MULTIPLY Creative Challenge #78 Puzzling Occurrence

The telephone was ringing and Christine was busy in the kitchen.

“Karl, can you answer it please?” she asked her husband.

“I am reading the newspaper, do I have to?”

“Either you answer it or I let the meat burn in the pan.”

“Ok, ok, I will go. “Hello, here is Schmidt, can I help you?”

“Hello, it’s Amy, I am at the station. You can pick me up.”

This was quite confusing for Karl. First of all he was a German, and lived in Germany and the girl on the telephone was speaking English with a strong American accent. Secondly, which was even stranger, Karl’s wife Christine was actually English and Karl was used to having people calling on the telephone speaking English, but this time he knew that they were definitely not expecting any English speaking visitors with an American accent.

“Christine, I think you should come to the ‘phone. Are we expecting anyone called Amy that might be an American?”

“What are you talking about Karl. I don’t know anyone in America with that name.”

“She is on the phone and says she is at the station. I think she expects to be picked up.”

“Ok, give me the phone and go and keep an eye on the dinner before it burns.”

Christine took the phone and spoke.

“Hello, can I help you?”

“Oh, yes, of course. It’s Amy and I am at the station.”

“But I don’t know anyone called Amy and I am not expecting anyone. Are you sure you have the right number.”

“Of course, Dave gave it to me and said when I arrived I should call and I will be picked up.”

“I think you have something wrong here” answered Christine. “I do not know Dave. It is just a coincidence that I speak English. Where are you calling from?”

“I am in a telephone cabin at the station; the one in the underground passage next to the flower shop.”

“Just a minute, this is a very puzzling occurrence. We don't have a flower shop in a passage at our local station. Where are you exactly?”

“I told you at the station in Frankfurt.”

“This is getting very intriguing. You have called our telephone number. We are not in Frankfurt, but in Heidelberg. Something is wrong somewhere.”

“But this is the number I have. Dave is expecting me. I have a long journey behind me from the States and am just looking forward to seeing Dave again. I have something of importance for him.”

“I would help you if I could, but I just don’t know you. Please tell me the exact telephone number you have.”

And Amy read out the number. It then became clear to Christine.

“Amy listen, you have dialled a wrong number. The first numbers are wrong. You have dialled the call number for Heidelberg instead of Frankfurt” and Christine gave Amy the correct number.

“Thanks a lot” said Amy, “but I have a problem. I don’t have any foreign currency left for the telephone.”

Christine decided to help Amy, who she did not know.

“OK Amy, I tell you what we will do. I will phone the number and tell Dave that you are waiting at the station to be picked up, but stay where you are. I will tell him you are standing next to the telephone booth next to the flower shop in the passage, ok.”

“OK and thanks a lot.”

So Christine phoned Dave for Amy.

“Hello, am I talking to Dave? I have a message from Amy.”

“Dave, oh Dave is not here at the moment, but perhaps I can help. I know he is expecting Amy, so just let me know where she is.”

“Fine” answered Christine. “Amy is waiting at Frankfurt main station in the passage next to the flower shop.”

“Well that’s just wonderful. We are so looking forward to seeing Amy again. I will be there straight away.”

“Did you here that Dave, your little friend Amy is at the station? Oh, sorry Dave, I forgot, I killed you a few minutes ago. Well don’t worry, I will look after Amy.” Joe Lucarelli smiled to himself. It certainly does not happen every day that someone calls to let you know that a kilo heroin has arrived. He then made his way to the station.

The next day Christine was surprised at the headlines in the national newspaper.

“Woman found dead at Frankfurt station” was the title, followed by a photo.

“Dead body of woman found in passage near the flower shop at Frankfurt station. It seems the cause of death was a gunshot wound, a direct hit. A passport was found issued in the name of Amy Johnson. After closer examination, traces of heroin were found in an empty plastic bag lying next to the corpse. It is believed that there is a strong connection to the American drug mafia, the brother of the deceased being Dave Johnson. The police have been on his trail for some time for drug smuggling.”

“What shall I do Kurt” she asked her husband.

“Nothing” was the reply. “I am not willing to get shot as well. Let’s just forget it.”

So Christine and Kurt went on with their life as usual Joe Lucarelli made a nice profit on the sale of the heroin, but his wealth was short lived. He was caught by the police and is now serving a long prison sentence in Sing Sing.

