Flash Fiction Competition  2025 

Jenny watched a group of teenagers playing in the car park. Two girls swung round the ‘pay here’ sign. One girl in tartan pyjama trousers was trying to attract the attention of an older boy, she flung her arms around him and playing it cool, he showed no interest at all. She moved forward and leant on his shoulder and he stroked her back and kissed her. Five minutes before the store closed, Sunday and the grey sky was getting darker. One lad finished the last of his caffeine kick drink, screwed up the can and threw it in the bin. Jenny sighed and moved her trolley to the top deck of the car park, hiding behind a van to keep herself out of sight from youths and cameras. She knew she would have to wait until the kids left, defeated by the cold, and the car park closed. An elderly woman in a large coat with a shopping trolley in a supermarket car park, she was almost invisible. Jenny shivered and struggled into her second coat, pulling it over the old duvet jacket she was already wearing. In her trolley she had water bottles and what little food she’d found hidden under a pile of clothes and blankets. Longing to get in to the relative warmth of the lift, she had to wait until everyone had gone to avoid attracting any attention. The temperature was icy, the sun had set, the night would be freezing. Someone had said something about emergency cold weather shelters, no one had offered anything to her. Shrieks of laughter came from the group of youngsters. Jenny shifted position trying to find shelter from the bitter wind. She was so cold she was going to sleep, entering a dazed state where she could forget where she was. Could forget everything. Voices of abusers, harsh words came into her mind, “y’er just a waste of space, get out”. Sometimes memories of comfort and people who cared about her echoed, “honey let’s have a cuppa.” Jenny shook herself awake, her fingers curled up, it was painful to move. She had to get in to the lift. Using her trolley like a walking frame she dragged herself to the entrance. It was dark inside, by feel she spread the cardboard and blankets on the floor and lay on them pulling all the remaining clothes and cardboard over the top. The lift door closed and she drifted in and out of consciousness. Frank, the car park attendant found her first thing on Monday morning. “Eeugh!” he barked, “Come out of there.” Disgusted he kicked out, but Jenny’s cold body did not move. By the time the first customers arrived for their milk and newspapers, Jenny’s body was in a mortuary ambulance, any sign of her existence tidied away.