Margarida Brei is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature here today. (In case of a tie, the writer who submitted an entry first is the winner per our rules.) Without further ado, here’s the winning story:
#506
by Margarida Brei
506 West Live Oak Street, was a dilapidated ancient farm house leaning rather than standing on inhospitable land. Its shutters banged a half-hearted military tattoo while the sun tried to glint on the broken grimy glass. Nevertheless, as a child, hopping past 506 daily, Mattie dreamed. She imagined a wide welcoming porch, gingerbread brackets brimming with character, and architectural running trim full of beauty. Mattie saw beyond the decay and neglect. Potential. Character. Historical and cultural significance.
For years, she scrambled and scratched to save. Instead of dancing in floaty gauze dresses with beaus, she marched in the kitchen from work table to stove and back. While hand mixing batters, she envisioned trimmed rose bushes framing a majestic restaurant with a neat picket fence. Her dream fueled her to bake, roast, baste, serve.
A small down payment ensured that the property was hers. Financial setbacks, construction delays and tyrannical nature caused friction in her plans.
Lost in melancholy thoughts, she wondered, “Is it even worth giving this restaurant a name?”
Then she threw her shoulders back and thought of a grand name.
After her heart was repeatedly twisted and reshaped, laughter spilled out from balconies, candle light played on glistening crystal and savoury smells waltzed through HER restaurant. One hand on the balustrade, Matti glided up the stairs, her arm entwined in her husband’s. Her wedding train flowed along burnished wooden floors as guests held up champagne flutes. Outside, the ancient trees dipped their heads to her.
