The author Margaret Chittenden observed: “Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.” Instead of staring at a wall, I was walking my dog when I heard my uncle’s voice.

Uncle Pete passed away in January 2014, but he helped me finish The Afterlife, which I wrote for the Not Quite Write Podcast’s Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction in January 2025. The prompts for the 60-hour, 500-word story competition were:

1. Your story must contain the word RING.
2. It must feature the action of “opening a door”.
3. And it must break the rule “write what you know”.

Not Quite Write Prize Anti-Prompts

The Not Quite Write Prize is famous (some might say, infamous!), for its anti-prompts to break writing rules, which have included (with the links to my submitted stories on Tall And True):

• July 2023: Avoid all adverbs (In Her Head)
• January 2024: Avoid clichés (Different Journeys)
• April 2024: Always use said (You Have Been Warned)
• July 2024: Avoid purple prose (Stolen Passions)
• October 2024: Avoid head-hopping (Viral Thoughts)

In the Brief Explanation field on the story submission form, I commented:

I know a lot about a few things and a few things about a lot. So, how could I break the “write what you know” rule? Well, I know nothing about the afterlife (none of us does, really!), which made it the perfect plot and setting for my story.

What I didn’t add to my comments was the status update I’d posted on social media on the Saturday afternoon of the competition weekend when I was staring at the wall two-thirds of the way through writing The Afterlife:

I was stuck on how to tie my story together, but I took my dog for a walk, and a voice entered my head and solved it for me!

The entries are blind-judged, and as the podcast hosts and competition judges follow me on social media, I couldn’t risk revealing myself as the writer of the story.

A Distinctive Voice

Before the walk, I had my story’s characters and plot but not its denouement. I hoped being outside with my dog, away from the computer and wall, would free up my writing. However, I didn’t expect to hear my uncle’s distinctive voice explaining what I needed to do to finish the story!

A post had popped up in my Facebook timeline memories that morning, reminding me it was 11 years since I visited Uncle Pete in palliative care for what proved to be the last time. Pete was a larger-than-life figure. He held strong opinions, and his favourite saying was, “Let’s be reasonable and do it my way.” He was also much loved and respected.

I’d thought of Pete several times during the day because of the post and afterlife setting of my story. And I guess, if the afterlife exists, he may have been thinking of me struggling with the ending. I took on board his suggestions, and as a token of gratitude, added him to my short story.

But no spoilers, you’ll have to read The Afterlife, which I’ve shared on Tall And True!

Share Your Writing on Tall And True

Thanks, Uncle Pete

Yes, as Margaret Chittenden observed, as a writer I often hear voices in my head. Usually, it’s me going over ideas or lines or a character from the story I’m writing, but sometimes they’re the voices of departed family and friends. I’ve also dreamed that they (and a dear old dog) have visited me.

I don’t believe in an afterlife. However, it would be comforting to think our loved ones might visit and help us. So, thanks Uncle Pete for helping me finish my story, and you were right, once again!

What’s that voice I hear? “Of course I was, son!”

© 2025 Robert Fairhead

N.B. Here’s another link to The Afterlife on Tall And True. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing the story!

Note: This blog post originally appeared on Tall And True.