The Mayor and the town manager waved as their next victim approached.
Bob, had moved recently to the quaint rural town of Sherman.
After exchanging pleasantries, Bob said: “My property tax bill is inaccurate..”
“Take a look , Gilbert”, the mayor handed it over to the town manager.
Gilbert took out a huge book.
“So what did you do in New York”, asked Mayor Tom.
“I was an attorney…..” .
Tom asked some more questions, pushing some muffins Bob’s way. Gilbert joined in, while shuffling papers.
“…..and Twinkles died two days after. We buried her with my goldfish”, Bob was saying, tears streaming down his cheeks , three hours later.
“There ..There…Edna will have some kittens soon. I’ll get you a new ‘Twinkles’ ,Tom consoled him.
“Come back tomorrow Bob. We will have sorted out your tax bill by then”, Gilbert added.
The stood at the door waving goodbye. “It’s been a while since we spoke to Mr.Matthews”
“I’ll prepare his tax bill next”. Gilbert set to work.
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This story’s sad inspiration from the real world is the plight of millions of elderly who live alone and experience chronic loneliness. Sometimes you can feel like a victim once you are ‘stuck’ in a conversation with them…but it has always been worth the while spending the extra few minutes.
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The above story was in response to ‘Monday’s finish the story’ flash fiction challenge. This unique flash fiction challenge provides a new photo each week, and the first sentence of a story. The challenge is to finish the story using 100-150 words, not including the sentence provided. Details are available here:
Roots & Water 