Click here for more

MULTIPLY Wordsmiths Challenge #15: And the Wall came tumbling down

"And the wall came tumbling down.“

Those words were etched in Karin’s mind; not that she particularly liked the song, but she had been there and done that, as they say today. It was twenty years ago: one of those boring, bleak, grey early evenings. She was doing her homework and the radio was running in the background. Suddenly she heard something that she could hardly believe.

“Mama, Papa, come listen, I don’t believe it.”

And her parents came running. “What is the problem Karin, bad news?”

“No, the best. We are free.”

Fritz and Helga were perplexed. “Free, but we are not in prison. We are free.”

“Mama are we free? Can you take a bus or a go by car and visit your sister in the other half of our country. The border is open.”

Fritz, her father, switched the television on. He saw the politicians of his country talking about free travel and switched to the television canal belonging to the other part of the country, governed by other laws, where people could say what they think and do what they want, without any repercussions. Generally he would not dare to watch the “other” programme. It might be that the secret police were watching them, and then he would find himself and his wife suddenly without work, perhaps even in prison. His daughter would be put into a home never to be seen again. “For her own good” the state would say, but he knew differently. It was “for her own good” that Karin was not allowed to study at the university.

Fritz was a teacher and what he taught his class was not what the state approved. He should have concentrated on the good things in his country and not shown the disadvantages of travel restrictions, marketing strategy in industry and the lack of competition. Above all he was a teacher of foreign languages. His choice of foreign literature was not that of state approval. The writers did not come from the “good” part of the country.

He had been warned, but carried on and the result was that his telephone was tapped, they were not allowed to leave their town and their daughter was not allowed to study for the university entrance examination.

Was this true that he was seeing on the television from the other side? Barriers raised by their border police and people at last being able to cross a bridge separating one part of the country from the other. He was glued to the television.

“Come Helga, look. I cannot believe my eyes.” And Helga came, together with Karin.

“How long do we have to get to the capital by road?” asked Karin.

“Two hours” was her father’s answer.

Helga looked at them both through the tears in her eyes “so what are we waiting for, up and away.”

They packed a few small items and got in their little car; not a luxury model, the same car that all other citizens of their country had, if they could afford it, Fritz expecting to be stopped as soon as they were on the street, but there were no watchers to keep them under control or stop them. They drove off, and soon noticed that the motorway was full with other cars driving in the same direction. The two hour drive took three hours and they arrived at the border around midnight.

“Papa look, there is the other side.”

“I know Karin, but we don’t have passports.”

Helga looked at her husband and said “Fritz, we have waited so long for this, and a piece of worthless paper is not going to be in our way.”

She climbed out of the car and started walking towards the wooden barrier at the border. The guard was standing in a relaxed position and observing her. She got closer and although trembling inside, she knew it was now or never. The guard made a signal to his colleague in the office and the barrier was raised. Helga walked to the other half of her country with no problem.

“Papa, look, Mama is through. Come let us drive over.”

Fritz drove over the border, Helga climbed into the car and with Karin they drove into the capital of their country. They watched the wall dividing the two halves of their capital city being pulled down by the people. They were welcomed and there was laughter and happiness in the air. The family slept in the car, as they had no money for a hotel, but they were happy. Karin of course, joined other youngsters and attended the pop concert given by one of the most well known singers of the country, free of course.

They witnessed welcoming speeches by politicians, and it was the night when two halves of a country became one.

This was twenty years ago, but for Karin it was like yesterday, and a night never to forget. She watched her daughter and son playing together in the garden and was so thankful that they would never have to go through the restrictions she had in her childhood.

Click here for more

MULTIPLY United Friends Challenge #196: Fridge Talk

Mystydragon's Challenge

Write a story about the food in your refrigerator.
What does the food do in there when we close the door?

"Move over, it’s getting very cramped in here. If you are not careful I might fall, and there we have the mess”

“You might be an egg like the rest of us, but there are only enough places for six of us, and you are number seven; In this case six is company, and seven a crowd.”

“Is it my fault that the owner of this fridge is not more careful? She squeezed me in here. I was quite comfortable in my egg box, had it all to myself and then it happened. Taken out of the egg box, egg box thrown away and I have to sit on top of six strange eggs. I am sure we didn’t even come from the same chicken.”

“What’s that noise going on next door? Here I am trying to recover from the knife injuries I got this morning and all you eggs can do is complain.”

“Butter, you have always something to say. We eggs are simple folk. Just crack us open and then we are gone.”

