Tall And True Short Reads
Splendid Views
Episode 8 (30 November 2020)
The trip app listed the hotel as an “Exotic Getaway” with “Splendid Views”. After the year-long anxiety of COVID-19 and lockdowns, it looked perfect. I tapped BOOK on my phone, entered my credit card details, and texted Sally: “Pack the bags. We’re off to the mountains for the weekend.”
Splendid Views
Show Notes
Season One: Episode 8 (30 November 2020)
Splendid Views is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.
Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/splendid-views
Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com
Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads
Buy Robert’s short story collections online:
- Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
- Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
- Rakuten Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead
Story Insight
I wrote Splendid Views in August 2020 for Furious Fiction, a monthly short story competition run by the Australian Writers’ Centre. The brief for Furious Fiction August was that the 500-word story had to contain HUMOUR and include the words: DIZZY, EXOTIC, LUMPY, TINY and TWISTED. And a SANDWICH.
Much of my writing contains humour, so I thought this would be the easiest part of the brief. However, I soon discovered the difference between doing something naturally, for instance, writing a humorous scene versus being forced to think about a punchline.
Also, having written four previous Furious Fiction entries in and around lockdown, I wanted to set this story in a more joyous post-COVID time.
Thankfully, the idea of an exotic weekend away in the mountains and “Fawlty Towers” false advertising about splendid views came to my rescue. And it offered me an alternative SANDWICH!
As for the other words from the brief, did you hear them in the story?
I hope you enjoyed Splendid Views. Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.
The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, The Cruise Ship, will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed to make sure you haven’t missed any of the earlier episodes.
Podcast Theme and Podcast Sound Effects
Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.
Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:
- Text message notification: https://freesound.org/people/katjajansen1997/sounds/538006/
- Driving car interior: https://freesound.org/people/devy32/sounds/439252/
- Keys jangling: https://freesound.org/people/anational/sounds/443956/
- Female laughter: https://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/33658/
- Male laughter: https://freesound.org/people/Eneasz/sounds/119459/
- Opening curtains: https://freesound.org/people/BiancaDrey/sounds/543570/
- Australian birds: https://freesound.org/people/mooncubedesign/sounds/402690/
- Restaurant Ambience: https://freesound.org/people/lunchmoney/sounds/380200/
- Bottles chinking: https://freesound.org/people/jawbutch/sounds/344401/
Production Notes
Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.
Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.
Acast Podcast Supporter Page
Support this show https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.