Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Take a Break Fiction Feast

Mandy saw her husband’s eyes twinkling as he handed over her birthday presents. The first was a box with polka dot paper. It looked remarkably like the small hamper she’d got last year. She feigned excitement as she unwrapped it to find chutney, lemon curd and coconut macaroons – she hated coconut. Still, it was the thought that counted – and the harvest festival, and food bank would be as grateful as they were last year. The she picked up a rather tall, thin box. ‘You’re absolutely going to love this!’ Phil said looking rather smug. ‘Don’t worry,’ he added, tapping a finger against his nose conspiratorially. ‘I did take note of what you said.’ Mandy grinned at him as she wondered what it was. ‘Thanks, darling.’ She’d been hoping…

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Jackie picked up the last box and then glanced anxiously at Sarah. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked. ‘Of course I am,’ said Sarah, putting on a brave face. ‘I’ll ring you,’ said Jackie. ‘I’ll ring you every night to make sure you’re OK.’ ‘No, you won’t!’ said Sarah. ‘You’ll be out with your new friends.’ ‘I’ll be studying hard!’ Jackie protested. Sarah laughed. ‘Maybe!’ ‘I will!’ cried Jackie. ‘I want to do really well on this course. It’s all I’ve ever dreamt of. I just wish… well… I was closer to home and you.’ ‘It’s fine,’ said Sarah. ‘You picked this course because it’s the best, because you’re going to be the best. Anyway, it’s not forever.’ ‘No,’ said Jackie. ‘Come on, let’s go.’ Sarah followed Jackie out. Keith…

Lyla was exhausted, mentally and physically. She had barely slept since Stuart’s death two months earlier. Her GP had refused to budge on giving her sleeping pills, recommending fresh air, exercise and meditation. None of them did much good. Whenever she did manage to snatch a few hours, she’d experience a powerful, disturbing dream about a place she’d never been to, but seemed to know well. It was an island, just off a fenland estuary in Suffolk. The dreams made the location so clear, that she’d even gone online to see if it existed. It did! There on the screen was a smudgy black and white photo of the island she’d landscaped so vividly in her mind. Ashbeigh, an uninhabited, low-lying place surrounded by marshland and shrouded in weeds. It’s…

I’m dead. That’s the first thing you should know. The second thing is, Nigel did it. The third is, getting Esme to listen is like trying to teach a cat to knit. ‘Esme. Esme!’ I think I floated somewhere near her ceiling-light in the bathroom, but being new to ghostly pursuits all I’m really sure of is I scared a very large spider and it hurried down a gossamer thread until it looked her right in the eye. She stood plastering make-up on at the time. She screamed (she’s the type) and back-pedalled, then went charging on to the landing. ‘It’s not going to be that kind of day, is it?’ she yelled to nobody, since she lives alone. She’s knocking on 60 these days, the same as me when…

You look as if you’ve just lost a winning lottery ticket,’ Beryl said, as she placed a tray of drinks on the table. ‘What’s up?’ ‘It’s Dan,’ Sue said, miserably. ‘He came round on Sunday with Lisa and the kids and told us they’re moving to Australia.’ Beryl poured tea and placed a filled mug in front of her friend. ‘It’s not the end of the world.’ ‘It might as well be. We’re talking about my only son and his family moving thousands of miles away. I thought we’d all stay close, and now they’re leaving.’ ‘Why?’ ‘For work. Dan is a software engineer. The company he works for is opening a branch in Melbourne. They want him to oversee the set-up of the IT department. Once it’s up and…

Maggie rang home as soon as she arrived at the hotel. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here!’ she told her husband, Steve. ‘Coming to London, dining at a posh hotel, it’s all way, way out of my league.’ ‘Just think of all the sightseeing you can do tomorrow,’ said Steve. ‘When the formal interview’s over.’ Maggie sighed. But she’d have to go through so much to get there. Could she really go through with it? Applying for this job was such a huge mistake… ‘Coming to London, dining in a posh hotel, it’s all way, way out of my league’ ‘Are you still there?’ he asked. ‘Yes, but I wish I wasn’t!’ Maggie said bitterly. Steve laughed. ‘Darling! That’s not the spirit at all!’ ‘Good luck, Mummy!’ called Jamie down…