“Exactly, just nice and easy. Imagine being butter. A piece of your flesh is hacked out and if you have some bad luck, you get the remains of the jam on your coat. Just look. I was nice and yellow this morning and now have a big red mark from the jam they ate for breakfast; just disgusting.”

“Excuse me, but that happens to be one of the most perfect stains you can have.”

“Oh, listen, big mouth jam is talking. At least you could apologise” spoke the butter quite annoyed.

“I do not apologise to any one, and especially not an inferior butter pack. We jams have a long life. Butter is inferior really, get too warm and you melt away. Your main job in life is to make a nice base for us jams.”

Jam was never very popular in the fridge. He was sticky and if the human did not clean his pot, he had stains running down the sides.

“Jam just stay where you are” said the butter. “I have enough red stains for today. What are you, strawberry or cherry?”

“I am raspberry actually; this year’s crop.”

“Can we ‘ave a bit of quiet up there on the top shelf. “We cheeses were ‘aving a nice sleep, maturing well; all that talking just excites us.”

“Yes camembert you are right.” Spoke the cheddar. “Did I ever tell you that you have such a sexy French accent.”

“You are making me blush cheddar. I might get a little bit too soft at the edges when you are so flattering. Such nice compliments from a sturdy English cheese we do not ‘ave every day.”

“I always did have a soft spot for you French cheeses. You have a sort of dignity that we cheddars don’t have."

“Oh, monsieur, you are really too kind.”

“Hey, salad, did you hear that; sounds like there is a love affair going on in the cheese drawer.”

“Who cares, tomatoes, we always come together in a bowl and don’t need all that talk about going soft and blushing. I heard that we get drowned in some sort of liquid before we are finally eaten.”

“Yes, it seems so salad, but that is our destiny I suppose.”

“Look out everyone, looks like someone will be chosen” the pickled onions called from their glass on the top shelf.

“Someone put the light out, it’s blinding me” said the cucumber.

“Can someone tell me how a cucumber can be blinded by a light” and the radish spoke up.

“Of course we can” answered the cucumber. “We delicate plants are very sensitive to light.”

“So who’s gone” asked the pickled onions. “One of us must have left this place, the door was opened.”

“Hello everyone, I just arrived.”

“Oh no, minced meat; move over, you stink” said the camembert cheese.

“I do not stink” answered the meat, “and you can talk you big hunk of yellow fat. If you weren’t wrapped up in paper, your smell would penetrate through all the cracks in the fridge door.”

“Oh, how cruel, I will ‘ave to cry.”

“See what you have done minced meat, my little friend the camembert is crying because of you. If I could move I would flatten you.”

“Just listen to the cheddar; I am just as British as you are. Come from a genuine English cow, so stop showing off. We don’t need that French stuff in a fridge.”

“And now listen to me you troublesome bunch of food. You are all in the same boat. You are keeping nice and cool and waiting to be chosen for a meal. You do not know who goes first, it is up to the humans, so I would just keep still and wait.”

“Who said that?” spoke all the food together in the fridge.

“Why, me of course, the fridge.”

“But a fridge cannot speak”

“Neither can cheese, meat, vegetable, butter, eggs or jam.”

Click here for more

MULTIPLY Wordsmiths Challenge #14 The Mystery of the Depths

Night falls on a world of sea shores
the last glow of a sun reflecting
against a lonely figure
stepping on sparkling ruptures of water
reflecting in an orange glow
of a sunset disappearing on the horizon
Where does she come from?
Where is she going?
Lost in time, lost in a glow
She is silent, approaching,
steps of mystery, coming to take
what she wants from the land
She wants something, she needs someone
Perhaps a mysterious nymph
arising from the depths
or just a girl taking a late night swim

Click here for more

MULTIPLY United Friends Challenge #195: Who is really guilty?

Kittigory's Challenge

Write about a forbidden love.
Begin the story in the middle somewhere, and stop before there is a resolution.
However, be sure that your reader can figure out some important things that came before, as well as how it is likely to end, from what you write.
The expected ending does NOT have to be "happily ever after".

“You are late Jean. I don’t have all day you know, they are quite strict with times in this place. Stop fiddling with your hands and sit still. So how are things are at home?”

“Fine Steve, just fine. The kids are spending the week with mum and dad.”

“You mean your mum and dad. Oh, that’s just fine. They will probably hate me even more when I come out of this place.”

