Short Fiction #24 Washing Machine
Washing Machine
“Washing machines should not make that noise,†said Peter as he finished making his coffee.
“Then find out what’s happened,†muttered Jody, engrossed in the latest romance novel.
Peter shrugged, took a sip of his coffee and casually strolled to the laundry. He looked at the machine. The noise came again; muted screeching like some wild, watery demon trying to escape.
Peter pressed the “OFF†button, lifted the lid and stared in. At once he saw the problem and scooped up a squirming blob. He carried the dripping object and plonked it in Jody’s lap.
“Kitty doesn’t like being agitated,’ he commented.
All rights reserved. Copyright 2006 Trevor W. Hampel.
This short story was first published in Freexpression magazine in June 1999.
- To read more of my short stories click here.
Now there’s one clean cat I guess! 🙂 Again superbly written within the customary tight structure.
It was almost a “cat-astrophe” wasn’t it? As an aside, friends’ cat is called Astrophe! And no – it has never been in the washing machine (to my knowledge). Thanks for the positive feedback. I’m still working on that competition entry.
That’s as tight as they come. It succeeded in getting a wry grin from me in the end. Job well done, I’d say.
Thanks for the comment. I use these short fiction stories as writing exercises to help hone my skills. I usually have a quite restrictive word count, try to set the scene, develop the plot and have a twist in the end, usually humourous. I plan to publish about one a week on this blog so I invite you to return often. Feel free to comment too.