Harold and Edith live in a 1970s bungalow in suburbia.

Climbing Ivy, they had planted years ago crept around their garden fence like regretful, parasitic life-suckers. They had quarrelled about it … but Edith had sacked the gardener. Their accumulative age is around one-hundred and forty-five. Harold is seventy-three and ten days old. Their morning routine is important to them, and every morning they would read the headlines in the ‘Daily Judgement’ newspaper.

‘BREXIT BRITAIN’, ‘BENEFITS BRITAIN’ , ‘BROKEN BRITAIN’ and best of all: ‘WHO’S TAXES ARE PAYING FOR IT?’

On the day this all started, the sky was full of August apologies for a summer undelivered. Harold’s goggle eyes darted about under his spectacles, he smacked his lips together and his neck wobbled like a turkey.

‘I see that ‘for sale’ sign next door says ‘SOLD’. I’ll be glad to see the back of Mr and Mrs Roscoe’

‘Oh! I do hope the new people don’t have CHILDREN!’ Edith’s fingers clenched around the neckline of her nightdress. Children were feared the most by Edith…

Copyright Samantha Henthorn 2017.

Illustration by Elle Pea copyright 2017.

Find out what happens next to Harold and Edith in the short story collection ‘Quirky Tales to Make Your Day’ by Samantha Henthorn. Paperback and download versions available from Amazon.