Tuesday, 1 April 2014

A to Z Challenge - A is for April


The A to Z challenge is to write a daily blog post centred around a different letter of the alphabet each day. I will attempt to write a complete story which will continue each day and hopefully draw to a conclusion when we get to Z.




Everything about April screamed summer. Her fine shoulder length blonde hair, framed her face like a halo. She had alabaster skin which served as a perfect backdrop to her cornflower blue eyes. Even on the dullest days a light seem to shine around her. She was petit, no taller than five feet, and she wore ballet pumps which made her look even smaller, as all her friends wore at least a three inch heel. Her dresses were nineteen fifties in style and people often remarked that she made them think or Sandra Dee or Peggy Sue.

April was everyone’s friend and everyone liked her, but there was one small problem and that was her birthday. April had been born on April first and that was why her mother had called her April. All her friends thought it was great fun to send her joke presents on her birthday. April had a good sense of humour but not when it came to her birthday. Everyone else got treated special and spoilt on their birthdays and all she got was to be made a fool of. They always made up for it later on in the day but she had lost her excitement by then.

This year April had sworn it would be different. She had warned all her friends that she would never speak to them again if they didn’t treat her birthday with some respect and they had promised to make this year special.

April was going to be twenty one and she really hoped they would keep their promises.

When April the first arrived April woke up to the sound of the birds singing. Even early in the morning the sun was already shining through her window. She checked inside her slippers and her dressing gown. Nothing. She carefully walked through to the bathroom and checked the toilet seat for cling film and the shower head for ink. Nothing. She slowly edged down the stairs checking each step before putting her weight onto it. Nothing. In the kitchen she checked the milk and upon finding it was fresh, made her breakfast.

There on the table were a pile of cards and five presents. She carefully opened all the cards and read the greetings. April found a strange warm feeling enveloping her. This must be what it’s like for everyone else on their birthdays she thought. She placed the cards on the mantle and started to open her presents. An ipad, a couple of cd’s she wanted and a copy of 1984. She couldn’t believe how lucky she’d been. The final parcel didn’t have a tag on it. April wondered who it could be from. All her family had bought her something and she would see most of her friends later.

She slowly eased open the celotape and the wrapping paper fell away to reveal a small box. As she carefully lifted the lid, the smell hit her. Putrid, almost rotten. It was the worst thing she had ever smelt. The box was open in her hand and all she could do was stare at it.

The silence was broken as the doorbell rang. At the same time April started screaming.

 

 

 

Want to find out what happens next?
Get the full story from Amazon click here
 

Jo Jenner is on twitter @jojenner40 and on facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/jojennerauthor

Check out her short story anthology available on Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DOCK3S0

 

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