Since Steve had been put away in prison, contact with him seemed even worse than before, although she knew she had nothing to fear at the moment. The beatings, swearing and drinking were something of the past, she hoped. She remembered so well the evening when he punched her in the face because she had forgotten to fill up the fridge with beer. He stamped out of the house and banged the door to the car driving off in a temper.

You don’t drive when you are drunk” was her last thought. The next time she saw Steve was in prison. He had killed a man on the street, drove over him, and now was sitting out his just reward in prison. He had been sentenced to ten years, but Jean sometimes wished he had got life. She felt guilty herself. She married Steve because she loved him, but it seemed there were two Steves in her life, one for good days and the other for bad. She left the prison after visiting time was over. It was just an hour, but those hours seemed to be the longest in her life.

She walked to the car park and climbed into a car. It was then that she had to let herself go and started to cry, just cry away the shame and the anger, everything at once. The driver of the car put his arm around her.

“Was it that bad Jean? Did you tell him, about us? How did he take it?”

“No Phil, I just could not bring it over my lips. You should have seen him. Sitting at that table, his eyes still full of hate. I am sure he still thinks that the man he killed was to blame for the accident. I remember his words at the trial “he just walked into my car, did not look right or left”. I think if I had told him what we are planning today, it would have increased his anger even more. He really seems to be under the impression that everyone else is wrong. In a way I feel sorry for him. I am sure that with professional help he could become the Steve I married again.”

“Forget that Jean. That will never happen. He will not leave that prison for ten years and that is enough time for us to build a new life. You suffered enough under his hands and now I am here to take care of you and the kids.”

“If only it was so easy. He asked how the kids were today and I told him they were staying with my parents. He was not happy about that.”

“Perhaps you should have told him the truth. The kids are fine and enjoying life at my parent’s farm. They are really happy with the animals. At last they can relax and enjoy life.”

“You know, Phil, ten years are not so long. One day he will come out and even sooner than we think, if he behaves himself in that prison and gets the help he needs. What will we do then?”

“We will think about that when the day is here. In the meanwhile you are staying with me. I love you Jean and I will not let that freak come between us. The divorce papers are ready. I set them up myself in the office this morning. All you have to do is sign and the rest takes care of itself. You are now together with a lawyer Jean, and have no further worries. Things will go nice and smoothly from now on.”

Then they drove off and Jean had stopped crying. It was true, Phil was a lawyer and a good one. He was certainly the right man to help under difficult circumstances, but she still had a guilty feeling. A plan began to grow in her mind. “What would be my chances if I shot Steve on the day he is released and arrives at my door?” Of course, she had not mentioned the idea to Phil, she did not want to trouble him. He was such a good man. The kids loved him and she felt so happy in his arms. Ten years was enough time to work out the details. She slept well that night, hoping that everything would be fine eventually.

On that day it was the last time that she visited Steve in prison.

Click here for more

MULTIPLY Writers Block #70: Nice and Tidy

It had been two weeks since the funeral. It was all so sudden that Jennifer was still getting used to the idea that George was no longer there. Although he was not the knight in shining armour, she had been satisfied with him. Good old tidy George, always everything in its right place. She could not have wished for a better husband.

Jennifer thought she would never get married. Her younger years were spent looking after her bed ridden mother, never visiting dances with other teenage friends, and not dating any men, as she never really met any. She missed the connection somewhere, but found her satisfaction in looking after the home, keeping things clean and neat. She was proud of her home and when her mother died she was alone, but she still lived in the appartment and continued with the daily cleaning routine, keeping everything in its place.

Everything would have carried on as it was, had Jennifer not read once in the newspaper about a lady that had been found dead in her apartment. It disturbed her as the corpse was only found six months after the death, the person concerned never being missed. Jennifer began thinking that could have been me.

“Who would miss me when I am not here any more?” and so Jennifer decided that she would look for a man. She placed a contact enquiry in the newspaper, as this seemed the most neutral and inconspicuous way of doing things. At the beginning she was overwhelmed by correspondence received. She even met two men, but their interests seemed to lie more in a bedroom experience than companionship. One of the men even asked if she lived in her own property or was renting. Jennifer was not stupid and decided to leave things as they were. Perhaps dying and not being discovered would be a better alternative. It was then she met George.

She was visiting the local library and browsing though the shelves. She saw just the book she was looking for “Cleaning and Organisation in the household”. “Ideal” she thought but as she put out her hand to take the book, she felt another hand on hers.

“Please excuse me” said a voice, “It seems we both have the same choice in mind.”

