Flash Fiction / SSS / writing prompts

The Jade Camel #21

Chris Hall60 Comments

Previously

Joey glanced at the carnage he’d left behind; an ominous silence pervaded the blood-spattered hallway.

Raising a hand to acknowledge Gary, Joey took a deep breath to quieten his thumping heart and shot back into the building; he burst into his flat and snatched up his back-pack, stuffing it with a handful of clothes and the small battered box which contained his ‘important stuff’.

Skidding back down the stairs, he paused by Ceridwen’s door; it opened before he could knock, revealing Ceridwen, clutching a bristling Cullen in her arms. Digging into his pocket, Joey pulled out a thick roll of notes and started to peel a few off, but Ceridwen shook her head; Joey was about to speak, but she silenced him with a look and with a nod of her head, gestured for him to leave. Giving Cullen’s head a regretful stroke, Joey fled the scene, only pausing to scoop a small shiny object from the hall floor.

Half an hour later, Ceridwen stepped sedately around the fallen bodies and picked up the pay-phone, wondering how she was going to explain all this to the emergency services; one thing was certain though, she wasn’t going to betray young Joey.

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: SEDATE, QUIETEN, SILENCE
Denise Farley of Girlie On The Edge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: STROKE

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Photo credit: illustration from a book somewhere on my bookshelves which has mysteriously disappeared🐪

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60 thoughts on “The Jade Camel #21”

  9. nice rest-and-appreciate moment in your story… as we Readers are reminded of the ‘basics’ for the main characters and the narrative…
    damn!*

    *compliment lol

    oh yeah, Fun Six!

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  21. Ok I remember now. I knew there was a Tommy Beresford-esque scene but I had forgotten about the axe and the crowbar 😝 Well, as long as the authorities don’t think Ceridwen did it…😬

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  24. Chris! Another exciting installment! Complete with a brawl from you know where, lol
    I’ve no doubt Ceridwen will have a plausible story. “…blood-spattered hallway.” I’m thinking this time, the authorities will be scrutinizing Joey even more.

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  26. Just treated myself to a full binge-read of ‘The Jade Camel’. Well worth my wait, Chris – absolutely fantastic. What a diverse array of characters, and so well situated in Liverpool, with its ‘malodorous Mersey breeze’. The fusing of action, intrigue, and a city so real reminded me of what Phillip Pullman did for Oxford. Joey is such a compelling main character as well.

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