Women’s Magazine Stories

To be told you have been made redundant is devastating and that’s how we find Ben, who realises that he will have to face up to unwelcome changes in his life.

A Turn for the Better

‘Not at work today?’  came the call from the front garden next door.

‘Taken some time off,’ I replied with a forced smile on my face as I scurried past.

‘I’m glad I’ve caught you,’ continued the woman in the woolly hat and matching fleece jacket, straightening up from her weeding and removing one of her gardening gloves.

‘Actually I’m in rather a hurry,’ I told her pretending to consult my watch while walking away.

‘Won’t keep you then.  I’ll call by later, should I?  It’s Flat 2 isn’t it?’ she persevered.

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Many will understand the physical and emotional trauma of needing an organ transplant. In this story, of personal experience, I try to give an insight from the aspect of the recipient and close family.

From the insiduious beginning of pain and fatigue, the hopes and the fears. All tinged with the sorrow of knowing you could live only because another human being has lost their
life and another family is suffering loss. They are the heroes in this story.

"They’ve Got a Kidney for Me, Mum"

‘They’ve got a kidney for me, Mum!’ My Son Steve was almost shouting into the phone, he was so excited. My heart missed a beat, as I realised the enormity of his statement.  This was the phone call we have all been waiting for. It had finally arrived.  What now?

“I’m on my way Steve.” I said replacing the receiver and grabbing the car keys in one movement. Then it happened!

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Lake Forest has a reputation for being home to the very wealthy. The beauty of the town and its homes, some of which are quite grand, never fails to impress visitors. However, all may not be quite as lovely as it seems on the surface.

'Home' by Sheffield

My grand adventure, a time that taught me a great deal, began on a warm autumn afternoon. There were some workmen at my house, making a terrible racket with machines. (I hate machines. The vacuum cleaner sends me to the basement lickety-split.) When they started up with the saws or drills or whatever the nasty things were, I just had to get out of the house. Mum was distracted with her kitchen work, so when I whined and scratched at the back door, she let me out.

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Margaret is a sixty four year old widow. She's usually very sensible and calm, but she feels like an excited teenager as she sits in her living room and waits for her phone to ring.

It's Duncan

Margaret had been expecting a phone call all evening, but she still jumped when the phone started ringing at twenty past nine. Her heart started hammering in her chest as well, but she managed to say hello in a reasonably normal voice.

“So has he phoned?” her friend Pam asked.

“No, not yet,” she replied.

“How strange,” Pam said. “What time did he phone last night?”

“The machine said it was ten past eight.” Margaret slumped back on the sofa and sighed. “Maybe he’s forgotten he said he’d phone.”

“Yes, so maybe you should phone him!”

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Paula decides to go on an estate agent’s website during her lunch break. She’s been desperate to look at the details of a property in Sycamore Close ever since the For Sale board went up, and she thinks the house looks great, but her supervisor isn’t so impressed.

8 Sycamore Close

As soon as all the other girls had clattered off to the canteen, Paula went on the Internet and started searching for the website of a local estate agent. She was desperate to take a look at 8 Sycamore Close. The For Sale board had gone up in the garden the day before, but she hadn’t been able to look at the details at her mother’s house.

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Barbara had fallen out with her daughter, because she was forever trying to find a man for her. She loved her daughter very much, but she didn’t want a man in her life, she was happy as she was, that is, until she had a knock to her car and the cause of that knock changed her mind.

A Bumpy Ride to Romance

“You’re getting too choosy in your old age, that’s your trouble.”

Barbara gazed out of the window; she had taken umbrage at her daughter’s remark.

Right, so choosy she could be, and why not, but old? Never!  After all, she was only seventy, in her head coming on forty. She had her own teeth; or most of them; trendy in her appearance, and thanks to the bottle in her bathroom cabinet, no grey hair.

