Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.
I do kind of miss when I was ten and my mum,my dad and my three brothers and sister all lived at home.
That was when everyone was beginning to go their separate ways.Until then,we were a functioning unit.
I suppose I knew it was ending and in truth never wanted to have to say goodbye…but I suppose I did…the child in me still feels the warmth of family life.
Filed under Short Stories
©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025
Tedi was very annoyed with himself, he had brought all this trouble on him and the House through his own carelessness. Cross had tried to tell him not to go wandering off by himself, that he was at risk of being kidnapped and now it had happened.
The first night he was there he had been let out in the garden accompanied by one of his minders, the same thing had happened the next morning. However, it had been a while since anyone had came, and there had been a lot of noise in the house. Tedi thought he heard the whining of puppies and barking of dogs somewhere but he wasn’t sure where. There were slamming of doors as well as regular arguments and men and women shouting.
Suddenly the door opened and a little boy aged about ten came in the room. He looked very uncared for and very thin and there were holes in his teeshirt and jeans. He closed the door very gently and walked up to Tedi and said.
” You alright little fellow?” and bent down and rubbed Tedi on his tummy.
Tedi looked up at him with his big eyes and gave him his paw.
” Aw you are so cute, I wish you were mine. I’ll wait until it’s clear and get you some nice biscuits and some fresh food. The door hasn’t got a lock on it , so as long as no one sees me coming in and out you and I can be friends. I can’t stay long but I’ll be back.” The little boy tickled Tedi under the chin and stood up and quietly went out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Tedi watched as the little hand of the boy closed the door gently. The little dog saw this as a ray of hope and it cheered him up.
Later that evening the little boy came in again and this time he had some kibble biscuits and half a tin of fresh dog food. Tedi had to eat it out of the tin but the little boy helped him, he gobbled up the biscuits and then the little boy poured some fresh water into one of the bowls.
” That will keep you going for a while, I’ll just take a little out at a time, they never feed the dogs enough.” He said.
Tedi looked up gratefully and held his paw out in thanks. ” I wonder how many dogs are here?” He thought to himself.
“That’s alright, they’ll be up later to take you out in the garden, I’ll be going to bed , but if you look up you’ll see my window, it’ll have the light on. I’ll make sure you’re alright little one.” Again the little boy left the room very quickly.
Tedi was amazed , who was this little boy? Sure enough, that night the man came with the slip lead and roughly dragged Tedi out to the garden. Fortunately, when they reached downstairs, he just let him go into the garden as it was totally enclosed. Sure enough Tedi looked up at the back of the building and timed it just as he took his wee. There, indeed,was a light on in the window.
Tedi counted the floors and the position. Perhaps he may visit the little boy some time, maybe not tonight, but he knew where he was. The strange man put the collar over Tedi’s head again and pulled him roughly. Tedi cooperated resentfully so as not to get hurt. He was tired and wanted to go to bed. Once he got back to the smelly , dark room, he lay on the floor and fell soundly asleep.
Unbeknown to Tedi , the Police had enough information to know the location of where he was being kept and they were watching the house.
Filed under Short Stories
Prompt :If I could be someone else for a day , who would you be, and why?
Well here I am as the person that AI said I would like to be and in truth he doesn’t look too shabby. The name Omniable comes from my blog name and then the search was for a person. So if I could be someone else for a day this is who I would be.
Namaste and thank you for reading, may your omni being go with you.
Filed under Short Stories
©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025
“Hello Letitia, it’s Cross” Cross sounded grumpy and gruff.
Lettie held the phone to her ear; she had tried to get Cross to be a bit more relaxed and cheerful and recently she thought she’d cracked it , but he was back to his old ways. Then, she thought, something was wrong as she listened to the tone of his voice.
” You OK what’s the matter?”. Lettie asked.
” Tedi’s been kidnapped”.
” What?” Lettie nearly dropped the phone.
” Yes, this afternoon, he’s been taken, I haven’t heard anything yet, but I know they took him about 11am today and I know the car registration. I was wondering if you had any idea what I should do ?”.