She looked at the person standing next to her. A very nicely dressed man, tie and suit as it belonged, nothing scruffy or blue jeans and t-shirts that most of the people seem to be wearing during the day. Above all clean shaven, no beard or moustache, just perfect. Jennifer was always careful to dress well when she left her apartment, making sure that everything matched well, and this man seemed to have the same idea.

“I have an idea” said Jennifer. “We both chose the same book. Perhaps one of us could read it and then let the other know when it is finished.”

“A good idea young lady” said the stranger. “By the way my name is George Conway and here is my card. Of course, you may have the book first of all. You could perhaps contact me when you have read it and we could meet to let me have the book.”

Jennifer noticed that the card belonging to the stranger said he was a salesman which was a nice organised job, and you always had to be well dressed and be well mannered. Jennifer was impressed and after reading the book she called George Conway, and made an appointment in a café to give him the book. This was the first of many meetings. She found that George also lived alone in his own house.

At last the man that Jennifer was looking for; clean, well organised, and his interests seemed to be the same as hers. His hobby was collecting coins from all over the world and Jennifer found this a nice tidy hobby. George invited her to his house and showed her the collection. Everything nicely labelled and neatly organised. She was also impressed by the nice clean appearance of everything where he lived. She naturally invited George to visit her and he was full of compliments for her nice tidy apartment. Even Jennifer’s cooking skills appealed to George. He was no gourmet, and liked his food plain and simple, just the way Jennifer made it.

Eventually the day came when George visited Jennifer with a wonderful bouquet of flowers and asked her to be his wife. She told him she would have to think about it, but George told her there was no rush, and there would be enough room for both of them in his house. He also assured her that he found they would be good company for each other, as they really seemed to share the same interests and life style.

Jennifer decided to accept and they had a quiet ceremony in a registry office. Just the two of them and the vicar and his wife from George’s church as witnesses. George was not deeply religious, but he would visit the church regularly on the first Sunday of the month and naturally Jennifer now accompanied him. The first night of their marital life seemed to be something new for both of them. George carried out his marital duty short and to the point, and Jennifer was not unhappy about this. They had no big discussion afterwards, and with time Jennifer found that even this was an organised job; the first Sunday morning in the month was the regular thing. George did once mention to Jennifer, that he was not a family man. This did not bother Jennifer as she did not want any children messing up her normal clockwork life.

There was one little thing that bothered Jennifer and that was the garden shed. It was always kept locked. There was a padlock on the door, quite rusty that looked as if it had seen better days. She once asked George why the shed was always locked.

“Jennifer, that is my private area. I have a collection of very expensive coins kept in the shed and I would prefer if no-one had access to them. I do not want anyone touching them. It would spoil their value.

Now George was dead from a heart attack. “Surprising” she thought after leading such a calm and well organised life. One day she decided it was time to go through George’s belongings and dispose of what was no longer needed. Her thoughts then drifted to the garden shed with its rusty padlock. “All those valuable coins just left to be discovered by a stranger one day” went through her mind. She made her way down to the shed, but it entered her mind that she had no key. As all good citizens she phoned for a locksmith and told him of her problem. He arrived quite quickly and broke the lock on the door. It really did not need such a lot of force, it was so rusty.

The door was opened and both the locksmith and Jennifer were surprised to see how well organised and tidy the shed was; A row of special books on a shelf containing the famous coins and a large filing cabinet. It was when Jennifer opened the cabinet that she had a surprise. There were identity cards or driving licences, row upon row showing women that Jennifer did not know. Each small plastic identity card or driving licence was accompanied by a card showing details; first of all a date, and then a place. There were remarks such as “dirty fingernails, stains on her blouse or generally untidy”. The locksmith was still with Jennifer and told her that something was peculiar. These cards and documents must belong to the people shown on them.

“I think you should give them to the police” he said.

Jennifer decided this would be correct. She called the police and told them what she had found and that they could perhaps return them to the people they belonged to.

The police came and picked up the documents. They asked Jennifer a lot of strange questions about George. What he did during the day when he was alive, where he worked, and whether he was a difficult person to get on with. She told them the truth; that he worked as a salesman, was mostly visiting his customers during the day, and that he was the ideal husband that any wife could wish for.

Unfortunately George’s shed collection could not be returned to the rightful owners. They had either disappeared, or been found strangled in the places After examination of the cards the remains of the women that had disappeared were also discovered under the word "place". It was a good thing that George was so well organised.

Click here for more