Flash Fiction / SSS / writing prompts

Plugging a Plot Hole (Tales from the SSC&B)

Chris Hall82 Comments
An image of a painting of 'The Demeter' which hangs on the wall of the Manager's office at the SSC&B (origin unknown)*
A painting of ‘The Demeter’ which hangs on the wall of the Manager’s office at the SSC&B (origin unknown)*

The sound of a small explosion emanated from the Manager’s office, rattling the door and causing the lettering to peel a tiny bit more from its glazed panel.

The Bartender and the Supplier had been busy arranging the new stock on the mirror-backed shelves behind the bar, while Mimi, and her spatula-wielding assistant, Tom had been in the newly-refurbished kitchen preparing for Saturday night’s crowd.

They arrived at the office door together, Tom entered first, his eyes sweeping the room: the Raconteuse, quietly dripping by the fireplace, and the picture of the galleon hanging on the wall behind her.

Tom stepped forward, searching the red-haired writer’s face for an explanation, but none came; he reached behind her, running his finger around the damp picture frame: ‘I believe we have experienced a Dimensional Disturbance,’ he announced, glancing at the Raconteuse, ‘your escape route, might I surmise?’

The other Proprietors looked at Tom uncomprehendingly; Tom grinned, ‘it’s like a get-out-of-jail-free card for a blocked writer,’ he winked at the Raconteuse, ‘a stroke of luck that you introduced the Portal in here as a precaution before going to write yourself back in time.’

‘Luck had nothing to do with it,’ replied the Raconteuse.

~~~~~

This has been my second offering this week for Denise’s Six Sentence Story Challenge where this week’s prompt word was stroke.

*crafted on Canva by the author from an image on Pinterest

~~~~~

Join us at the famous SSC&B for more Six Sentence Stories
~ click on the sign to enter!

Six Sentence Café & Bistro logo

82 thoughts on “Plugging a Plot Hole (Tales from the SSC&B)”

  3. Luck has nothing to do with it, whatsoever.
    Not at the SSC&B!
    Keep colliding those particles, dear Chris.

    (Tom & spatula…😁…one of these days I see them flying all over the place)

    Speaking of monikers…maybe we should add to yours…CERN
    Chris Est Raconteuse Naïade

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  6. This is Tom (and his spatula – it now seems to be attached to me!) commenting… over…
    At least you’ve managed to get yourself back in the here and now, Chris, great news, even if you’re slightly damp. The thing with those Dimensional Disturbances, however, is they splinter… creating plot holes and sub-plots everywhere… meaning we can occasionally fall into them… and more interestingly, ‘things’ can fall out. It may be contained in the SSC&B… but that isn’t set in stone!
    Only time will tell.
    Well, time, and events from the Bistro, that is. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Ah Tom, (sorry about the spatula, perhaps it’s the cake batter that makes it stick) I wondered if there might be consequences with such an unstable plot device. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what falls out. Could be fun… or not. Let’s not think about the latter, because we know what happens when we think too much.😂🙄😬

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

      • “Theenk? Theenk? We don’ need no steenkin…”*

        ** Tom, I think I may have thread-jumped on you guys, quite uninvited. Sorry.
        Don’t mind the confusing foot note convention, I’m just trying to mask the fact that I have no way out…

        Which, now that one of us mentioned it, glad you asked!

        There is a place, probably a sub-basement (or maybe an attic) at the Café that consists of a large room with a sprinkler system plumbed into a reservoir of paint. By mechanisms vaguely understood, guests, friends, intruders, employees and even the occasional Proprietor awaken to find themselves in a corner as far from the door as is possible, given the geometry of the space.
        The first step towards the door triggers the sprinkler (and) a sign: in bright, round, Broadway light bulbs:
        ‘Write Your Way Out of This‘

        Part dojo, part time-out room, to wake up in this place is an unforgettable punishment or a terrible honor.

        *old, pop culture cultural reference *Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ And, I might add, an example of getting an idea to be clever and totally being unable to close the deal**

        Liked by 4 people

        Reply

          • ( Chris! Those paint sprayers are on a hair-trigger… lets step out into the hall, back there by the old Che Guevara poster. Did I mention my ambition for learning ventriloquism? Here, let’s try.”

            “Hey! Tom! yo! Me an Chris need the spare key to the loading dock. Do us a solid and run down and get it. It’s in Room 101 … no, wait, sorry, Room 103. You’ll see it on a hook on the wall opposite the door. Thanks, man.”

            Liked by 3 people

            Reply

  7. damn! got so caught up in interrupting a conversation I forgot to say, ‘Good work, yo.’

    Other than lifetime-distant unrequited love or an enduring regret, which none of us might be in thrall of, the capacity to dream into alternate timelines is surely the gift of whatever deities we might maintain.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  8. Hiya! Sorry my comment appears to have wandered off somewhere!
    Excellent as ever, Chris! There is so much opening out here – I am so taken by the idea of an author slipping between timelines to re-craft their own story. Love it!
    There you go!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. La Raconteuse is on the money. Luck (and consensus establishes) had nothing to do with it! I daresay luck doesn’t ever factor into the workings at the Six Sentence Café & Bistro, let alone events occurring within the Manager’s Office, lol No sir.
    Writer’s room, Chris?! Most excellent. The Bartender will certainly be availing herself of this place. And of course it’s in the penthouse. Where else would one have such a room?!
    Such a fun read, this. There is no one who doubted your skill to “write” yourself out of your earlier predicament. La Raconteuse is, after all, the storyteller.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks very much, Jacqui! I do use semi-colons outside the six sentence arena, but I almost always remove them, particularly in the last few novels I’ve written. Somehow it seems a tad pretentious and I’m all for simplicity in my books.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  26. Hi Chris! Thank you for visiting my blog. I had come to know from Sadje that you were not keeping well. I hope you are well now. I miss your posts, especially your response to wdys. Take care. Sending you lots of love and best wishes.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  28. I had to look up raconteuse… My it seems you were stuck in/on that ship a long while.
    I was worried. But I wasn’t sure what much I could do but think positive thoughts.

    Good to read you, and hope the nap in the ‘penthouse’ is a good one. I found you over at Jude’s place and came on over to see what was cooking. Pancakes… I’ll provide real maple syrup… (((Hugs)))

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • Slow progress is good progress.
        Continued recovery and be as slow as you need.
        (((Hugs)))
        Towards the end of last year I got my (American) Official ‘Old Lady Card’. That’s our family joke for aging into the health care system here and hopefully getting some of the benefits we have already paid for. Some other minor changes like hubby mostly retired and other activities.

        Keep your raconteuse rolling! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  29. Hi Chris, I wish I’d looked down through these comments sooner. You are such a loyal and appreciated follower of my blog, and every you’ve left a comment I’ve wondered why you were no longer writing. Now I know, and I’m sorry I was not able to wish you well earlier. Keep on getting better and better, the blogosphere needs you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply - I'd love to hear from you.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.