The Woman Who Starts Accidents (by Jo Horsman)Three wheels can be better than six.
Now, the kids have two go-carts careering down the lane into nettles and gravel.
Now, there are two accidents waiting to happen.
The woman hiding behind the ash tree is not anyone's mum now. She's waiting for accidents since her boy went.
Oh Christ, they're doing it blind-folded, the bend in the lane needing perfect timing. Leaves quiver, no wind.
Punching the air with white-back-to-pink fists, this boy runs back up to do it again!
She steps out; got to put a stop to this ridiculous, dangerous carry-on. She is met by spinning wheels carving into the side of her head and she screams. Oh, good one, you daft cow.
And what with this screaming bloody mess, concentration is lost and the new honorary boy slides on her side into nettles - no, not for the first time.
Laughs turn to tears turn to the woman who starts accidents.
So now, in one of those hospitals with no A&E, she wonders about that all the time. Her boy, fearless 'til she tells him he's bound to get hurt. Not three days later, boy's dead from his fun.
It's a coincidence, the nurses tell her fifty times a day.
Got to let people find their own way, all right?
[The second short short story series is announced and explained here.]