Previously

Joey returned the man’s gaze; it wasn’t that he was afraid, but something about the unwavering stare and the uncompromising stance of the cigar-smoking man made him slightly wary, framed as he was by the double-leaf doorway in an otherwise blank-faced building, like the gate-keeper to a secret world.

Glancing back into the alleyway, Joey saw that the five strange little men were now huddled together; although he couldn’t make out what they were muttering, by the way they were wildly gesticulating it was apparent that they were arguing amongst themselves. He wondered if he could somehow slip past them, it was either that or face the strangely intimidating man on the other side of the wall; Joey made his decision and eased himself down into the yard below.

Whilst Joey had been concentrating on his descent, the doors to the blank-faced building had closed; Joey jogged across the empty yard, the only sign that someone had been standing in the doorway was the still-smouldering cigar butt on the ground. Beyond the peeling wood, the strum of a rhythm guitar and the boom of a steady blues beat echoed inside the building.

Drawn to the music, Joey gripped the door-handle.

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Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: TIMID, WARY, AFRAID
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: RHYTHM

More #SixSentenceStories here!

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

Previously

Joey shot across the road and hurtled down the narrow alleyway that divided the terrace of tall buildings ahead of him, the northerly aspect of the dank thoroughfare rarely allowed the sun’s rays to penetrate, and his feet slid on the slippery cobbles.

Hearing a shrill whistle behind him, Joey skidded around a corner into an even narrower passage and then another, losing himself in the maze of Victorian dereliction. Behind him, pounding feet were closing in, their speed more than a match for Joey’s; he swung around the edge of another building only to find himself faced by a huge, crumbling brick wall. He turned to face his pursuers – five unusually short, squat individuals crowded in, filling the width of the alleyway.

Joey spun round and launched himself at the wall, fingers and toes desperately scrabbling for purchase in the missing mortar between the bricks; finally, with a heroic effort, he hauled himself to the top and straddled the wall.

Joey peered down into the yard on the other side, where a bearded man leaned on the edge of an open doorway, smoking an unpretending cigar; the man stared back up at him and slowly raised an eyebrow.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: HEROIC, PRETEND, ASPECT
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: MATCH

Read more #SixSentenceStories here!

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

Previously

Ceridwen was clutching her tarot deck so tightly that the edges of the cards dug into her flesh; the air around her reverberated with disharmony as she silently contemplated the brace of cards she’d just dealt – the Tower and the Two of Cups (reversed) – she chewed her lip, her first card reading had spoken of exuberant adventure, but now the cards showed something darker in Joey’s future.

Joey, meanwhile, was teetering on the edge of a roof, in peril of falling, just as the Tower card so dramatically depicted; Patterson was closing in. A movement behind his shoulder caught Joey’s attention: a tawny-coated cat sprung from the overhanging roof and disappeared, greeted by the clank of metal as it landed not far below. The jade camel vibrated in Joey’s pocket and without hesitation, he dodged past Patterson and leapt after the cat.

Joey crashed onto the roof of a low outrigger; only momentarily winded, he let himself down to the ground, ran across the yard and climbed over the back wall, to disappear down the nearest alleyway.

Aurora’s salmon-coloured cheeks turned a vibrant shade of crimson, as her blood boiled; she directed her dismay at Patterson: ‘FIND HIM!’

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: OILED, SALMON, FLESH
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: HARMONY

See what other ‘Sixarians’ have written

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

Previously

Bemused, Joey sat on an expensive couch opposite Aurora in the grandest room he had ever encountered, sipping from a fragile cup of sugary tea, while Aurora issued instructions as if she were reeling off ingredients for a complex recipe; her suave companion nodded as he wrote in a small leather-bound notebook with an elegant silver pen.

Aurora paused, studying Joey for a moment; she set her cup down on an onyx and gold side-table, motioning Joey to do the same, ‘Come, Joey, I have something to show you.’

Joey followed her into the red-carpeted hallway through which they’d entered; Aurora glided up one wide staircase, then another, finally leading him out onto a roof terrace where she stood facing him, her steely gaze flicking to his pocket and back to his face. She advanced a step, holding out her hand: ‘I will be your passport to success if you give me that.’

Patterson appeared in the doorway and Aurora took another step towards Joey; the jade camel started to vibrate in his pocket; he retreated, his heart going into overdrive, racing away like his thoughts.

Joey looked over the edge of the building; it was a long way down.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: PASSPORT, SUGAR, DRIVER
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: INGREDIENT

More awesome #SixSentenceStories here!

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

Previously

Joey shook the woman’s hand awkwardly, regarding the smartly-dressed pair standing in front of him with a growing sense of unease; he wanted to turn away, but the man’s steady blue-grey gaze forced his feet to remain rooted to the spot. The woman smiled a thin-lipped smile, ‘we are looking for a new assistant, perhaps you might be interested?’ the woman’s smile broadened, although without a trace of warmth, while the grey-suited man moved in, taking Joey by the elbow, ‘Patterson will help you to the car.’

With a swish of her floor-length fur coat, the woman strode off, Patterson propelling a bemused Joey behind her, while the flunky, engaged to handle their luggage, followed in their wake, clutching a collection of leather and canvas bags.

