By Murray Payne:

What was I thinking?  Well I was thinking about mentally rewriting my previous day’s story as I lay in bed.  It had not stood up well to the class critique.

It was a restless night for sleeping.  I was preoccupied in my mind with rephrasing and rewriting my story in my head.

So I cannot say just when I first noticed this body in bed beside me.  How long had it been here?  When had it arrived?  And how had it managed to slide between the sheets and snuggle up beside me, without waking me, while being ever so furtive and exploratory trying to arouse me?

She was literally all over me.  I can tell you in the words of a noted Queen “I was not amused”.  Just what kind of motel had I booked into?

I was tired and I was annoyed; my concentration had been broken.

Deciding enough was enough I flicked on the light, threw back the bed sheets and forcefully threw my uninvited guest onto the floor and mumbled something about finding another bed mate or going home – as it scurried across the carpeted floor on all sixteen legs.

Murray Payne is friendly, easy to talk to, involved in all manners of art- water colours, pen and ink, totem poles, stone and concrete work – and enjoys the challenge of creating humorous short stories.