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Competition Showcase –
No Angel by Christine Sutton |
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‘Drink?’
murmured ‘Mary’, holding out a carton of cranberry juice.
The boy lowered his mouth to the straw and drew deeply, sucking in
his cheeks.
‘Chocolate?’ whispered ‘Joseph’, offering
her a segment from an orange-shaped wrapper. Smiling, she accepted.
‘You feeling better now, Tom?’ she asked, giving his shoulder
a reassuring squeeze. Little Tommy nodded. ‘Come on then,’
she said, ‘let’s find Mum.’
Thoughtfully, I watched them walk away. Outside, Megan was heading
for Willoughby General and a lengthy wait in A&E. Unnoticed behind
her, the chocolate-stained dress was all but invisible in the trodden-down
snow, while the ruby spatters had faded to the merest smudge of pink.
Only the photos remained to tell the story and they were destined
to go unseen by all but me. Wonky turbans and tongue-tied innkeepers
it would have to be. |
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Judging Comment: You can’t go round pushing children down school
hall steps – even if you are a child yourself and have just
suffered a tongue lashing from your victim. It’s a crime. And
because it is a crime, it made a suitable if unusual entry to the
annual crime story competition.
The story hinges around a piece of childish spite, shoving an angel
in the back after the school nativity play. Certainly not a headline-making
crime, and certainly not a murder. But of course, the whole thing,
the whole story, is a monstrous overstatement.
And the overstatement is consistent throughout, even in the characterisation
of the very narrator. He (we assume it is he) is portrayed as the
hard-bitten, streetwise, tough newspaperman beloved of Hollywood.
In fact, of course, he is a reporter for a local weekly who is sent
along to cover infant school stage productions. That hardly makes
him a hard-nosed crime reporter. But at least he is human –
human enough to accept that his photos would never be published.
We are just left to wonder: how would his report of the nativity play
read in next week’s paper?
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