Magpie Tales#42 The Cup

She knew it was a mistake as soon as Veronica opened the door, but being the soft hearted person she was, she entered and hugged the tall woman.
‘I have the kettle on, would you like a biscuit or are you still trying to lose weight. I can’t see that you have lost any.’ she said.
‘A biscuit would be nice, thank you, I rushed out of the house as soon as I got your phone call. What is it, is there some thing wrong? asked Hannah.
‘No nothing wrong I just wanted to show you my latest cup. I was presented with it at the tennis club on Friday for being the best player of the year. Veronica smirked as she spoke and looked proudly at the new cup with its ribbons tied to the handles.

‘That’s wonderful,’ said Hannah quietly, thinking how slim Veronica looked.
There’s to be a dinner in my honour next week, would you like to be my guest, you are my best friend after all.’
‘I’ll check with Jim but I think that will be all right.’

Hannah nibbled at the rich shortcake biscuit, thinking that of course Veronica didn’t need to buy the dry tasteless ones she did. All that sport over the years had kept her slim and trim, while, she was still carrying her baby weight after Sam, who was now a year old.

The latest cup had been given pride of place on the mantle shelf, which was bowed with the weight of all ten cups that Veronica had won over the years.
‘Do you think you will ever rejoin the tennis club?’ asked Veronica standing in front of Hannah and looking down at her friend nervously nibbling the biscuit. Hannah looked uncomfortable and thought how the other members of the tennis club would look at her fat figure with distain.

It had never been Hannah’s idea to join the club and she didn’t enjoy the fierce competition nor the out of the fashion books looks, that the other women had. Veronica loved the whole atmosphere and played hard and to win as all her cups showed.

‘So you think you’ll be ok for Friday?’

‘I don’t see why not, but wouldn’t you like one of the single men at the club to be your partner?’

‘Not likely, too chav for me, didn’t you see that Dave in that track suit the other day, it must have been last years M&S style.’ Veronica chortled as she spoke and her narrow face soured as she just thought of Dave.
‘I’ll see you Friday at 6:30 sharp,’ said Veronica as she waved Hannah off.

Hannah let herself in her own house. ‘Hello my love, and how was the sporty Veronica, what was the emergency?’ Jim smiled as he hugged Hannah and took her coat.

‘She wanted to show off her latest trophy, a huge cup with handles and streaming with ribbons. I felt my usual dumpy self next to her. Honestly I think she does it deliberately just to make me feel small and fat.’ Tears rolled down Hannah’s face as she spoke. 'And I am sure she has only asked me to go so people will look at her and pity me.’ And she sobbed even more.

‘That’s it then I won’t have you upset any more by that so called friend Veronica, I ‘ll phone and say Friday is not convenient.’

‘No please don’t, she’ll be telling everyone that you decide what I can or not do, if I don’t go I ‘ll tell her myself. Replied Hannah and changing the subject she said, ‘How ‘s Sam did he go off to sleep all right?’

‘Sleeping like a baby,’ laughed Jim ‘Come lets go and look at our little boy, he’s our trophy and much better than any old cup!’

Magpie #41

‘Only eleven more,’ she said.

‘You could do that in two months, Clara said.

‘I know I could, if I tried really, really hard,’ Said Laura.

Thoughts rushed through her mind. Once she reached that target weight all her troubles would be like sand in the wind. She’d be beautiful, people would look at her differently. No longer a blob stuffed into clothes much too small, no more trying to get her battle ship of a body into those magic knicks. She would find the man of her dreams too. Just eleven pounds that’s all.

She looked down at the small plate with the cream cake and the large late´ coffee. ‘I ‘ll start after this cake,’ she said. ‘Or I could chuck the cake and start now.’ It was so hard, so hard to give up the foods she liked. Already one hundred and two pounds lighter and the clothes she wore now, were more fashionable but she needed those eleven pounds more, to be really slim. She absent mindedly bit into the soft squelchy bun, cream oozed out of the side and the sweet icing stuck to her top lip. ‘If only I could lose those eleven pounds.’ she said and she swallowed the soft sticky sweet bun, ‘only eleven.’

Would you like another bun?’ asked Clara,’ they’re priced three for two.’

‘Oh alright then, pity to miss a bargain.’ Said Laura.

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The necklace. Magpie Tales#40

‘Hi Mum, have you seen what Aunt Elsie has given me? She said she bought it in India when she was there thirty years ago, do you think it might be valuable? Louise smiled as she unwrapped the necklace from the yellowing tissue. ‘I always liked it and at last she has said I could have it, when I asked before, she said no, she said it is hundreds of years old ’


‘Let me see, Oh it’s horrid, is it one of those Indian Gods? The pearls look almost purple and that square pendant looks as though it might be gold. Quite unusual but I think really ugly,’ said Louise’s Mum.’ It’s not like my sister Elsie to give something of value away, I should imagine it’s just some gold coloured metal.

‘Well I love it,’ said Louise. ‘I am going to my room to try it on with some tops to see which ones suit it.’ In her room Louise paraded in front of the mirror admiring the necklace around her neck.

At her own home Elsie thought about her niece, such a pain that girl always asking for things, she nagged and nagged for that necklace, hope she likes it. It will teach my prissy sister and her precious daughter a lesson. Why couldn’t I have had a child, I would have loved her or him but I guess it wasn’t to be, and instead I have travelled all over the world collecting all manner of peculiar things, that necklace was supposed to be cursed.

Louise’s Mum busy in the kitchen with the radio on full blast, didn’t hear the weak banging coming from Louise’s bedroom. Louise lay on the floor, the pearls tight round her neck and the monkey god on the pendant swished its monkey tail. As Louise struggled for her last breath, the pearls changed colour and the monkey with his rat face smiling turned his face again to the east and to the rising sun. He would live again for another hundred years.

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The Chicken Magpie Tales#39

I used to love to hear the stories my grandmother told when I was young. At one time, she and my grandfather and their five girls lived in a house that once was a pub called the Lamb and Flag. It was on the side of the mountain road that led to the village called Llangynwyd, which is just two miles from Maesteg, South Wales. One of the stories she told me was about a chicken they had which limped and walked very slowly, so was easy prey when the other chickens decided to attack and peck her, which evidently is what chickens do to weaker chickens. But, as she was a good layer my grandmother said she used to catch her and pen her for her own safety. Then she stopped laying so was killed for the pot. When my grandmother was cleaning out her innards there in her stomach was an open safety pin which obviously was pricking her as she walked and hence her slow stagger. Poor chicken must have pecked it up in her greedy way and then suffered all the rest of her life.
I loved that tale and must have heard it a hundred times over
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