Mother Hen – Magpie Tales

moths

Lor’! He were like a moth to a flame, that boy! I told him, I did, that it would come to a bad end, but would he listen? No, course he wouldn’t, he was blinded by her, that fancy piece and her airy ways!

I tell you though, he should’ve gone for my Lucy, he should. She had a steady job with prospects, she did. Safely settled at that Captain de Riviera’s town house, working hard as a lady’s maid. And most of all, she loved the bones of him, she really did.

P’shaw! Look what’s become of them all! That boy Kit wanderin’ the streets lighting lamps every night, talking to ‘isself like a madman, and that young lady, dead an’ all. She come to a bad end, she did, an’ I feel sorry for the Captain, rattlin’ around alone in that big old house of his, really I do.

But it’s my Lucy I worrit on, day and night. That boy can’t see how much she loves him. Always did an’ always will. How it hurt her to see him blinded by that fancy girl’s ways… I don’t know how she stood it all along…

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Here’s my latest entry into Magpie Tales – I hope you enjoy it! If it feels like you’ve stepped part way into a story, you’ll be right! I wrote two tales yesterday for VisDare and Five Sentence Fiction, and thought it would be good to round them off with this little offering.

They are told from three different perspectives – firstly, that of Kit Roberts’ mysterious admirer, next Little Mo and finally, as told here, Lucy’s mother. Did something sinister happen? You betcha! Who played a foul game? That would be telling!

Oil and Water – VisDare

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Photo source

Little Mo is well-known in these parts.

We’ve all seen her, even Lighterman Roberts with his tricorn hat and air of disdain. He won’t admit it, won’t confess to a sighting of the supernatural, but I’ve heard him as he walks down the streets, lighting the lamps at dusk-fall. He claims to be talking to his dog, a grizzled lurcher by the name of Mutt. In public, and especially when he’s in his cups, he treats that poor animal like dirt. There’s no way he’d bill and coo at Mutt as if he was wooing a lady. No, he’s seen Little Mo alright, and I fancy she tippy-toes alongside him in the cobbled streets every night.

She came to a dark end, did Little Mo. She was Captain de Riviera’s youngest daughter. He spoiled her so, and she got to thinking she could charm the birds off the trees. Instead, all she charmed was a feckless youth from our mean streets, teasing him with her fancy ways. It was enough to drive a poor young man wild.

That’s what Lighterman Roberts tells her, anyway.

I reckon he knows all about Little Mo. and I reckon she deserved it.

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Here’s my latest entry to the lovely Angela’s VisDare.

I hope you enjoy this week’s tale – I’ve tied it in with my Five Sentence Fiction entry this week, where you just might get to hear Little Mo’s side of the story!

Please do visit VisDare for amazing poetry and prose!

 

Constant – Magpie Tales

Starry Night by alex ruiz

Starry Night by Alex Ruiz

 The man gazes up at the thin silver crescent suspended in the night sky. It is immovable, as if anchored by invisible threads that have been woven by the hands of the gods themselves.

He can see her, his love. She is waiting for him.

He is the Moonkeeper, yet without her, he would be lost. She has no idea that her home is also a moon that waxes and wanes at the whim of the universe.

It is better that she does not know. It is better that she remains unaware of her power and responsibility. Only he knows that her moon remains whole, remains illuminated as a constant. It is only the shadow that he casts from his moon that turns her light to shade, her shade to light.

He blows her a kiss, imagines it landing on her lips.

It will reach her. It always does.

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Here’s my latest entry to Magpie Tales. It follows on from the theme of the piece I wrote for Five Sentence Fiction the other week – I love a moon! What a beautiful, magical inspiration of an image, don’t you think?

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

 

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