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Christmas Still in the Basement

by Susan Carey

Flash Fiction Poignant, Reflective

“Our rockets take you to Mars in under twenty light years!” Jimmy read the blurb about the toy in the packet of cornflakes. “Mom, that’s really cool.”
“It’s not our brand, hon.”
I reached down for the cheap cornflakes and put them in the cart and steered into the canned goods aisle.
I picked up three cans of beans and put them in the cart. It was the only premium brand I could afford since Vic had gone out for the proverbial pack of smokes.
“No, not like that, like this. See, it’s a rocket!” Jimmy balanced the three cans on top of each other.
Just then I spotted Brenda who lived at the end of our road. Hank had already gotten their Frosty the Snowman up on their roof. Our Frosty was just a deflated heap in the basement. I dodged behind a wine display but Brenda saw me.
“Hey, Tammy, how you doing these days? We miss you at coffee mornings.”
“Mmmm, just been so busy you know, what with the Holidays and all.”
Brenda tilted her head to the side, sympathetic expression turned up to ten.
“If you need Hank to put Frosty up for you, just let us know.” She squeezed my arm with her French-manicured hand.
I smiled and headed for the exit.
“How about we use the self-service checkout and play Beeps?”
Jimmy ran towards the checkout.
Outside, snow was falling. The cart skidded over the parking lot. People piled into a Greyhound bus at the station; the bus’s destination: Bozeman, Montana. Long ago I dreamed of herding Mustangs in Montana. I closed my eyes, empty plains stretched before me; thundering hooves shook the ground; my long hair blew free.

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About Susan Carey

Susan is a Brit living in Amsterdam. Susan has been a runner-up in the 2018 and 2017 Casket of Fictional Delights Flash Fiction Competitions, ‘The Plughole Picker’ was published online and 'To See a Star' was recorded as a podcast and published on a number of audio platforms.  Her writing has also been published and performed by amongst others; Mslexia, Liars’ League, Reflex Fiction and Writers Abroad. She has a love hate relationship with her adopted hometown and often dreams of living in a thatched cottage, far from the madding crowd. In 2020 Susan published her short story collection, Healer.

Susan Tweets @su_carey

Susan has an Amazon Page 


Visit Susan Carey on the web

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12 responses to “Christmas Still in the Basement”

  • Jody says:
    December 11, 2018 at 9:42 pm

    Christmas in the Basement – moving title and melancholic story. Another fine work by Susan Carey!

    Reply
    • Susan Carey says:
      December 14, 2018 at 12:36 pm

      Thank you, Jody! Hope my American English convinced you 🙂

      Reply
  • Natalia says:
    December 12, 2018 at 8:10 am

    Beautiful!

    Reply
    • Susan Carey says:
      December 14, 2018 at 12:41 pm

      Thanks, Nataal. Appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment.

      Reply
  • Josie Gladden says:
    December 12, 2018 at 9:58 am

    As always, it’s very nicely written and very visual

    Reply
  • Sally Robinson says:
    December 12, 2018 at 10:57 am

    Good story. Especially ‘sympathetic expression turned up to ten’!
    I would have rather liked Jimmy and his mum to have gone up to the stars in that rocket though!?

    Reply
  • Debbie Bijtjes says:
    December 12, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    Hi Susan, wonderful story. It reminds me that imagination is the greatest gift of them all!
    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  • Susan Carey says:
    December 14, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    Thanks, Jody, Nataal, Josie, Sally and Debbie! Really appreciate you taking the time to read the story and comment.
    In the follow-up, Sally perhaps they’ll go up in the rocket 🙂

    Reply
  • Debbie Hubbard says:
    December 16, 2018 at 4:57 pm

    Hi Susan,
    I love the way your story tells us so much without saying it out loud.

    Reply
    • Susan Carey says:
      December 17, 2018 at 9:55 am

      Thank you, Debbie. It’s funny how stories grow from a single idea. A deflated Frosty the Snowman was the starting point and it evolved from there. Sometimes showing and not telling comes easily, and other times it doesn’t! There was one ‘telly’ sentence in there which was cleverly edited out by the team at Casket of Fictional Delights 🙂

      Reply
      • Joanna Sterling says:
        December 17, 2018 at 10:38 am

        I’m glad we could help.

        Reply
  • Christine Nedahl says:
    February 15, 2019 at 8:24 pm

    I love it!
    I seem to miss so many pieces of your work, Susan Carey. I need to tighten up!

    Reply

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Everyone at The Casket is hoping 2021 will be a better year than 2020.  We have some great short stories and flash fiction lined up for your delight.  We kick of the year with a story by Lydia Unsworth “The Smallest Boxes” and then for Valentine's we have a story by Dylan Brethour which will also be available as a podcast. Later in the summer we have a new Flash Fiction Summer Collection which will be published online and as podcasts read by Menna Bonsels and Richard Hodder.  We hope you enjoy the stories we have for you and look forward to welcoming you back regularly.

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Text & stories © Joanna Sterling 2021
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