” Good Grief, have you contacted the Police?”
” I wanted to run that by you, do you think I should? Suppose the kidnappers do something , you know if the police turned up at their door ,they might hurt him, it might make things worse. I don’t know.”
“It’s difficult , there’s bound to be a ransom demand, you’re right I don’t think they’ll harm him as long as they think they’ll get some money out of it. You say you’ve got the registration number of the car he was taken in. Here give it to me , I’ll make a few discrete phone calls and I’ll ring you back.”
Cross gave Lettie the Registration Number .
” Leave it with me I won’t be long , I’ll ring you back, for the moment we’ll keep this quiet, let me know if you hear anything.” Lettie said and hung up.
Once Cross came off the phone , a message came through from downstairs that a Parcel had been delivered and it was marked urgent. Cross ran downstairs, James had the parcel in his hand.
” Did you see who brought it ?”
” Yes it was the normal DPD Driver, is everything OK?” James asked.
” Unfortunately not, Tedi was taken at about 11am today from the village, we think he’s been kidnapped. I think this parcel might be to do with it.”
Cross and James opened the Parcel, it was just a normal sized box, all that was in it was Tedi’s collar.
” Damn, nothing else, no demand , no ransom.” Cross looked hopelessly at James.
” I’ve asked Lettie to find out what she can, I want to keep this quiet until she let’s me know what to do, we’ve got the reg number of the car he was taken in. James I need you to continue as if nothing is wrong, radio silence for the moment, try and keep everyone sweet, not asking too many questions. Do your best . I’ll keep you up to date, but for the moment if you see anything suspicious let me know.”
James nodded.
Later that evening , Lettie rang Cross.
” Police are involved but only low profile.” She said” Watts has got a friend whose high up and he’s in the process of following up on what we know so far. They reckon you’ll get a ransom demand soon. Have you heard anything?”
” We had a parcel delivered about an hour ago, DPD, a box , it had Tedi’s collar in it, no message just his collar.” Cross spoke softly.
” Right, well that’s a start, look I’ll let Watts know, I’m sure the Police will be able to track that parcel, but for the moment I don’t want the kidnappers to know we know anything about them.”
” OK, that makes sense. We’ve done what we can for the moment.”
” Yes, I’ll be over tomorrow morning, try and get some sleep. Night. ” Lettie pressed the call finished button.
Cross, put his phone down in silence and looked at Tedi’s collar and just hoped that everything would be OK.
The next day , Lettie and Watts arrived and Cross was downstairs having breakfast, the post had arrived and indeed there was a ransom letter among the post.
“If you want your little dog back send us a £1million”
“Details to follow.”
It was printed on plain printer paper with no signature, the envelope it came in was plain brown and it had some stains on it. Cross had put everything in a plastic bag , just in case there were any clues that the Police might be able to follow up on. Lettie poured herself a cup of tea and sat down at the table with Cross and Watts.
“You know, I think I’m going to find Arthur and have a word with him, I’m pretty certain this is his doing.” She placed her tea cup on the table quite forcefully, she was annoyed.
Cross looked at her. ” As long as you stay safe, if it is his doing he’s going to be mixed up with some pretty bad people. Anyway do you know where he’s living now?”
” No, but I’ve got a fair idea where I can find him this afternoon, he’ll be drinking in his local”
” Do you want me to come?” Cross said.
” Probably best not to, I think he’ll only talk to me . I won’t want to give anything away, I might have to make up a story about not been able to find some pictures I need from back in the day, I mean he probably needs money, I’ll sweet talk him, to see if he knows anything.”
” OK” Cross thought it was worth following up on and the cover story seemed credible.
“I’m going to drive over to Police HQ with the ransom letter and the collar” Watts interjected ” It’s just another part of the jigsaw. You want to come with me?”
” Yes, that ‘d be good”. Cross finished his cup of tea, he was relieved to be able to do something other than wait.
