Think you have what it takes?

Want to get some practice?

Just need an excuse to put pen to paper?

Then enter the Secret Attic Short Story Competition!

Each month you can submit an entry that will be passed onto our judges who will pick the best and award a winner. During some months the subject matter will be a 'free for all', where you can write anything you like, other months will have a specific theme.

Previous Competition Winners

February 2005 David Willshaw

April 2005 Christine Sutton

May 2005 George L Darley

July 2005 Robyn O'Hara

August 2005 Richard Adamski

September 2005 Hannah Southgate

October 2005 Heather Parker

December 2005 Feathers by Bob Lakin

January 2006 RD Larson

February 2006 Debra Spiller

Adam and Eve by Nethi Sette, London, England

“For God's sake, Michael, you're obsessed with that idea.” Jane props-up her waif figure on the pillows. “I know how much you wanted a son but you’ll just have to make do with another daughter.”
I don’t answer. Instead, I lean over the cot next to her bed and fix my eyes on the new baby. “Adam and Eve,” I mutter.
“ Hello there! We’ve already got Eve.” Jane is sitting bolt upright on the bed now. “And I'll say it again, in case you didn't get it the first time round. We've got another daughter.”
As I scrutinise the baby, I think back to the first time I had mentioned my idea to Jane: to name our first two children after my dead parents – Adam and Eve.
“Remember – two children only,” she’d said – reminding me of our agreement.
Jane had accepted my wishes without protest and I felt relieved and grateful for that. Jane understood me – I’d always loved Jane for her soft heart. And her great sense of humour, of course.
I’d told myself – so okay, Eve had come first but Adam will be knocking on the door next. But yesterday, on a bright spring day, and two years since the birth of our first daughter, my dream had been shattered. Adam hadn't arrived.
I squeeze into the armchair by the bed. Jane is still talking, hardly pausing for breath. “I wish you'd been here last night. You know, if only you’d been with me when I gave birth, as we planned.”
“Love, it’s not my fault if the baby decided to arrive three weeks early. I know you were against having a scan, but...”
“ Everything was going along all right. There wasn’t any need for a scan.”
“ You’re right, but I wouldn’t have bought that last minute ticket if I’d known that the baby was due early.”
“Its not like it was a home match though, was it? No, you had to go trotting over to France.”
“ Oh, all right. Anyway, I made my way back the moment I got the call from your mother, didn't I?”
My mother in-law’s words come back to me – “What do you mean am I sure? I’m more than sure. You’ve got another girl,” she’d screamed down the phone
As I sit by my wife’s bedside, I notice for the first time the strain in her face. Jane has sunk into the bed, the covers hiked close to her chin. There are dark circles under her eyes. All the pain of labour and surgery is staring back at me
Something clicks inside me. You’re a fool, I tell myself and I feel the blood rush to my face.
I take Jane’s hand and squeeze it. “I’m sorry,” my voice is a whisper. “I’m behaving like a spoilt child… after all you’ve been through on your own.”
Jane’s lips stretch into a smile. Her eyes sparkle and her free hand strokes my face. She opens her mouth to speak but I wrap my arms around her, and she stops short.
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
The nurse is approaching us with a pharmacy-trolley.
“ Put some oil on it,” I say under my breath. And Jane bursts into laughter.
The nurse wheels her trolley by Jane's bed. “Congratulations!” She says and gives me a wide smile. “You have a fine daughter.”
Jane looks down at her hands.
I mumble a “Thank you.”
“ Have you thought of a name?” the nurse asks as she gets ready to take Jane's blood pressure.
Hmm…I clear my throat. “Well, I thought since Adam had let me down, we'll have to make do with the equivalent.”
Jane looks up to the ceiling.
I look down at the baby. “We'll name her Adami, the female form of Adam,” I grin.
“ It doesn't exist,” Jane protests.
“ It does now.”
The nurse smiles and gives Jane a wink. She then gently rolls her trolley away.
I lean over and whisper in Jane’s ear. “She's got olive skin.”
“ Who, the nurse?”
“ The baby, of course.”
“ Well, now that you mention it…”
“Well?” I stare at her, puzzled.
“ I've been wondering too,” she breathes.
“ What d'you mean you've been wondering too?” I search my wife’s face for an explanation. “Wondering what?”
“ Well, ye-es, you're right, Michael, our new daughter has got quite an olive complexion, but she…”
“ Spit it out!”
“ She's not as pretty, you know, like our Eve was at birth.”
We both glance towards the cot. And I spring to my feet to get a better look at the sleeping infant.
“From the moment the nurse placed her in my arms, I thought… well, I thought she doesn’t look like our Eve.”
“ Jane, what are you on about, love. She must take after your side of the family.” I feel my voice break down. “I mean, my side's fair. Our Eve's fair like me – she's got my grey eyes, and all.”
“ D’you think there could have been a mix-up?” she gasps.
“ Did I hear right? D’you say mix-up?”
“Yes, by the nurses. I know it sounds ridiculous but it’s not impossible, is it?”
“Are you saying they've swapped Adami with another baby?”
“ By mistake, of course – and she's not called Adami!”
“ Now I've heard it all.”
“ After all, it was a Caesarean. I didn't see the baby till hours later.”
“ Yeah, but...”
“ If only you’d been here. I mean, you would have seen the baby being delivered and we wouldn't be here doubting.”
“ Look, it's impossible to mix them up. They put some kind of a tag on them the moment they're born, don't they?” I stop dead. “What’s the grin for?”
“ I've got news for you, Michael.” There’s a twinkle in Jane’s brown eyes. She presses the buzzer above her bed.
“What, another of your conspiracies?” My voice breaks off when I see the nurse coming towards us. With a quick gesture, she places the bundle she is carrying into my arms.
“ Huh? Is this some kind of a joke? What's this?”
“ Our other baby.”
My mouth is open but no words come out.
The nurse grabs the baby from my shaking arms.
“ Oh, Michael, “Jane is in stitches, “we've got twins. We’ve got a girl and a boy.”
“ And today,” puts in the nurse laughing, “is April fool’s day.”