulance carrying Great Aunt Emma's body turned out of sight. Emma's death gave Dahlia free reign to be as close to her children as possible, and Stanley's death was a foreshadowing of what could happen when she failed. Emma's funeral was an intimate affair, attended only by Dahlia, the girls, and the few friends Emma hadn't managed to frighten away. Even less mourners stayed for the reception, and those who did attend were only there for the gossip and caviar. 'Poor Emma,' said one woman, 'to die in the middle of the street, like a cat!' 'If the fur fits,' said another. 'Ladies,' giggled their newly-appointed leader, 'we must remember why we're here.' 'Yes,' said the second woman again, raising her champagne glass to the heavens,