By 
On the 9th Day of Christmas Lucy Goldring gave to me…
On balance, it’s better that he didn’t notice me. Invisibility might just be my new superpower.
Being in here – bass a distant drub-drub-drub, fellow ‘freshers’ a drone of bullshit – offers vodka-clear perspective. I will ignore the rat poison pellets squealing annihilation (too melodramatic); dismiss snakes of tinsel that whisper here’s to a miserable Christmas (too pessimistic). But I won’t haul myself up from this sticky grit-strewn floor. Not just yet.
Out there, I’m unknown. It’s been weeks now but turns out I could be anyone. Pointless explaining (again) that I go to proper raves. Futile to remark on shiteness of music or to bemoan the lack of decent recreational drugs (Jagerbombs? Fuck’s sake…).
Those doors broke my fall. Sure, I’m wasted but just about unscathed. They – the big double doors – seem so obvious from this angle, so… door-like. Out there, they are dangerously wall-mimicking. They are selectively vindictive.
New Year’s Resolution: Will go to good club nights, seek out like-minded types and excellent tunage. Note to self regards befriending strategies: Going forward, must not – in eagerness to converse with cool/hot boys from economics tutorials – tumble backwards into nightclub cleaning cupboards. Plan for now: Crawl out noiselessly on bruised knees; hide in oversized hoody; stroll casually back to halls.
Tomorrow, I will make like Dasher, Dancer and Prancer for home – real home. If I get the early train, I’ll be back in time to marzipan the cake. Mum will wonder if I had a fun night out and I’ll say it was fine. Next year it will be.
Lucy Goldring
Lucy Goldring is based in Bristol and writes short and shorter fiction (along with developing her comedy writing). She has been shortlisted for Flash 500 and the National Flash Fiction Day micro competition (twice in both cases). Lucy has a story in this year’s National Flash Fiction Day anthology (nominated for Best Small Fictions) and online publications with Ellipsis Zine, Reflex Fiction, 100 Word Story, The Cabinet of Heed and Funny Pearls. You can follow her on Twitter at @livingallover
You can purchase The STORGY Flash Fiction 2019 Anthology eBook here.
The Annihilation Radiation Short Story Competition is now open for entries.
1st Prize – £500
2nd Prize – £100
3rd Prize – £50
Closing date – 31st January 2020
Finalists will be published in ANNIHILATION RADIATION
£10 Entry Fee
For more details click here!
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