This piece, at almost 500 words doesn’t classify as a 300 word ‘flash’ fiction but I don’t want to cut 40% so I’m calling it a short, short story.
The front door bell rang when Silvia was in the bathroom. She ignored it. She was alone while her husband was out buying groceries, and they were not expecting visitors. She rationalized that it was probably a delivery which she could retrieve on her own time. When the bell rang a second time accompanied by knocking Silvia was annoyed. She told herself that there was no way that she was going to answer the summons for she now deduced that the person or persons on her porch were sales-people or worse Jehovah Witnesses. The radio in the den was playing Mozart. She listened to the music and hummed along with the Clarinet Concerto letting the familiarity of the music help to soothe her annoyance. How she loved the Clarinet! She smiled as she thought of her husband’s reference to his high-school band playing days when the brass derogatorily referred to the clarinet as a “liquorish stick”. She moussed her hair and began to blow it dry
She was about to go into the den when she thought that she heard hushed voices inside the house, Mozart was still playing so she knew that it wasn’t a radio announcer. She shivered. Hadn’t she just read the neighborhood newsletter in which they reported a spate of daylight robberies with instructions to residents to call 911 to report any suspicious activities. The article had gone on to warn residents not to approach the thieves who were described as “armed and dangerous”. Silvia’s earlier annoyance morphed into fear.
She thought that she might be able to hide in the closet to mask her voice so that she could make a 911 call, or better silently text her alarm, but then she realized that her mobile phone was in the den. She strained and heard the voices coming closer. In no time they would be in her bedroom and she had nowhere to hide.
On the spur of the moment Silvia decided that the only weapon she had was an element of surprise. She walked slowly to her bedroom door, took a deep breath, and opened it. She saw her two uninvited intruders standing in front of the television. They both carried bags. The morning sun streamed in through the den windows casting bright patches of light across the room. Silvia stood with the sun behind her. She hoped that the shadow would disguise the fear on her face. She waved her arms dismissively,
“Gentlemen,” she said, “you found the key, that’s good; but we weren’t expecting you today. You’ve got the wrong day! We agreed on Wednesday, that’s tomorrow. You have to leave now, and come back tomorrow!”
jstansfeld 
“That’s okay, Mame,” said one guy. “Since we’re already here, we’ll cart away the TV, the furniture, and that expensive vintage grandfather clock over in the corner.”
“Yeah, you do whatever it was, you were doing,” said the second guy. “Oh, I also collected the mail for you. I’ll hold on to the cash cheque, if you don’t mind. But the utility bills – they’re yours.”
Just then Silvia’s husband appeared behind the men. He had a loaded shotgun in his hands.
“Gentlemen, you were saying?” said Silvia, with a smile.
–
Sorry, Jane – you left it so open, and I could not resist.
Cheers!
Eric
Well done – you had both Dan and I laughing! Oh by the way you have a fantastic memory because I once wrote blog a poem about that old grandfather clock in the corner, I suspect that it would loose all its value if simply carted away without proper packing and prep.
Sorry for that typo – it should have been “Ma’am”.
My fingers outran my mind 🙂
Well you left us guessing again. 🙂 Which scenario do I choose as the end of the story. The real thief’s she was trying to bluff into leaving, or the real junk disposal merchants. Maybe the former, if so the next scene would be of a woman tied up to a chair with a rag stuffed in her mouth to greet her husband on his return.
There are so many ways that this story might end but that’s up to the readers. I’m enjoying the different options presented, Myself, I like to think that she gave them an excuse to beat an unlikely hasty retreat.