Category Fiction

Trilby – Friday Fictioneers

freyathewriter 25 Comments

Here is this week’s entry into the weekly challenge brought to us by the lovely Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Here are the rules: Use the photo as inspiration, write a hundred(ish) words – and share! Here goes my offering for this week – and I welcome your comments again!

Copyright John Nixon

Copyright John Nixon

– Trilby –

“He got so angry when I couldn’t sing in tune. He said I’d lost him the gift of trance, sir.”

“Trance? Who do these legs belong to, exactly?”

“You don’t recognise me, not all dolled up, sir?”

“Miss Trilby?”

“Yes, sir, if you please.” She fluttered her eyes – faint echoes of her stage presence. A tear slid down her cheek. “I didn’t mean to, sir. I just snapped, sir. He’s such a scary man, Mr Svengali.”

I patted her on the shoulder. “I think you mean ‘was’, Miss Trilby.”

Her answering smile haunts me, even now.

—–

Click the blue froggy to read other writers’ offerings – and enjoy!



Unbelievable – Friday Fictioneers

freyathewriter 50 Comments

Here is this week’s entry into the weekly challenge brought to us by the lovely Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Here are the rules: Use the photo as inspiration, write a hundred(ish) words – and share! Here goes my offering for this week – and I welcome your comments again!

Copyright - EL Appleby

Copyright – EL Appleby

Unbelievable

“They said the Platypus was a fake.  Why wouldn’t they say the same about this… creature?”

I looked at Damian, looking at… It. I tried to be encouraging, in a gentle manner. “Come on, take a chance. This could be such a breakthrough, you know it!”

“But my reputation, I’ll risk everything!”

He wasn’t going to budge. I could just tell, from how he looked down his long nose, to the way he shuffled his hooves.

I sighed, too loudly. The furless, two-legged creature froze, then darted into the bush.

The ‘man’ as Damian called it, was going to be someone else’s discovery.

——-

Click the blue froggy to read other writers’ offerings – and enjoy!



Mum’s the Word

freyathewriter 9 Comments

Does the big bloke give her a nudge with his huge elbow? The picture is too grainy. I try zooming in again, squinting at the frozen image, but it makes no difference. I fast-forward through the bit where the other patients rush to her aid, whilst the bloke just sits, not moving a muscle. I see the light change to the left of all the action, then another man appears, but his back is turned. Dammit, I just can’t tell.

I pick up the second DVD and poke it into the machine.  This one is too sharp, too close up – I can see the hairs on her old-lady chin, the weave of her tweed suit. I sit back, frustrated, twisting my head one way, and then the other – I’m stiff from hunching over this damned computer for too long. Come on, come on! I need to call in soon…

The last DVD is much better, the angle is just right. This time, I can see the other patients in the waiting room unbutton the woman’s coat, loosen her scarf and lift up her feet, propping them up on a pile of old magazines. She comes round slowly, and they help her to a corner seat and give her some water. They huddle around her, patting her hand, fanning her with a magazine. The big bloke remains statue-still, glued to his seat.

The consulting room door opens a crack – I pause the recording, scan the rest of scene, holding my breath. No, everything is OK – all eyes are on her. I hit the ‘Play’ button again and watch as the doctor approaches the bloke in the chair. They each nod, reach out as if to shake hands. I hit ‘Pause’, zoom in, then hit ‘Play’ again. The big bloke does one of those double-handed shakes, the kind that says ‘I’m the boss’. Yep – the deal is being done. Money passes one way, a tightly wrapped package passes the other.

I hit ‘Redial’ on my phone. He answers right away.

‘Hey, Rico – it’s Marcus. Yep, just watched it. No problem, my man, no problem. All good.”

I hang up, pop open a bottle, take a deep swig. The DVD runs its course. The little old lady, now left to her own devices stares straight up at the camera. I zoom in. She winks, and smiles.

Nice one, Mum.