Anchor – Magpie Tales

August 17, 2014August 17, 2014freyathewriter 20 Comments

Yell Sound, Shetland, 2014, by R.A.D. Stainforth

I am finding it hard to watch. My ship is pulling away, not from the shore, but from its sister ship pitching and yawing as it heads out of the mouth of the bay and into the open sea.

There is no protection out there, no place to hide from either the gale force winds, or the waves as high and hard as mountains. The battering will be relentless.

I turn away, feeling a rush of betrayal. My betrayal of him as I turn my back, and his betrayal of me as he has once again refused my pleas to stop, to stay on board with me in the safety of the harbour.

It is complex, our relationship. Built on shaky foundations – built on none at all, some would say, those who are sticklers for truth, those who are pedants. Ships do not have foundations. Only hollow hulls.

I whip round, face out to sea once more. I lift the binoculars, blinking as the ship fills my vision. A solitary figure is standing on the deck, binoculars trained on me.

I wave.

He waves in return.

I wait for his return. There is nothing else that I can do.

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Here is my latest entry into Magpie Tales – please do pop over there for more writerly goodness!

Contours – Five Sentence Fiction

August 17, 2014freyathewriter 13 Comments

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“Millicent, my dear, I do believe we are hopelessly lost – Father will have an apoplexy if we are late for the Farquhar-Johnson’s soiree!”

“Phooey, Regina – he will not notice our absence, not one bit of it! I hear Lady de Havilland will be putting in an appearance… you know he is like a dog on heat when she is in town!”

“Oh, Millicent, what are you saying?”

“You know exactly what I am saying dear sister – you don’t need a map to work out where Father will be staying the night…”

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Here is my latest entry into Lillie McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction. Such an innocent and elegant scene – hiding such secrets – well, in my head anyway! Please do pop over to read other pieces – sure to be varied, sure to be entertaining!

Paix – Magpie Tales

August 10, 2014freyathewriter 6 Comments

My father is staring at me, hard.

It has been years since we spent any time alone. I had been a judgmental daughter, belligerent, unable to accommodate the shades of grey in a life that I was convinced could only consist of black or white, right or wrong

I had grown into an adult, still believing my teenage views.

The past few months had ripped the rug from underneath my feet.

“Not a traitor? Not a traitor?”

I see him with new eyes. He is just a man. Just a human being like the rest of us. He is not a monster, just like my mother was not a traitor. They had paid high prices for living through times when making the right decision depended on so many inconceivable and unimaginable horrors.

And I had judged them both with hindsight.

“No. Not a traitor.”

His body sags. I can’t tell if this is with relief, or despair.

He reaches out a hand, an old hand. He has aged since we last met. I take his hand and my index finger caresses the thin gold wedding band he still wears despite everything.

“Thank you for telling me, Celine. It will never bring her back and you may never forgive me for taking your mother away so brutally, but at least she never betrayed us.”

Semantics, I think. It is all but semantics.

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Here’s my latest entry to Magpie Tales. This is the finale in my six part story which began in the midst of World War Two. Here are the fiveprevious instalments in order, if you want to indulge! Croix de Guerre, Collborateur, Oubliette, Verité and Honneur.

I hope you enjoy this week’s entry- and please do visit Magpie Tales for amazing poetry and prose!