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Mavis and Tom were a childless couple, who spent all their married life, keeping to a routine, and never changing. Tom was old fashioned and would not agree to Mavis going out to work. One day, however, Tom began to change his routine, and the result was a big surprise for Mavis.

A Change in Routine

Mavis heard the stairs creak; he must be on the fifth stair. Almost every morning for the last thirty years, Tom had brought her a cup of tea, placing it carefully on the bedside cabinet.

“I’m off now dear. Another day another dollar.”

It was the same routine every day.

This morning, however, his mind seemed elsewhere.

Suddenly, Tom was sprawled across the bed, tea dripping over the beautiful cream silk bedcovers.

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Laura is a writer who likes to sit writing in a coffee shop to stimulate her creativity. One stormy day she meets her guardian angel who has come to help her.

A Change of Heart

In the end it didn’t matter if she didn’t write today. Laura held the delete key down on her computer, wiping the words on her screen away—a clear page, until all that remained was the flashing cursor waiting again, like an anxious scribe waiting to fill a new sheet. The action represented her life, she thought, a clean slate—back to a default position.

The torrential rain streamed down the windows. Laura was sitting in the warmth of a deserted coffee shop at a table by the steamy window, looking out towards the sea wall. Every so often the angry, stormy sea sent a big wave splashing over it, as a reminder of its mood. ‘That should reflect my state,’ she thought, ‘but I feel nothing.’

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A family dispute before Christmas is not much fun, can Mike find a way round it?

A Christmas Story

The gale force wind sent ice-cold rain sweeping across the garage forecourt. It rattled the signs, pulled at the bunting and threatened the brightly coloured lights on the huge Christmas tree outside the door. Mike Drew ran a hand through his thick brown curls and sighed. If the tree came down, he would have to go out and rescue it.  It would mean getting soaked, but that wouldn’t make him any unhappier than he already was. What a Christmas Eve, raining, hardly any customers and the prospect of spending Christmas alone.

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A lad from the 'wrong side of the tracks' falls for a girl his mother warned him he can never have.

A Class Act

My mother was preserving the class system again.  “Them folks as live up th’ill, live in a different world frum us.  We’ll never be able to aspire tuh same ‘eights as them, you’ll see.  Just wait ‘til ya get older and you’ll see the way of the world!”

Unfortunately, one of the folks that lived on the hill was Penelope Armstrong-Sydeley and I took a shine to her from the day I saw her in the schoolyard.  A gaggle of girls was doing handstands against a wall that ran the length of the girls’ play area.

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A young school cadet goes to a fairground looking for the kind of girl about whom he has heard other cadets talk.  Camellia doesn't exactly fit the description but she does provide him with a sought after opportunity.

A Company of Boys

I was the youngest of the school cadet force at the summer camp and socially unacceptable to my peers, so, on Saturday, I took a bus alone into town, intending, like the others, to meet one of the anticipated hordes of vacationing mill girls.

As I strode into the pulsating fairground, Frankie Vaughan sang of secrets ‘Behind the Green Door’.

Rides went round and round, up and down and in and out, allowing girls to scream out for attention, pretending excitement and manufacturing fear.  Assorted music blared from a multitude of speakers.

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Lucy is having lunch with her grandmother in a local pub. She thinks they have gone out to lunch instead of having their usual sandwiches because her grandmother has run out of bread, but it turns out that Joan has a cunning plan.

A Cunning Plan

Lucy had never been in The Red Lion before. She’d walked past it a few times in the past and concluded that it looked a bit of a dump, but it was actually quite nice inside, and there were loads of tempting dishes on the menu, but she was finding it very hard to decide what she should have to eat. She needed to concentrate, but her grandmother hadn’t stopped talking since they’d walked into the pub. First she’d gone on, in a very loud voice, about the landlord and his seedy past, then she’d moved on to her bunions and what the chiropodist had said, and for the last five minutes or so she’d been acting like a teenager and eyeing up all the single men!