What’s wrong with me? Why do they always end up like this? Actually, although they hadn’t been particularly successful, Alison realised that none of her other dates from the Perfect-Partner app had turned out quite this bad. Certainly, none of the others had driven her to where she was now – sitting in a toilet with her head in her hands, wondering whether to go back out and give Wayne the Pain another chance. So what’s the answer? If you sit here any longer he’ll come in looking for you. Alison opened the cubicle door, washed her hands and went back outside. Maybe after another glass of wine he wouldn’t seem so bad. ‘Ah, I was beginning to wonder where you’d got to.’ Alison just about managed a smile. ‘Just…

Callum always knows when something’s wrong. When I came in late from work and dumped my bag down, he sensed my distress straightaway. ‘What’s up, Ellie?’ he said from the kitchen table. ‘Nothing.’ He peered over his laptop, clearly in the middle of some extra work. ‘You can’t fool me,’ he said, narrowing his eyes. I winced. ‘I was nice. Again.’ ‘Oh right, I see.’ Callum insists I’m a soft touch, but he doesn’t say it in a nasty way. He worries people will take advantage, which they do on occasion. Still, I persist in treating the world how I would like to be treated myself. In the kitchen, he headed for the counter. ‘I’ll make you a coffee, and you can tell me all about it.’ He’s a genius…

Wow! You’re so lucky!’ Daisy exclaimed, as the white Mercedes pulled away from the kerb. ‘No, I’m not,’ Will replied, indicating left so he could drive into the space outside the vets. ‘I grant you I was lucky then, but I often have to drive around for hours before I can find anywhere to park.’ ‘Well, that’s never happened when I’ve been with you,’ Daisy muttered. ‘A space always appears when you want to park, but I had to park miles away when I came here to see if they’d tracked down the cat’s owner, and it was tipping down with rain, so I looked like a drowned rat by the time I got here.’ Will chuckled. ‘Well, you went to the right place, then.’ ‘Yes, but it wasn’t funny,’…

I’d lived in Aunt Matilda’s bungalow for three weeks when I first saw Sadie. I’d inherited the house. I hadn’t expected to, but I was close to my aunt. Instead of selling it, I’d decided to live in it. The spacious, warm bungalow had a lovely garden and was located in the countryside, in a quiet village, with few neighbours. There were lots of nice strolls to go on. I was 32 and ready to settle down. I would be happy here. I worked from home (in digital marketing) and I had a car, so I could drive to the big supermarket for groceries and pick up art supplies. I liked to paint and draw, just as a hobby. I didn’t enjoy my job, so I hoped to make an…

Ihadn’t done any housework for a while, so I had a quick flick around the place with the feather duster before my daughter arrived. Glancing around afterwards, I thought the living room looked fine, but Mairi spotted a cobweb straightaway. ‘Are you having trouble keeping up with everything, Mum?’ she asked, as she perched on the edge of my sofa. I shook my head as I sat down in my favourite chair. ‘No, I’m fine, love. It’s just that I’ve been doing more hours at the charity shop, so things have slipped a bit here.’ ‘So I see,’ she muttered, gazing at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘And you’ve been buying more stuff at the charity shop, too.’ ‘Yes,’ I agreed happily. ‘Isn’t that clock beautiful?’ Mairi screwed up her…

