An AW buddy of mine is hosting a short fiction contest this week.  Check it out and enter if you feel inspired.  She has many images from which to choose.

Regan Leigh’s Images to Words Contest

3/8/10 UPDATE: I won!  Woot-woot!  The judges were very kind to me and my colleagues most humbling.

Here’s my 250 words or less entry, using this picture:

(Hope I don’t have any typos.  Regan’s already let me edit it once.)
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“So what’d the judge say, Mable?” Estelle asked after she dropped her sizable derriere onto the stool next to mine and stirred five packets of sugar into her triple espresso.

My sister had opinions as strong as the coffee she drank, especially about topics that were none of her business. She raised her eyebrows and cocked her head, always the impatient older sister.

“He said we’d have to split the building, the signage, furniture, everything, even the appointment book.”

Elmer and I had been fighting for months over our divorce settlement. We’d sold my building but we’d given up on selling his and had begun a spitting contest over who’d occupy it.

“So what does that mean, exactly? Is one of you going to rent your half to the other?” She leaned over the counter and grabbed a fistful of NutraSweet packets then dropped them in her purse.

“Elmer refuses to move his business but I’ve got nowhere else to go so it looks like we’re going to be splitting his shop right down the middle.”

She grimaced. “That’s stupid. You can’t fix hair and chainsaws side by side.”

“We can and will. The good news is my name goes on the new sign, not his. Ha!”

“Leene or Peabody?”

“Peabody, of course. Always hated Mable Leene. The bad news is the judge made me list Elmer’s business first.”

“Mable Peabody’s Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair,” she said testing it. “Eh, it could work.”