fiction

Quarry Road

Sally

“Come see me,” he said. “It’ll be easy,” he said. “Throw a pebble at the window,” he said.

Those words irked me. He thought it was easy, but it wasn’t.

“It’s the big stone building on Quarry Road,” he said.

Quarry Road, sheesh. That should have been my first clue that every building on that road was built from stone.

I ruled out the cottage right away, then the houses, even though some were pretty big.

The stone barn was impressive, stone silos and everything, but he would have called it a barn.

But after the barn, there were fields. And cows.

Off in the distance I saw the big stone building, sitting on top of the hill at the end of the road. Why didn’t he say, “It’s the last building,” or, “Go past the farm,” or “Top of the hill.” Sheesh.

Found it. Went around to the back. Yep, windows.

“Throw a pebble at my window,” he had said. “It’ll be the only one with the shade pulled all the way down.”

Right.

Actually, wrong.

There were two with the shade pulled: one on the third floor and one on the first.

I kept thinking, This. Makes. No. Sense.

If I throw at the 3rd floor, I’ll miss. My throwing is imprecise at best. The first floor window? I could just go tap on that one!

“Whatever you do,” he had said, “don’t hit the wrong window. Something terrible will happen.”

He didn’t tell me what.

Finally, I —

hit my 250 word limit! So sorry!

The Unicorn Challenge is very strict about their 250 word limit.

And we’ll probably never know what happened, unless, of course, YOU know —

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Published by Sally

28 thoughts on “Quarry Road”

  6. Sally, you’ve made me smile.
    There’s only one rule, and you found a brilliantly creative way of keepinng it.
    Loved the way you built up the suspense too.

    Seriously, thanks for respecting the rule. We want to keep the blog manageable for people to read each week, and the 250 words is part of that aim. As well as being a discipline that gives rise to very creative interpretations! 😉

    I think I’ll put CE’s ‘deals fiercely with transgressors’ on my CV – that sounds quite impressive! – and just hope I’m never asked to prove it! 🐭😄

    Reply

    1. I actually love the rule.

      Over the past several years, I had all but stopped writing. Everything felt overwhelming. But I decided in 2023 that I would try to write every day and that I would write only 23 words each day (23 because the year was 2023). About a month into that discipline, I gave myself permission to “blather” every Saturday — no word count. Now I post a few times a week, all far longer than 23 words

      I realize that I have not kept my New Year’s Resolution. I have, however, reopened the door to writing.

      And I really LOVE the Unicorn Challenge — so thank you for doing it!

      Reply

      1. I’m so pleased you’re enjoyiing the challenge, Sally and that it’s fitiing in to your plan to get back to writing. I’m glad you did. Love your discipline – and that it’s flexible!
        I’m sorry not to have replied sooner. My internet has been down.

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