Twenty minutes later, a midnight-blue Silver Shadow, with Patterson at the wheel, glided to a graceful halt outside a grand, several-storied red-brick building; Patterson got out, adjusting his immaculately-tailored jacket, before pacing around to the pavement side of the car and opening the front and rear passenger doors.

The woman stepped out, gesturing for Joey to join her. ‘I am Aurora,’ she threw out her arms in an expansive gesture, ‘welcome to my empire!’

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: GROWING, FEET, PANS
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: CANVAS

Read more #SixSentenceStories here!

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

Previously

‘The figurine is near, Patterson,’ the tall, turban-clad woman turned to her elegantly-suited companion, ‘I can tell, the vibration is strong,’ a smile spread across her carmine lips and her floor-length fur coat swayed as she swept across the deck of the RMS Redemption. The crew was preparing the vessel for disembarkation; following in her wake, Patterson with a graceful wave of his hand, signalled to a nearby lacky to attend to the mundane task of handling their luggage.

On the quayside, Joey broke open a new pack of cigarettes; he shoved the cellophane and silver paper into his pocket and drew out a battered yellow matchbox, turning from the malodorous Mersey breeze, a cigarette clamped between his lips. The match broke as he struck it, Joey cursed and fumbled another match from the box.

An arm, with a precise half-inch of shirt cuff showing from a fine grey-wool sleeve, proffered a flame from a silver lighter; the end of Joey’s cigarette flared and he inhaled deeply, nodding his thanks. The owner of the arm held the young man’s eyes with a hypnotic blue-grey stare; a regal-looking woman appeared at his side, extending her hand and smiling a red-lipped smile.

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: YELL, CELL, TELL
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: MUNDANE

Read more #SixSentenceStories here

Photo credit: illustration from a book somewhere on my bookshelves which I STILL cannot locate 😉

Previously

The sludgy stern wave of RMS Redemption smudged over the peach-coloured sands of Crosby Beach as she made her entry into the Port of Liverpool. Two figures stood silhouetted against the backdrop of the dismal docklands, the woman’s steely glare raking across the city, reaching out for something within its smoke-darkened dwellings.

Not 200 yards away, on the other side of the iconic Liver Building, Joey’s bus lurched to a halt, while a deafening blast from the Redemption’s horn, heralding her arrival, rumbled through the fabric of the towering edifice; Joey looked up, almost expecting the two birds that graced the building’s twin clock towers to take flight in alarm, and a quiver ran through his hand, as if the little camel statue had briefly flickered into life.

Cullen’s ears pricked at the distant sound of the ship’s horn and Ceridwen glanced up from the tarot cards in front of her. Troubled by the aura she’d sensed around her young neighbour, she turned to cartomancy in an attempt to divine its source. She turned over the Knight of Wands, mounted on his rambunctious steed, rearing up over three pyramids in the distance: not a card she’d normally associate with Joey.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: PEACH, REACH, BEACH
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: RAMBUNCTIOUS

Read more #SixSentenceStories here

Photo credit: illustration from a book somewhere on my bookshelves which I STILL cannot locate 😉

Previously

A gust of gritty air greeted Joey the moment he stepped outside, his keen eye falling on the bright blue ink of a bank note tumbling among the accumulating detritus scudding across the path. He scurried over, the front door slamming behind him, and fished a fiver from heap of kinked crimson leaves and dented dull-hued wrappers – a brand new five pound note! what were the chances of that? – his luck was surely changing.

Driving the note deep inside his back pocket, Joey headed towards the bus-stop with a spring in his step, sure of success in trading his new-found prize, and with none of the normal sinking feeling which frequently dogged his steps.

Joey’s fingers curled around the smooth curves of the jade camel nestled within his parka pocket as the bus lurched around the corner, offering him a panoramic view of the river Mersey from his privileged perch on the front seat of the top deck.

A huge four-funnelled cruise liner was entering Liverpool Bay, Joey wondered what it would be like to sail on such a vessel; he squinted to read the lettering on the curving bow: RMS Redemption.

Joey’s grip tightened on the camel.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: INK, KINK, SINK
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: REDEMPTION

More #SixSentenceStories here!

Photo credit: illustration from a book somewhere on my bookshelves which I cannot presently locate 😉

Previously

Ceridwen shivered as she closed the door, Joey was a nice lad, a bit rough around the edges but he had a good heart – and he had Cullen’s approval; she smiled at her feline companion, she’d had him since he was barely weaned, having seen him cowering in the bushes all alone and mewing piteously, she’d known immediately that his little soul had been reaching out to hers.

She drew her cardigan around her narrow shoulders, armour against the unexpected feeling of foreboding that had accompanied Joey’s passage across the landing.

The feeling persisted as she fed Cullen, and as she nibbled on her own frugal supper; she glanced ceiling-wards where she could hear Joey moving about, the feeling was one she couldn’t quite describe, almost a vibration in the air, something she hadn’t experienced since that young woman had brought the strange little amulet to her.

The nagging feeling accompanied her through her dreams, faint glimpses of things that made no sense.

In the morning, sipping her herbal tea, she heard Joey’s rapid footsteps on the stairs; moments later the front door slammed. It was immediately apparent: what had been troubling her had left the building along with Joey.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: BEEN, SEEN, WEAN
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: SCRIBE

More #SixSentenceStories here!

Photo credit: illustration from a book somewhere on my bookshelves which I cannot presently locate 😉