Richard Harris had an unlikely double success in the 2012 Readers Digest 100-word story competition.
He submitted two entries.
This one (inspired by a local scandal which, fortunately, involved neither him nor his wife) was commended and printed in the magazine:
I had never got on with him. He was too full of himself, played loud music, and had a leylandii that blocked out my light. And I had long been suspicious of him and my wife. But when I found his car broken down, straddled across a level crossing, I felt obliged to help. “No petrol,” he said. “It’s all right - sit tight,” I told him. “I’ll push.” “But - “ “It’s fine. There are no trains on Sundays now anyway.” I bent my back, pretending. “Though now I come to think of it,” I said quietly. “it’s Saturday.”
This one did not win anything, but was published on the Readers Digest website It was the teeth I noticed first. Grinning at me, white, from the shadows under the old railway bridge, where the discarded beer cans and food cartons were. Then the terrier, tugging on the end of a rope. And the suit, which had once been a good one. “I’m sorry, sir,” I said. “I’ve told you before, you can’t stay here. “But officer . . . I shone my torch. “You have to go back,” I said. “I can’t face it any more.” “It’s your duty, sir. You’re needed in the House. It’s Prime Minister’s Questions in half an hour.”
