
‘What happened to the bracelet, Mr Eyre, I thought it was in one of your pockets?’ Bryony whispered as they were marched away; Mr Eyre winked and whispered back, ‘like any good conjurer, I’ve hidden it up my sleeve.’
‘No talking!’ ordered Captain Stinger; Mr Eyre smiled disarmingly at their captor, ‘I beg your pardon, but my young companion and I were just wondering on what charge you might be holding us?’
‘You have been found in blatant contravention of the Owl-King’s Special Directive on the Unauthorised Possession of the Written Word,’ Captain Stinger prodded Bryony’s shoulder with the blunt end of his segmented stinger.
Mr Eyre and Bryony exchanged a puzzled glance, ‘and where might we be going?’ asked Mr Eyre mildly, seemingly unfazed at being found in breach of such a nonsensical law; the Captain glared back at him, ‘not only that, you are clearly Other-Worlders and not to be trusted, we are therefore taking you to a special secret location.
They tramped on until they came to a rough-hewn wooden bridge leading over a narrow ravine, where the Captain announced: ‘prepare to cross the Divide of the Owl-King!
Heavy hoods were slipped over the prisoners’ heads.
Written in response to two challenges:
– Di of Pensitivity101‘s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge – SECRET, SEE, SEGMENT
– Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge‘s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt – VIDEO
Bryony, Bethany and Mr Eyre first appeared in my historical fantasy fiction novel, Following the Green Rabbit. They’ve been begging to go on another adventure and it looks like they’ve got their wish!
I love how you made the 6SS prompt word of ‘video’ fit into this tale, Chris – nicely worked out!
Mr Eyre’s confidence and any other tricks he may have up his sleeve should be put to good use once that wooden bridge is crossed.
No probs here with your last comments arriving. I know WP can be annoying sometimes sending stuff to spam.
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Thanks, Ford! That one took a bit of imagination 😉 I can see the bridge, but not what’s on the other side… yet!
The spam thing didn’t start until the beginning of this week, so we shall see (or not).
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What a serious charge! Great addition Chris. Loved it.
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That ‘secret location’ is going to be pretty crowded if the stingers catch up with us! 😁
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I hope all the good guys stay safe.
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Rest assured, Sadje, there will be no lasting damage! 🙂
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Thanks Chris. These are beloved characters
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Yes, indeed!
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😍
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Fished you out of spam three times today Chris. All rectified though. Great continuation
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Much appreciated, Di 😊
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🙂 Nothing in spam for you today
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I think if someone’s ‘fished me out’ the problem on that site is rectified. Why to I feel slightly damp?🤣
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haha! Keep warm and dry Chris.
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This Owl-King creature is just getting worse and worse! How dare he outlaw possession of the written word? For shame, Owl-King, for shame!
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King or not, he’s going to need setting straight!
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Indeed, he is!
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You can’t leave it there, that’s too much of a nail biting cliff hanger. 🙂
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The nature of the serial challenge, I’m afraid, Deb 😉
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Well I will patiently wait then 🤔
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😁
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They had to use the hoods, didn’t they? Well, something may be ready to be unleashed from that shimmering pot of yours…
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No hoods, no secret! Pot on a low simmer…
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great job on this not so easy task! good six…keep going.
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Thanks so much, Paul 🙂
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Drama intensifies!
This Captain Stinger character….will he be forever the bad guy? (Just thinking out loud :D)
Excellent utilization of various prompt words, especially for the SSS. Brava 🙂
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An excellent question, Denise. I haven’t quite got the measure of the captain yet. Time (and prompts) will tell. As for this week’s prompts, well, I suggested I had a cunning plan…😉😁
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I’m with Ford (and the others) yeoman work on getting the prompt word into a tale of a world decidedly short on opportunities to work in a reference to late 20th C tech.
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I had to squeeze my brain pretty hard for that one!
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Love the last line. You could have just said ‘hoods’ but ‘Heavy hoods were slipped over the prisoners’ heads.’–I smell the sweat and feel their heat. Well done.
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Thanks, Jacqui 🙂
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I like the description of what they are being charged with: “Unauthorised Possession of the Written Word” Now to find out what that exactly is.
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It sounds pretty grim for a bunch of writers like us!
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Very immersive chapter that makes us root for your characters – great cliffhanger to end on!
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Thanks very much, Tom 🙂
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Outlawing possession of the printed word? 😱This Owl guy sounds a bit Orwellian to me…🤔
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There’s certainly something very wicked going on in his Kingdom. We shall find out more next time…
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It sounds like the Owl Kind will either be a tyrant, or someone like the Magician on the Island of the Dufflepuds in Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
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Anyone who wants to control possession of the written word is obviously up to no good! The question is why 😉
Thanks for reminding my of the Narnia books, Mimi. You make me want to re-read them all over again.
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Having heavy hoods put over their heads sounds ominous, but then again passing over a narrow ravine over the great divide sounds scary too. Why does the Owl King want to be the only one with a copy of the Written Word? Does he want to be the only interpreter of the Written Word?
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I think I’d need to wear a hood when crossing the ravine too! You’re pretty close to the Owl-King’s motivation, Pat (at least I think so at the moment).
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Next week, we’ll be on the other side – can’t wait!
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…and who knows what we’ll find??
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Roll on next week … quite a story and yet more to develop.
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Lots more to come… thanks, Paul 🙂
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Sad, scary world that makes reading the written word criminal.
Glad it’s not the case for your readers!
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Absolutely! Or for any of us writers…
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I love how Mr. E remains calm. And their predicament seems to be worsening!
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Oh yes, Mr E is always calm in a crisis, and it seems they’re heading that way…
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Loving how this story is unravelling, Chris. I have had to binge to catch up but what a series to binge on! 🤗
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What a lovely compliment! I’m so pleased you’re enjoying the story, Laura 😊
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Ah Chris, you are a vixen to leave them in the pot with the temperature being turned up.
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Oh yes, I know… and we need to switch back and see how Bethany’s faring next time 😉
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Great stuff, Chris. I’m loving Mr. Eyre’s character in this scene!
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He’s a smasher, isn’t he!
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He really is!
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