"Broken But Wonderful" 1 of 6 :Yoga Stretch (Humpbuckle Tales 53)

Melody owns Yoga Stretch. Her husband, a banker, works next door.

When the market crashes, Arnold's bank closes.

Melody miscarriages the same week as her business goes under.

Their house is repossessed.

After a stay in a psychiatric hospital, Melody moves in with her parents.

Arnold lives in his car.
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"Broken But Wonderful" 2 of 6: Flood (Humpbuckle Tales 54)

"When it rains, it pours," the man says.

"Feels like a flood, right now," Arnold sighs, dropping the keys into the man's waiting palm.

The company car was leased. Arnold had no right to buy it.

The repo man smiles, gives him a receipt and wishes him a good day.
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"Broken But Wonderful" 3 of 6: Busy (Humpbuckle Tales 55)

He lost his job, home, wife, and car.

Always wanting to live by the sea, Arnold drifts towards the coast.

He works for food and a bed when he can.

If he can't find shelter he takes his mind off the cold, and his body active, by picking up trash.

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"Broken But Wonderful" 4 of 6: Cracked (Humpbuckle Tales 56)

The run-down town reminds Arnold of his grandmother's cracked vase.

"The flaws are what make it beautuful," she said when he asked why she kept the damaged ornement.

There is something broken but wonderful about Humpbuckle-on-sea.

The locals are mostly kind to him.

Although, some frighten him.
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"Broken But Wonderful" 5 of 6: Fish Lips (Humpbuckle Tales 57)

The man almost collides with Arnold outside Swish Lips and Nails.

"Sorry!"

He comes from the coastal path, a popular joggers route.

Although, the man is not dressed for running.

Weeks later, Arnold sees a picture of Gilham's funeral in the local newspaper.

He recognises the man giving the eulogy.
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"Broken But Wonderful" 6 of 6: Street cleaner (Humpbuckle Tales 58)

As Arnold draws level with the van, the door slides open and hands grab him. He tries to fight but his assailant is stronger.

"What do you want?" he shouts.

"I'm cleaning the streets of rubbish."

The voice is familiar.

A damp cloth covers his face. It smells of chemicals.

...

These fifty-word stories were written using the six @freewritehouse freewrite prompts @mariannewest gave us this week (see her weekend freewrite single prompt post and also the Three Prompt Challenge for fun writing this weekend!)
These are the 53rd to 58th fifty-word stories in the Humpbuckle Tales series. You can find all the tales reblogged on the @humpbuckletales account.

These six stories are part of the Humpbuckle Tales series I am writing. Each tale is 50 words long. They can be read individually but when read together they make up a much bigger story. The 6 weekend freewrite stories are an obvious example of this because you can see that one follows on from another. The other tales might not be so obvious as they are sometimes set a few decades earlier or later than the others.

There are author readings available of the first 22 Humpbuckle Tales on the Humpbuckle Tales YouTube Channel or you can listen to the Humpbuckle Tales podcast.

On Hive, you can find the first 10 tales read here, and Humpbuckle Tales 11-22 are read here

The next author reading will be released on Monday 15th November.

Hive has it first!

Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive!
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