So you are entering an HWC competition. Lay it out properly

Here's an example of how a story should be laid out:

Every picture tell a story

‘Come on Joan, let’s get out of the rain and have a cup of tea.’

Lily pulled Joan through the doors of what she took to be a posh hotel. As they walked through, a man in a dark smart suit walked swiftly up to her.

‘Is modom here for the sale of the Rayner collection?’

It took Lily a split second to realise that she had made an awful mistake – the crests on every wall identified it as Sotheby’s;  not a hotel. In that instant she recovered:

‘My man, this is so tiresome – is there any sustenance in this place before the auction starts. I am soooo famished.’

‘Let me take you to the guest room,’ oozed the man, ‘where complimentary food and drinks are served.’

Joan looked at Lily in amazement. They were sitting on a comfortable sofa eating caviar and drinking champagne. Was this a dream? Could it get any better that this?

‘How do you do that?’ she asked Lily. ‘Where did you get that voice from?’

‘I used to go to a posh girls’ school,’ said Lily, helping herself to another glass of champagne. ‘They all talked like that.’

Joan looked out the window. The rain had stopped.

‘Shall we make a dash for the door before they cotton on to who we are?’

‘Are you mad,’ said Lily. She clicked her fingers and a flunkey appeared. ‘Please show us to the auction rooms.’

***

‘What am I to bid for these specially commissioned pictures of  the Rayner’s family?’

The auctioneer was a smooth taking gentleman who’d not be out of place in a 1930’s film.

‘The untimely death of Lord and Lady Rayner in a car crash, has caused the sale of these family treasures. They are a too distressing a reminder for their surviving son, Joseph.’

Joan was feeling tipsy after the champagne. She was also feeling an itch on her forehead. As she started to scratch it, Lily stopped her.

‘Don’t do that!’ said Lily, ‘He’ll think you are bidding.’

The pictures of the family were being steadily being sold.

‘And what am I going to bid for this particularly fine specimen of a family picture. This painting is unusually showing Joseph when he was young,’ the auctioneer went on. ‘For some reason this was not hung after it was commissioned.’

Joan looked at the picture. It was a picture of Lord and Lady Rayner sitting on the floor with baby Joseph between them. The baby had his toys nearby and he was biting on a bright green teething ring which had been cut in half..  The influence of champagne, the excitement of the surroundings, the itch she could not scratch or  something else, affected her - she fell over in a faint.

Oscar Monteiro