While Watts and Cross were on their way to Police HQ . The Detectives had been busy discussing their progress in one of the meeting rooms with their Chief Superintendent. The registration plate number was false, but the Police were able to trace the garage that had made the fake number plates. All number plates have a digital code on them and it was picked up by the digital camera used to take a picture of the car when it was leaving the village.
The garage that had supplied the stolen black car that the kidnappers had used had also printed the fake number plates. The black car was a very distinctive model, and with a bit of detective work , there was enough to interview under caution the owner of the garage, and he sang like a canary. Within minutes the Police had a name and an address of who had paid for the car and the number plates. They had it from on high to tread carefully so they hadn’t followed up on that yet.
When Watts and Cross arrived at Police HQ , they handed over the ransom note and the box with the collar in it to the front desk .These would be checked for DNA and any other samples that might indicate the origin. Watts and Cross were in the Chief Superintendent’s Office when he came in after his meeting with his detectives.
Chief Superintendent Napper was a good friend of Watts, they had been at school together and had kept in touch. Watts introduced Cross to Napper and the Chief Superintendent gave them an update.
“Well, that number plate has been significant. I don’t think we’re dealing with anyone very sophisticated here, my only problem is the little dog’s safety, it’ll take minutes to get in a building but seconds to dispose of the evidence. So although, we have enough information to do a raid or at least arrest someone, who to be truthful has form and has done similar things in the past. In order to achieve what we all want I’m going to tread carefully. I don’t think we’re dealing with the brightest of sparks, but I want a successful conclusion for everyone involved.”
The Chief continued. “The ransom note still doesn’t detail where the ransom is to be sent, so you’re going to hear from them again. Perhaps the next communication will tell us what our next step will be. In the meantime we’ve got a few properties in the London area that we will be watching. We know who our man is. I just need you , Mr Cross, to be calm and collected and I assure you we will get that little dog back safely.”
The Chief Superintendent opened a drawer on his desk and handed Cross a mobile phone.
” Here let me know personally anything that you hear, it’ll speed everything up.” Cross took the phone and put it in his pocket.
Filed under Short Stories
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.
I’d rather get someone in ….
Filed under Short Stories
©GeraldineBanksFebruary2025
Tedi sat in his chair in the grand living room, all his friends and sisters and brothers were spread across the room in various dog beds and baskets , some near the fire , some underneath tables. They’d all been fed, it had been a Mrs Graham’s leftover day, so they were all very happy, they had been treated to the leftovers from the café and from the staff meals and it had been delicious.
Lettie and Cross had gone out to dinner, they were an item now. The dogs had watched as boring old Cross had been smitten by Lettie, they had spent a lot of time working together and they got on so well that the dogs all knew that it was inevitable that there would be a boring “romance”. The dogs thought it was a very long drawn out process, and apparently Lettie and Cross were now engaged.
Lettie had suggested to Cross that Tedi write his memoirs, so now and then Cross would sit down with Tedi and they would write down all their adventures together. Tedi’s memory was very good , perhaps too good and they had arrived at a point in his story that was difficult for both Tedi and Cross and had stopped for the evening. It had been a relief for Tedi , when Cross told him that he had a “date” with Lettie.
So now Tedi found himself sitting in his chair with those around him he knew he could trust. There was a few missing and that was part of his story too. He couldn’t help but think back to what had happened.
It had all started with Arthur, he had really grown to hate Tedi and blamed him for losing his job with Lettie. But Lettie had decided enough was enough when after numerous warnings Arthur turned up one day drunk. It appeared he’d been spending a lot of time in the local pub and had got in with a bad crowd.
Things had gone from bad to worse for Arthur when he lost his job. He had sold all his camera gear and was a regular in the pub, so regular that he was well known and one night he was approached by a man , who wanted to know all about the “little dog “who lived in the Big House.
Of course , Arthur knew everything that the man needed to know. The layout of the house , Tedi’s routine, where he went during the day , who he went with. Despite Cross trying to make everything as secure as possible Tedi was a free spirit and liked to go out with his friends. Arthur had spent months following him around when he worked for Lettie and it wasn’t long before the stranger had a good idea where Tedi’s favourite places were.
