Are we nearly there yet?

The only better thing than flash fiction on a friday is the seaside. I wrote this one for a little comp that Do Some Damage has got running.



Are we nearly there yet?


The world just ain’t the same anymore.

I took the wife and kids down to Margate for the day. We got up early, packed up the car at seven in the morning. The nippers were well excited. Beaming little faces. Seaside for the day. A real treat. Don’t forget the bucket an spade, dad, they said.

The drive took two hours. Road’s were busy. Scorching day too, hottest of the year, the radio said. Kids got restless in the back, Are we nearly there yet, they kept saying.

We finally got there, parked in the multi-storey and spent the day on the beach. Kids built sandcastles, played in the sea, dug great big holes in the sand and ate ice creams. The works. The full works. The wife read a book, while I just sat there, in me deckchair, taking it all in. All those happy, smiling kids. They just love the sea, don’t they?

But the world ain’t the same anymore.

I nipped back to the car to check I’d put enough money in the meter. As I got near, I saw some young scally by the passenger door. He was looking through the window, coat hanger in his hand ready to pop the lock.

I sneaked round another car, he hadn’t seen or heard me. I could feel my muscles tensing. My blood was pumping fast. I knew what was coming next. Me eyes seemed to lose focus. Red mist was descending.

The mist slowly faded.

I opened the boot of my car and picked up the lifeless, bloody lump of scally on the ground and chucked him inside. I covered him up with that old travel blanket and used some of the wife’s wet wipes to clean the blood off my hands. My own knuckles were cut, busted open, his blood had mixed in with mine.

This country’s gone right downhill. Can’t even leave your car in a car park nowadays. No where’s safe, is it? Never used to be like this. I blame the teachers. A good clip round the ear never hurt no one. Nowadays, they get away with everything.

Kids loved that day at the seaside. We went on the roller coaster then had fish and chips. Best day ever, they’d said. They slept all the way home, too. Probably just as well. The smell from the boot was just starting to leak into the car as we got back.