#VeryShortStories

#VeryShortStories
The young couple seemed like perfect buyers for the quaint cottage – they were friendly, bubbly, successful! During the two-hour long property visit, they had walked around the house with keen interest, pointing things out to each other and marvelling at little conveniences put in over the years.
Their incessant chatter revealed a lot about who they were and how they lived – a nice balance between party weekends and quiet times. They planned on getting dogs, they said, since they now would have the space larger dogs required. And the wife shyly revealed that she was expecting a baby!
A baby in the house would change everything. Life would continue after a long interruption, when the cottage was abandoned after a ghastly incident with the last residents. The sales representative had a ready-made little speech about the accident – he knew exactly when to recite it. And at the right moment, he started!
“. . . . but of course, none of this has ever been verified, nor do we know for sure that the father killed three daughters and his wife before shooting himself in the head!” he finished. 
The wife had listened carefully to the morbid story. She was quiet for a moment, then drew a deep breath. The poor sales representative felt his sales commission start to slip away. This was the fourth time he had brought prospective clients to this property.
The wife looked into the representative’s eyes. “Every bit of what you just told us is true,” she said quietly. “I know. I was there,” she concluded, her hands clasped around her belly now full of new life! (271 words)

#VeryShortStories

In an instant, the young lad knew what had to be done to repair the situation. She was on the verge of going completely berserk, and she had to be stopped at all costs! Already, her mane of wild grey hair had started to fan out around her head, she moaned deep in her throat, and she swung back and forth in a rhythmic dance-like movement.

            So, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and started humming his soothing lullaby. To others, it sounded tuneless, a mere four-note progression that a newbie singer might be asked to repeat endlessly. But to the entity that had started churning inside her, it was a calming balm!

            Once the sound of the lullaby reached the unseen entity, she started slowing down her frenetic movements. He breathing steadied, she was no longer in danger of hyper-ventilating. Gradually, her head was still, and her hair no longer fanned out like a crazy halo. She sat down on the ground, then drew up her legs close to her chest and was curled up in the classic fetal position, thumb in her mouth, eyes closed!

            The child stared down at her, then reached out to caress her sweaty brow. His grandmother looked after him completely on all days except two each month. On those two days, he had come to realise, it was his turn to return the favour! (233 words)