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Emotions stir when a  policeman kills an offender who turns out to have been his wife’s pre-school friend.

A Day in the Life of a Policeman's Wife

As usual after a night callout, Senior Constable Peter Smith did not go back to bed.  When Anna surfaced, he was on a stool, still wearing his coat, flicking through a newspaper, his big frame hunched over the kitchen table. An aroma of bacon and eggs lingered.

“Morning, Peter,” Anna said.

“Shhh,” he growled, pointing at the radio.

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A man is left with a dog his wife brought into their lives.  The animal helps him readjust and eventually find happiness.

A Dog for all Reasons

“No more sex ‘til we get a dog!”

I laughed at her outrageous statement and made wagers with her to win my prize.  I got her inebriated.  I challenged her to nude wrestling matches and other transparent games and she laughed at me.  When I said it was time to stop the games, she said, “Not until we get a dog.”

The dog was a Welsh corgi and he was the right size for our garden flat.  He was farm-born, a few weeks old and nameless when he came into our lives.

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Life can be very hard living with an 'alpha' male and when that man gets himself a tough-looking dog to match his image it can be a recipe for trouble, but not necessarily the trouble you expect!

A Dog's Life

He didn’t need much of an excuse; if there wasn’t a beer waiting for him or his dinner on the table, he’d had a bad day at work or just had too much to drink; I was always the one that bore the brunt of it.

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Geri is surprised when her husband tells her that she doesn’t need to phone her mother after dinner. She’s spoken to her mother every evening since her father died and she can’t work out what’s changed.

A Good Night's Sleep

As soon as she’d finished her dinner, Geri sat back in her chair and looked at her watch.

“I’d better phone Mum,” she said.

“Oh, you don’t need to,” her husband Matt replied as he stabbed his fork into his last chip. “I meant to tell you, love. She phoned earlier and I told her you were working late.”

“Yeah, but no doubt she’s expecting me to phone her back.” Geri stood up and started walking across the room towards the phone. “I’ve spoken to her every evening since Dad died and…”

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A woman is confused about with whom she has a blind date, but the man she picks thinks it's wonderful.

A John By Any Other Name

Jennifer arrived early on Saturday evening to meet John Miller, an almost-blind-date arranged by her sister.  She sat on a bench by the fountain in St. Francis’ Square, draped her slender arms along the wooden backrest, and tilted her head to catch the glow of the setting sun.

John Miller’s family lived in Adelaide but he had gained his degrees in economics and geography at Melbourne University.  It was there that Jennifer’s brother-in-law had been friendly with the man who was soon to commence working for the town’s most prestigious brokerage house.  Jennifer had seen a photograph of a group of students that included John before being asked if she fancied the idea of a date with him.

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A grandmother prepares her last gift to her grandson, who is about to take off for distant planets and stars.

A Little Piece of Home

Her hand trembled a little as she reached for the flour jar.  She told herself to stop being stupid, there was a loaf to be made and very little time in which to make it.  She tipped the flour into the bowl and added the fat; her wrinkled fingers began the process of rubbing it in.  If Gary were to walk in now, she thought, he’d say, as he always did: “You need a mixer, Gran, one with a dough hook. It’ll do all that hard work for you.  Go on, let me bring you Mother’s.”  But she’d always made her bread this way and she always told him she was too told to change her ways.

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A woman reflects on her marriage after her husband's death and wonders how she can ever put back to rights the immaculate garden he left behind and which she has let go during a year long period of grieving.

A Love for All Seasons

Jan surveyed the tumbling mass of weeds that was the garden these days.  Slowly she inched her way down the path, brushing up against the marjoram, releasing its exquisite fragrance as she went.

Sunshine struck the silver birches with a dazzling brightness, birdsong resonated on the summer breeze and the rustling of wings in the branches of tall trees drew her screwed-up gaze upwards.  Such bounty.  In the distance children’s voices called out to one another in happy play.  Could it really be that time of year again?