It was a chilly October evening. Amy shivered as she waited with a small crowd in front of the town hall, where Frank Cullins was about to launch his brand-new ‘Halloween Strangler Mystery Walk’. Frank, a tall, good-looking man in his 50s, was something of a local celebrity – a historian, TV personality, and bestselling author, he was as famous for his dramatic storytelling as he was for his knowledge of the town’s dark past. Amy felt a thrill of fear pass through the gathered group As he flashed a charismatic smile, the crowd’s whispers died down and Frank raised his voice to address them. ‘As you’ll all know, these murders have never been solved,’ Frank began, projecting over the commotion of party-goers in the street. ‘Young women, out for an…

You might want to put the kettle on,’ Mum tells me, as she pecks each of us on the cheek, and leads Gerry into the lounge. ‘I’ll help,’ Sasha says, with a smug ‘told-you-so’ grin. I should explain… The ‘us’ is me – Rosemary, a middle-aged divorcee – and Sasha, my teenage daughter. Gerry is who we jokingly refer to as Mum’s fancy man. He and Mum have been ‘not carrying on’ for a few years now. ‘He’s giving me fresh veg from his allotment and occasionally acting as a taxi service,’ Mum had told us, after she’d met him at church. ‘In return, I’m cooking him a proper Sunday dinner each week.’ ‘So when do we get to meet your fancy man, Gran?’ Sasha had teased. ‘Any time you…

You know you wanted us to spend more quality time together now I’ve taken early retirement, but you didn’t like me encroaching on your turf?’ Max looked at Jenna with a slight twinkle in his eyes. ‘Yes.’ She tried to keep her voice level, wondering what he was going to say this time. He’d already tried to reorganise the kitchen cupboards as, in his words, ‘It’s a bit haphazard at the moment,’ and she’d got a little ratty with him. ‘Are you doing anything Saturday week?’ She made a show of checking the calendar, despite knowing nothing was written on there. ‘We’re both free. What were you thinking?’ ‘Well, I reckon I’ve found something we’ll both enjoy.’ ‘Any hints as to what? I mean, if we’re going away, what will…

Of course not,’ said Sean, climbing under the duvet next to her. ‘Take your vest off, then!’ ‘I can’t!’ said Sean. ‘Course you can! The back of the car’s one thing, but we’ve got my flat to ourselves. If you think I’m actually going to bed with a man in a vest…’ ‘I’m very attached to my vest,’ said Sean, folding his arms across his chest defensively. ‘Come on!’ cried Kelly, tugging at it. And then she stopped. ‘What’s that?’ she cried, staring at his shoulder. ‘What?’ asked Sean, pulling at his vest and switching off the bedside light. ‘That!’ cried Kelly, switching it on again. ‘Stop covering it up!’ ‘What?’ ‘That name!’ ‘What…?’ ‘Don’t play games with me, Sean Bryson. I saw it. That garish tattoo, with the word…

Hayley’s mum put a cup of coffee down in front of her. ‘Have you told him yet?’ she asked. ‘No,’ Hayley sighed. ‘I nearly did last night but it’s hard to find the right moment. He’s always busy. I feel as if I hardly ever see him – not to talk to him properly, I mean.’ And this wasn’t exactly a conversation that could be rushed. ‘Has it occurred to you that he could be spending more time out of the house because deep down he knows you’re holding back on something?’ Hayley’s heart gave a little skip. No, she hadn’t thought of that, but realised it could be true. Eddie had been distant lately, but then so had she, too busy worrying about how to get out of the…

Matt, did you hear something?’ Lying in bed, I gave my partner’s leg a nudge with my foot. Our suspiciously cheap rented terrace always seemed full of odd noises to me. I felt sure it hid a secret, something uncanny, something that often made the hair rise on the nape of my neck. I had tried an online search, looking for a murder in the past or for criminal activity. Only, I hadn’t found a thing. Our letting agent hadn’t offered any extra information either. In bed, at last, Matt stirred. ‘Ugghhh,’ he muttered. ‘It sounds like somebody’s moving around in the attic,’ I said. ‘Maybe all the roofs are joined up, and that’s why the rent’s so low?’ It sounded a bit of a stretch logic-wise, but the alternatives…