I'm trying to write a new short story/flashfiction at least every week until November. I have several ideas brewing in my head for this week's. I have a bunch of other story ideas in mind, too. This is what I have so far. Sentences that need work are in [ ]. Comments are in ( ). I keep trying to perfect each sentence as I go along. 
[note that he has to invite her in three times, like a certain other visitor... ;)]
[hmmm... Auntie B is taking on more of an imperious blue blood persona, than the ditzy, imperturbably superificially cheery later-life I'd wanted to portray.]
[themes:
itinerant relative cleans up distracted, hyperanalytical man's slovenly home. he has become desensitized to what people think of his sordid living conditions. the relative think she's doing him a favor; he liked the place the way he did and is now uncomfortable in the clean surroundings and moves within the week.
recurring characters/places between stories
for Robert :
The way she upturned the last syllable of every sentence irked/annoyed him.
Grandfather clock pendulum stopped
For every choice, a consequence...
The highest highs and the lowest lows... I take the middle path. I don't play the game.
Small portrait of mother on table in the main hall, face-down. Beatrice sets it back up and it watches everything that goes on.
Her actions cause the house to be robbed
Pennsylvania effect: loss of industry -> riches to rags -> grew up during slum times -> now experiencing economic revitalization; however, there's a certain fondness for the grunginess and adverseness to change]
Quote:
Perry Como died when Aunt Beatrice turned off the ignition key. She pulled herself out of a sky-blue Cadillac and stepped into the modern day with the slam of a car door. [Afternoon clouds cast the world in several shades of grey. (I want to contrast the idealized "sky blue" color of Aunt Beatrice's car with the grey actual sky)]
"Study Shows Gun Victims Often Owners of Guns" read the headline of an Inquirer tossed on the lawn [two weeks out-of-date (reveal this later)]. The address was 14 Avondale Drive, Norristown, PA 19333. With a smile, Aunt Beatrice picked up the newspaper and approached the front door of a stately, if dilapidated, manor. The doorbell produced no cheerful chime when pressed. Aunt Beatrice's expression soured and she knocked.
"The door's unlocked, come on in!" came a shout from somewhere within.
Aunt Beatrice knocked again.
"I said, the door's unlocked..."
Aunt Beatrice persisted and eventually Robert appeared at the door.
"Aunt Beatrice, I said-"
"Good afternoon, Robert! So good to see you. You must have forgotten to pick up your paper this morning, I found this out on your lawn."
"What, the Inquirer? That's the neighbor's; I'm not subscribed. See? It's even addressed to the house next door. I'm at 12 Avondale," Robert said, pointing to the number "12" in brass over the doorframe. "Anyway, it's two weeks out-of-date."
"Well as a good neighbor, you should at least ..."
"Nobody talks to anybody in this neighborhood, Aunt Beatrice. Everyone just keeps to themselves."
"Hm. [comment on anti-social] And what of your not coming down to greet me? One would think that a nephew would... [imperiousness]"
"Let's not stand on ceremony, Aunt Beatrice. Come on in."
"Not ceremony, Robert - simple human decency! Politeness! Manners! I think living here by yourself has atrophied your sense of civilization."
I'm sorry if I offended you. Please come in.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes; please, come in."
"Very well," Aunt Beatrice said, resuming a motherly air, ""
"Study Shows Gun Victims Often Owners of Guns" read the headline of an Inquirer tossed on the lawn [two weeks out-of-date (reveal this later)]. The address was 14 Avondale Drive, Norristown, PA 19333. With a smile, Aunt Beatrice picked up the newspaper and approached the front door of a stately, if dilapidated, manor. The doorbell produced no cheerful chime when pressed. Aunt Beatrice's expression soured and she knocked.
"The door's unlocked, come on in!" came a shout from somewhere within.
Aunt Beatrice knocked again.
"I said, the door's unlocked..."
Aunt Beatrice persisted and eventually Robert appeared at the door.
"Aunt Beatrice, I said-"
"Good afternoon, Robert! So good to see you. You must have forgotten to pick up your paper this morning, I found this out on your lawn."
"What, the Inquirer? That's the neighbor's; I'm not subscribed. See? It's even addressed to the house next door. I'm at 12 Avondale," Robert said, pointing to the number "12" in brass over the doorframe. "Anyway, it's two weeks out-of-date."
"Well as a good neighbor, you should at least ..."
"Nobody talks to anybody in this neighborhood, Aunt Beatrice. Everyone just keeps to themselves."
"Hm. [comment on anti-social] And what of your not coming down to greet me? One would think that a nephew would... [imperiousness]"
"Let's not stand on ceremony, Aunt Beatrice. Come on in."
"Not ceremony, Robert - simple human decency! Politeness! Manners! I think living here by yourself has atrophied your sense of civilization."
I'm sorry if I offended you. Please come in.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes; please, come in."
"Very well," Aunt Beatrice said, resuming a motherly air, ""
[note that he has to invite her in three times, like a certain other visitor... ;)]
[hmmm... Auntie B is taking on more of an imperious blue blood persona, than the ditzy, imperturbably superificially cheery later-life I'd wanted to portray.]
[themes:
itinerant relative cleans up distracted, hyperanalytical man's slovenly home. he has become desensitized to what people think of his sordid living conditions. the relative think she's doing him a favor; he liked the place the way he did and is now uncomfortable in the clean surroundings and moves within the week.
recurring characters/places between stories
for Robert :
The way she upturned the last syllable of every sentence irked/annoyed him.
Grandfather clock pendulum stopped
For every choice, a consequence...
The highest highs and the lowest lows... I take the middle path. I don't play the game.
Small portrait of mother on table in the main hall, face-down. Beatrice sets it back up and it watches everything that goes on.
Her actions cause the house to be robbed
Pennsylvania effect: loss of industry -> riches to rags -> grew up during slum times -> now experiencing economic revitalization; however, there's a certain fondness for the grunginess and adverseness to change]