{"id":2000,"date":"2013-05-31T00:59:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T00:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/?p=2000"},"modified":"2013-07-31T20:02:31","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T20:02:31","slug":"three-thirty-sharp-by-c-gregory-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/three-thirty-sharp-by-c-gregory-thompson\/","title":{"rendered":"Three-Thirty Sharp by C. Gregory Thompson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"teapot\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

Three-Thirty Sharp<\/h1>\n

by C. Gregory Thompson<\/p>\n

Three-thirty sharp. A shrieking tea kettle. Over the roof tops if floated. A constant in my life. A stranger\u2019s daily routine. On temporary assignment in London, my American company rented me a flat in the East End. Someone living in one of the buildings out my back window and across the garden took their tea at the same time each afternoon. Often I wondered whose kettle it was, and pondered how odd it was to have such a fixed schedule. Then one day the whistling did not let up. Usually it went on for a few minutes and stopped. Presumably the tea drinker was pouring boiling water over tea leaves. After ten minutes had gone by I grew uneasy. I went to my window to see if I could figure out which building the sound came from. I could not.<\/p>\n

After thirty minutes a sick feeling in my gut. Something must have happened to the tea drinker. At forty-five minutes the whistling abruptly ended. Should I call 999? Now I watched for smoke. An hour and fifteen minutes later the first wisps. Now, at least, I knew what building the tea drinker lived in. I dialed 999, to report the fire. When I hung up I knew it was not a good end for the tea drinker. I sat at my window and watched the billowing smoke gather in the weak light of late afternoon. Sirens, a replacement for the whistling, sounded in the distance and grew closer. Flames erupted from the tea drinker\u2019s flat. Neighbors all around looked out open windows. I felt helpless. I grabbed my coat, umbrella, and briefcase; late for an afternoon meeting.<\/p>\n

The next day neighbors told me that the tea drinker was an elderly woman, Gladys Brown. She\u2019d had a heart attack while preparing her afternoon tea. The firemen handily put out the fire but were unable to save Gladys. Now, at three-thirty sharp I missed Gladys\u2019 screaming\u00a0kettle. The following week I attended Gladys\u2019 funeral at East London Cemetery. Gladys\u2019 daughter and I were the only two people at the service. She was buried next to her husband, Frank.<\/p>\n

# # #
\nBiography ? C. Gregory Thompson
\nC.Gregory Thompson lives in Los Angeles, California where he writes fiction, non-fiction, and memoir. He has a BFA in Film & Television from New York University. He?s been known to cook a meal and write about it. His food writing has been published on 100 Miles and Honest Cooking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three-thirty sharp. A shrieking tea kettle. Over the roof tops if floated. A constant in my life. A stranger?s daily routine. On temporary assignment in London, my American company rented me a flat in the East End. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t