“I remember one day…” Mrs. McCallum stroked her cat with a wrinkled hand. “Father sat with me at his side and I listened to him play while Mother danced… We’d lost so much, but we still clung onto those pearls.”
Victoria Burton sighed. “Please try to remain focused. No extraneous details.”
“They were stolen.”
Victoria raised an eyebrow. “When?”
“I don’t know. I took them to an expert because they’d never been valued…” Mrs. McCallum looked at Victoria with deer-in-the-headlights eyes. “The pearls had been replaced with fakes. Cheap glass.”
“Who had access to them?”
“Only I knew the combination.” Mrs. McCallum looked distant for a moment, then nodded her ancient, bird-like chin. “And Todd, of course. He looks after things now that I…”
“Then there is a clear answer.”
“Not Todd!” McCallum gasped. “He’s like a–”
“No. The peals were never in the safe. Your mother sold them.”
Word Count: 149
This is for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. Thanks to Priceless Joy for running the challenge and Louise for providing the prompt photo!
Family secrets.
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Some of which are best left secret.
Thanks for commenting!
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The mother? Did not see that coming. :O
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Glad to be unexpected. Thanks for commenting!
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Unexpected finish, well done!
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Thank you!
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Welcome
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Quite an unexpected ending. Nice touch in the end!
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Thank you!
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Great twist at the end J.A.! The truth comes out! Great story!
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Thank you!
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Poor mother having to part with her pearls! Nicely done.
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Thank you!
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Great yarn with a brilliant conclusion. I Like it!
My tale is called ‘One beautiful day’
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Thank you! (I’ve finally worked out how to actually comment with my WordPress account on Blogspot stories!)
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There’ll always be some skeletons left in the family closet. I wonder why Victoria was looking for the pearls? Or maybe they just want it for a keepsake. Or money.
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My intention was that Victoria was a detective there to help Mrs. McCallum find the pearls, but the word count made it hard to get that across.
Thanks for commenting!
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Oh this sounds like an Alzheimer story. Grandmother “miss-remembered” a lot of stories.
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Alzheimers wasn’t what I had in mind (I was thinking the mother never told her she sold the real pearls because of the shame) but it does fit.
Thanks for commenting!
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A nice little character study here. Secrets, hardships, so much to chew on. Nice work.
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Thank you!
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Aw, Im sure Mom had good reason to sell those pearls, she must have really needed the money for her family. Unless, well Mom knew the pearls were never real to begin with. Great write 🙂
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Thank you! My intention was exactly what you said: that she really needed the money for the family.
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