Our Very Short Story competition has galvanised readers into extraordinary efforts. The pile of stories grows and the closing date looms. Our judges are sharpening their critical faculties. But before we get into the Really Serious stuff, Eye wants to share this tongue-in-cheek contribution from Tim Brown of Cambridge who claims to have been told it by his mum many years ago:
An elderly Quaker, let's call him Josh, had attended Meeting for Worship all his life. When well into his 80s, he had a tendency to fall asleep, and sometimes dream, during worship. His wife always sat next to him and sometimes gave him a touch or a tap to wake him up.
One Sunday, Josh's dream was a nightmare. He dreamt that he was a French nobleman being driven in a tumbril to the guillotine. He grew more and more terrified as the tumbril approached the guillotine. Then he found himself on the scaffold with his neck resting on the block and the blade about to drop.
Just at that moment, his wife realised that he was asleep and gave him a tap on the back of the neck with a rolled up copy of The Friend. In life, as in his nightmare, it was a fatal blow and Josh died on the spot.

Don't forget, the competition closes on 21 April.