The Fanatical Gardener and Other Short Stories
By Gail Crane
()
About this ebook
A collection of seven short stories in which things do not always turn out as expected.
Perfect coffee-break reading for lovers of women's fiction.
The Fanatical Gardener: When Japanese Knotweed takes hold in Arthur’s immaculate garden, his attempts to eradicate it have unforeseen consequences.
Rags and Riches: A bag of donated clothing forces a charity shop volunteer to face her past.
A Scooter for Edie: Edie couldn’t master riding a bike or driving a car but, surely, even she could manage a mobility scooter?
Meeting Hector: She met him via the internet. Now it’s time to invite him to her home.
What’s it Worth?: Kev and Wayne finally discover crime doesn’t pay.
Tomorrow Will be Too Late: A neglected cottage and the discovery of an old family bible spell trouble for a young couple.
Dinner’s in the Oven: A neglected wife gets her revenge. When her football-obsessed husband takes it out on the cat, it’s just a step too far.
Gail Crane
Gail Crane writes romance novels and short stories inspired by the Exmoor countryside where she lives. She is a member of The Alliance of Independent Authors and The Romantic Novelists Association and in 2014, she completed a BA degree with Open University, studying creative writing and children's literature. When not writing or reading, she enjoys walking and gardening, and is addicted to crosswords.
Read more from Gail Crane
Master of Hanging Cross (An Exmoor Romance: Book 2) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Murder of Anna Maria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Place to Dream and Other Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMusic of Time and Other Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThird Time Lucky: A Short Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHot Chocolate and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlynn's Folly (An Exmoor Romance: Book 1) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFamily Matters and Other Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Fanatical Gardener and Other Short Stories
Related ebooks
The Fanatical Gardener and Other Short Stories: Short Stories, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath by Veggies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kate Redman Mysteries Volume 5: The Kate Redman Mysteries, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCritters and Crises: a Flash Fiction Menagerie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerformance: The Kate Redman Mysteries, #13 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Sickness, Health, and Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHorrific Tales for a Horrific Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHealing Grace: a novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFootwear and Fantasy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wherefore Art Thou, Jane? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fourteenth Summer of Angus Jack Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Strangers in the Woods Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSanctuary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Better to Kiss You With Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5California Homecoming: California Romance, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAftermath: Yesterday, Episode 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWolfSong Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Doll Collector: A Chilling Serial Killer Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jazmyn's World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Punch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Mother Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Knight of the Silver Circle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of the Witch's Son Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSolitary Hunter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInterludes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirefly Mountain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReflections in a Hubcap Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThrough the Squirrel Tree Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Edge of Morning Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5She Wolf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Short Stories For You
Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5100 Years of the Best American Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Things They Carried Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Skeleton Crew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Tuesdays in Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Explicit Content: Red Hot Stories of Hardcore Erotica Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lovecraft Country: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ficciones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Past Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selected Short Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sour Candy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Unfinished Tales Of Numenor And Middle-Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Scorched Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex and Erotic: Hard, hot and sexy Short-Stories for Adults Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Fanatical Gardener and Other Short Stories
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Fanatical Gardener and Other Short Stories - Gail Crane
The Fanatical Gardener
Arthur loved his garden. Every evening when he came home from work, no matter what the weather, he would go out weeding and clipping, making sure everything was just so. He liked things tidy. Any plant daring to send out a sucker or outgrow its allotted space would be summarily dealt with.
After dark, Arthur would take his torch and bucket and ruthlessly dispose of any slug or snail that had escaped the blue pellets he scattered freely each day.
Jean sometimes stood in the window and watched her husband as he went about his fussing and primping and wonder how she managed to live with him.
They hardly spent any time together these days. If she offered to help in the garden, he would grumble and instruct, telling her she was doing things all wrong, until she gave up in exasperation. And, as he spent all his spare time in the garden, they inevitably grew steadily further apart.
Then came the evening when, having worked in the garden until it was too dark to do more, he joined Jean in the sitting room, opened his gardening magazine and saw the article on Japanese Knotweed.
Of course, he already knew about it. What gardener worth his salt wouldn't? But this was a new development and his pulse raced as he read.
'It’s mutated.' he said excitedly. 'There’s a new strain that’s resistant to all known weed-killers.'
'Is there, dear?' Jean carried on with her knitting.
'We have to report any we see to the authorities.'
'Really, dear?' Clickety click.
'We must be on the lookout. Keep our eyes peeled.'
'Yes, dear.' One purl. One plain.
'It will be almost impossible to get rid of, you know.' Arthur's eyes gleamed. 'It says here, it grows through anything, even concrete. Apparently just a tiny piece can root and form a new plant and it grows up to three feet in one day.' Arthur thought for a moment. 'By golly, imagine that.'
Jean put down her knitting. She needed a cup of tea. 'Shall I put the kettle on, dear?'
Arthur nodded and carried on reading. 'Three metres high and seven metres spread, it says here.' He did some mental calculating. 'Good lord, do you realise it could reach that size in only three days?'
Jean poured boiling water over the teabags and wondered if she should treat herself to a piece of chocolate cake to steady her nerves.
*
As Arthur cycled to work each morning and home again each evening, he kept an eagle eye on the banks and hedgerows, determined no stray shoot of the dreaded mutant weed should escape his notice.
Then a clump was discovered at the far end of the village and, peeved that someone had found it before him, Arthur cycled along to see. Sure enough, there it was. Not a huge clump but big enough. He propped his cycle against the hedge and walked over to have a closer look.
Vicious looking it was. Great purplely-red shoots resembling sharpened bamboo canes pushed