Listening
to the Audio Clips
You can listen live by clicking the MP3 format or Windows
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save the file to
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Short
Stories
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WAITING FOR DOLPHINS
and other short stories
A collection
of thirteen cameos
with a twist in each tail.
WAITING FOR DOLPHINS by Pat Hopper
The bay had been polluted by an oil slick, but Dad remembered better times
and kept his dream alive: “The dolphins swam up to feed from my hand,
tail-dancing across the waves.” He insisted, “They’ll be
back.” In the meantime, a young man calls into the hotel after a motorbike
breakdown, and Lisa had dreams of her own. When the time was right he’d
be back.
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(293K)
WMA Format (304K)
SPILT MILK by Joan Stanley
A comic tale of an ageing greying man, who believes himself to be more attractive
as the grey hairs increase, ignoring the ever growing waistline. He is quite
shocked when an attractive young woman in the office makes a pass at him,
and seeks the security of his dowdy wife. To him she has become the perfect
mate: a drab old hen in contrast to the confident cock.
(Contains a swear word: bloody)
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(292K)
WMA Format (304K)
PURGATORY AND PARADISE by Pam Weaver
This light-hearted story tells the ‘joys’ of taking a young family
on holiday. Having decided to travel overnight, with the children asleep in
the car, the parents face the problem of occupying their offspring the following
day.
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(182K)
WMA Format (193K)
THE MAP by Pam Weaver
Dad is driving and Mum is navigating from a map, but he has his own ideas
about which roads to take. Inevitably they get lost, but is it his fault?
No, of course not. It is a lousy map!
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(145K)
WMA Format (155K)
EMILY by Susan Wright
“I can’t paint with you in my life, Emily… I need to be
alone.” And he was on the TV being interviewed about a new exhibition.
She would go to see it, with the intention of meeting up with him again. Invited
to the after show party she was horrified to find that he was now married.
But Daniel is also there, and offering to befriend her…
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(176K)
WMA Format (187K)
FRESHFIELDS by Susan Wright
Fifteen years before, Peter had been famous: his face and body had advertised
the after-shave Leo. But when the sales and his popularity dropped he became
a misery. This story tells how his young talented wife copes with his moods
and seeks a diversion at a Horse Rescue centre. Begrudgingly, Peter tried
to pull himself together and his career is revived, but he will ever be self-centred.
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(210K)
WMA Format (222K)
SADIE’S SECRET by Lynda Wakeling
Sadie worked in a hairdressing salon. Apparently not very bright, she was
used as a general help and bullied by her boss. The clients loved her, especially
the elderly ones that she pampered and cosseted. But Sadie had a secret; these
favoured clients were lonely old ladies with no one to whom they could leave
their money…
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(218K)
WMA Format (231K)
SEEING RED by Lynda Wakeling
A powerfully written story, which portrays the fear a young wife feels of
her violent husband and how she tries to pacify him. As he goes up stairs
to their son’s room, she feels their unborn child move, and there wouldn’t
be just two of them to suffer his blows… but three. She touches the
kitchen knife and imagines murdering him, but then she finds a new strength.
“If you go near the boy, I’ll call the police.” And when
he leaves for the pub she takes her son to a refuge.
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(391K)
WMA Format (404K)
APRONS by Joan Stanley
A light-hearted look at the author’s Aprons and those of her grandmother.
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(162K)
WMA Format (172K)
WHERE THERE’S A WILL by Susan Wright
After his father’s death, Nigel encourages his mother to spend her money
on the house: for her benefit or to improve its value? Imagine his shock when
some years later his mother dies and leaves the house and it’s contents
to her friends and the bank balance to her son. A satisfying comedy.
WHERE ARE YOU NOW? by Joan Moules
“Its time for our ‘Where are you now’ spot folks. And this
week we have a bumper bag. If you are listening Jane, your old pal Helen would
love to relive those days when you were in the WAAF together.” And so
Jane, and her grandson, Michael, visited Helen. Later in the day Helen’s
husband arrives home. But he is also Jane’s ex-fiancé…
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(204K)
WMA Format (216K)
IN A HOLE by Joan Stanley
Walter is a young country lad who finds his humble and simple upbringing an
embarrassment at school. Wandering in the woods near his home he finds a snared
animal in a rabbit hole, a puppy. Boy and dog return home plastered in mud.
His earthy mother is certainly no social asset, but she lets Walter keep the
animal, and he decides that after all she is the right kind of mum for him.
Listen to an audio clip :
MP3 format(385K)
WMA Format (398K)