The Winner of the Flash Fiction Competition 2021

3rd Prize

Tracy-Anne Plater

Reg

Reg sits at the front of the bus every morning, with his walking stick tripping people up in the aisle.

‘Bat’s always fly left when exiting a cave,’ – he delivered a new animal fact each day. I ignored him at first, but I started looking forward to hearing them. Sometimes he’d gurgle it from behind his handkerchief. Other times he’d say it casually while watching the rain trickle down the window: sloths cannot shiver, slugs have four noses, some cats are allergic to humans, a goldfish kept in the dark will become pale.

He only went three stops to his daughter’s, but he could barely get around, even with his stick. We’d all wait patiently as he shuffled off at his stop with his tatty carrier bag and thanked the driver. Occasionally, someone would offer to help him, but he’d shrug them away.

Reg wasn’t on the bus this morning. His seat was empty, and there was no stick blocking the aisle, no spluttering and mumbling, no animal facts. My heart raced, where was he? I wanted to see his bushy eyebrows and scrunched face. I wanted to hear his trivia. But there was no sign of him, and the bus pulled away.

‘Was Reg not at his stop this morning?’ I asked the driver.

'Not seen him today, love.’

I sat down, full of fear and guilt. Had he fallen ill? died in his sleep? I never showed I appreciated him. I didn’t let him know I’d become so fond of his morning antics. That I’ve told everyone in the office about him and they, too, look forward to the fact of the day. I never asked him where his information came from or how his daughter was. I didn’t take an actual interest in him.

At the first stop, I heard the ladies towards the back of the bus cheer. On the pavement, on a shiny new mobility scooter, was Reg. The bus driver sounded his horn as we all waved. Reg stopped at the bus stop and held up a piece of card, ‘An octopus will sometimes punch fish out of spite.’

Author Bio

Tracey-anne Plater started entering writing competitions in November 2020 and has had some recent success placing in competitions and making shortlists with her short stories and flash fiction. Tracey-anne is a mum of three from Braintree, Essex, determined to follow her dream of becoming a successful writer. She posts a daily 100 word story on her social media which helps keep her writing brain active. She is currently editing her first novel, which she hopes to start querying later in the year.
Daily 100 word stories: @tracey_anne_author Instagram or @traceyanne83 for Twitter.