Why can’t you be more like Rose? Mum always asks. My perfect little sister, with her beautiful face and beautiful manners, who can afford to be nice because everyone gives her everything without her even having to ask. Men want to marry her; they only want to fuck me. So a week before her wedding I’m up against the wall of a grotty pub toilet, her fiancé grunting into me in his last flail at freedom, just so I can feel like I’ve won as I watch them say their vows while Mum dabs at her eyes, looking so proud.
Madeleine is a journalist covering the pharma industry. She won the Hammond House international short story prize in 2023, and has had stories published in The Hooghly Review, LISP and Flash Fiction Magazine. She lives in south-east London with her husband, son and two cats.
This story was shortlisted in the May 24 Monthly Micro Competition