Tedi remembered very clearly the day he was kidnapped , he’d been around to Fred’s and had stayed a while , Fred hadn’t been well and there was talk of getting a new puppy, which had worried Fred. When Tedi left him and was making his way along the high street in the village Tedi noticed the black car pull up beside him. At first he thought nothing of it , but it was when two men jumped out and tried to grab him that he realised something was terribly wrong.
Luckily , he was able to dodge out of their way and ran down the street, the two men chased him and unfortunately Tedi made a wrong turning and ended up in an alleyway which was blocked at one end. He tried to jump over the fence but it was too high and the next thing was he was bundled into a black bag and shoved into the back of a car.
” Got him” said one of the men.
” Careful, Jack, he’s worth a fortune, we’ve got to look after him.”
And so it was Tedi was brought to a secure house somewhere in London, he was left alone in a room , it was cold and he was given his food in a bowl once a day and fresh water every two or three days. The conditions were not very good. He was let out in the garden late at night and early morning , but other than that he didn’t get any fresh air or walks. The people who were in the house didn’t pay any attention to him and Tedi was very much left alone. It was a very sad time for Tedi, because there wasn’t a lot he could do.
Meanwhile back at the Palace, it wasn’t until later on that evening that Cross realised something was seriously wrong. Tedi was nowhere to be seen and none of the other dogs knew where he was. Trinnie was very upset as she worshipped Tedi, but she managed to point to Fred on one of the pictures of the “Big Show” on the wall to signal to Cross that Tedi had said he was going to visit Fred.
Cross rang Fred’s owner immediately who confirmed Tedi had been there, but had left ages ago. Cross drove over to Fred’s house and looked in the immediate area, there was no sign. However, three of the local dogs who lived near Fred came out of their houses , they had seen what happened through their windows, one of them had even managed by barking and making a fuss to get their owner to take the registration of the “suspicious car” they had seen the bad men throw the black bag in the back.
It took some time for Cross to understand what the three dogs were trying to tell him, one of them took him down the alleyway and showed where Tedi had been captured; the little dog did the actions of trying to jump over the fence , so that Cross would understand that Tedi was trying to escape and that something bad had happened to him.
The other two dogs , who both lived in the same house, got Cross to follow them home and once Cross had spoken to their owner, the realisation that Tedi had been kidnapped finally hit home . The two dogs were very excited and calmed down once the owner had passed the details of the Car registration to Cross and also there was an added benefit that the owner had seen the two men and were able to describe them. The two dogs licked the owners hand they were so happy that the owner was able to pass the information on.
The first person Cross rang was Lettie. He couldn’t handle this alone.
Filed under Short Stories
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
Advice, a well meant shot,
At what you must and not
It can make life a bind
And to some is most unkind
Who knows what’s best for you
In truth, it’s up to you .
Filed under Short Stories
What bores you?
Nout bores me .How can you be bored when even your body( Yes I mean you!No matter what you think of your body) is an amazing being beyond human understanding despite our doctors best efforts.
There’s something out there I would never underestimate and to think life boring is nuts
Namaste and Thank you for reading.
Filed under Short Stories
What is your favorite drink?
Cold water,what a precious draft,and increasingly so for many.
Water at home has become a political volleyball with everyone arguing about profits,dividends and whether metering will work.Not to mention sewage.
For the moment though,the water comes out of the tap and to be honest tastes pretty good.
Our bills have gone up quite a lot,though I have it on good authority that they are worth querying. I doubt we will get around to it.If they connected us to the meter they have already supplied we would save money.
Anyway add a fridge, juniper berries,and a few other spices infused for a short while. A sprig of rosemary and a slice of lemon and some good quality tonic water(most likely fever tree) and you have a delicious drink. I think.
Namaste and Thank you for Reading.
Filed under Short Stories
Who are your favorite people to be around?
At various times,at various places we can all be our favourite people.
And the exact opposite applies too.
Filed under Short Stories
thenotsomightyom 