Janet is melded to her armchair, running her finger along the arm’s ragged piping, faded from burgundy to russet, cushion cupping her buttocks.
The radio DJ yells, ‘Tony from Blackpool, Beyoncé is the correct answer. You’ve just won £25,000!’
Janet chokes up when Tony does. He says how he’s going to buy a new living room set, a car, and take his wife first class to Dubai. Janet imagines winning the money, getting new furniture, a car, and a holiday. Driving away from home, sitting next to a stranger on a plane, a hard, plastic sun lounger. Best to stick with the armchair she thinks as she tugs at the piping.
Rebecca Klassen is co-editor of The Phare and winner of the London Independent Story Prize for Flash. Her work has featured in Mslexia, Shooter, Popshot, Burningword, Riggwelter, and on BBC Radio.
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