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After George died, Gladys stopped drinking tea. She didn't want to make it if her husband wasn't going to drink it. So why is she waiting for the kettle to boil?

A Nice Cup of Tea

Gladys waited for the kettle to boil and wished she were making tea for George. How many times had she boiled a kettle for him? Over sixty years ago she’d started doing it. At just seventeen, she’d been so noticeable and pretty, with long red hair, green eyes and freckles. She saw her reflection, distorted in the kettle’s round metal surface, distorted too by age. Her hair was all anonymous neat grey curls now, her freckles hidden amongst the age spots and wrinkles, her once bright eyes faded and cloudy. No one noticed her now.

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Jenny is intrigued when her young son, Christopher, tells her that he remembers a past life. After asking him lots of questions, she finds out that he lived in Brighton before and suggests that they should go there to try and find the house where he once lived.

A Past Life

Christopher didn’t choose the best time to tell me he’d lived before. I was dashing around getting the living room ready for an angel party when he came downstairs in his cute doggy pyjamas and blurted out the words.

I stared at him in astonishment as he told me he could remember a woman who had been his mother before, and a tingle ran down my spine as he recalled living in a big red brick house, but there was furniture to move and nibbles to put out in the few minutes before Cassandra and my friends were due to arrive, so unfortunately I just didn’t have the time to ask him any questions or listen any more.

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Elle Meadows was used to the needs of the farm coming before anything she might want for herself so didn't get her hopes up when a florist's van pulled into their driveway. Lack of flowers she could cope with, but did the driver really need to call her 'mate'?

A Piece of Pink Ribbon

Elle Meadows limped back towards the warmth of the farmhouse, clutching the piece of pink ribbon and trying not to cry. Was she being unreasonably selfish to hope for one small touch of luxury or comfort in her life? Normally she didn't mind the hard work, the dirt or the early mornings; she liked working on the farm. The sight of their cows grazing happily, a new litter of piglets being brought into the world or the hens roosting safely for the night always made her smile. She loved the scent of freshly made hay, fresh warm milk and the wood smoke from the range in the kitchen. Today though she felt that if she were to see one more muddy animal or smell the sweaty aroma from its damp back then she'd be ready to head for the city and apply for an office job.

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The promise of peace on earth to all men of good will is often at its most stressed and fragile during the Christmas period. Yet the right present can still work the age old miracle of wonder and acceptance and bring contentment to the most unlikely recipients.

A Present for Joe

Over the laden table Joe met his wife's eyes; red rimmed from their last fight.He felt the familiar prickle of irritation.

Too many screaming kids, too many people, and too much food. It didn't need to be Christmas for his mother?in?law's household to slop over so abundantly with chaotic disorder. It wasn't just family, but all the people who boarded, or had boarded under the shabby roof of the rambling house and their friends as well.

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Julia Colgan had been a loser from thirty-seven seconds after her birthday. That didn't mean she intended to stay that way forever.

A Real Winner

Julia Colgan had always been a loser. It started thirty-seven seconds before her birth; Julia had the newspaper cuttings to prove it. ‘Local girl loses out,’ it said. Her mum had been expected to deliver the first baby at the newly opened maternity hospital. Local businesses had promised all kinds of birthday gifts for the first child; photographs by the portrait photographer, clothes, shoes and nappies from children's shops; bottles, sterilising fluid and rusks.

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An open letter. An explanation, to a former girl-friend of over sixty years ago, of why I agreed to our break-up.

A Romance Long Ago, But Not Forgotten

Dear G…

We have not set eyes on each other for over sixty years. Yet, I have never forgotten you, and indeed, still feel love for you. All those years ago, I was really ‘in love’ with you. What was it that night, coming from the cinema, having had little conversation that prompted you to say ‘Perhaps we should stop seeing each other?’

Although, in my heart I did not want our relationship to end, I found myself saying ‘Maybe we should.’

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