NAWG 250 - 2024

Judge Emma Finlayson-Palmer said "It really stood out from all the other entries. I liked that they did something quite different with the structure, that's what you need sometimes to get noticed in competitions". Organiser Susan Cartwright Smith said "I shortlisted it because it had made me read it from the bottom up, and then back through again, so it had obviously intrigued me"  

This is the winning entry:

Time is no healer by A J Stuart

08:38 London Paddington

‘Come on mate, we’ve arrived.’ The cleaner said as they picked up copies of the Metro. The man didn’t move, head against the window in seat 36A. Always 36A, forward facing, every Wednesday. The cleaner risked a nudge, he heard a crack as the man’s neck almost broke as his head slumped forward. He was dead.

07:31 Oxford

The passenger got up from their seat 36B, picked up their hold all from the luggage rack and left the train. They walked casually through the streets of the University city where they had met, all those years before so much promise, so much ambition. H&M opened at 09:00. The passenger went in, a woman came out. She headed for home and freedom.

06:30 Somewhere in the Cotswolds

He slept, The passenger injected air into his vein and watched.

06:06 Worcester Foregate Street

The guard lifted their paddle. the man settled in his seat for his Wednesday nap, suddenly he felt he really needed it today.

05:30 The man kissed his wife, he was a good husband, he knew it. Since Covid, spending more time at home had been difficult, he’d had to step up and take more control. The door shut, she changed, glasses, moustache, beard, and packed her favourite dress then followed the man she hated.

05:00 She got his clothes ready, and stirred his tea extra strong, no residue, she used 4 sleeping tablets. She put a syringe in the holdall, ready.