Train Time (Tales from the SSC&B)

September 25, 2024October 4, 2024 Chris Hall50 Comments

previously

The red-headed writer, aka the Raconteuse, was on a lovely train; she had her big bag, which was bulging, and she had lots of things to do.

She had been reading and writing, and then looking and looking again, as she watched the miles clock up; she had gone from NYC to NJ, Pennsylvania and then to Virginia; she stood up – it must be time for dinner, as she went into the dining car.

It was late as the red-headed writer opened her secret lining in her bag, this was what she’d taken in the Six-Sentence-Cafe-and-Bistro under the bar; the tall, thin man had given a nod as she quickly pocket it: it had been there for ages – and now she had been looking at this again – would it be time to use it?

It had been a long trip, even though it was so pleasant, but she felt a bit wrecked as she sat up; she went into the tiny bathroom to comb her hair, then made it spiky again, next she squirted some toothpaste onto her toothbrush and begin to clean her teeth, brushing with her incisors, canines and molars, as the train went clickety-click, clickety-click.

There were only a few miles left now and she packed her things back, carefully.

She was now feeling good as she got off the train; it was so busy with people rushing around, but after all, it was Miami; she could almost see Crockett and Tubbs holding up their guns.

next episode

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Di of Pensitivity 101 – Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: TOOTH, MOLAR, INCISOR

Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge
Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: WRECK

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Getting Restless (Tales from the SSC&B)

September 18, 2024September 25, 2024 Chris Hall50 Comments

Cesar Done on Unsplash

previously

On the ground floor, where the Six-Sentence-Café-and-Bistro were busy getting things done, the red-headed writer, aka the Raconteuse, had been up in the flat roof were she was sitting writing – it was going pretty well, although she could do better; she needed more inspiration…

She had been really pleased with her new hairstyle, it had been cut and coloured again, not just the usual bright red, but also three foils on the front of her hair, which were almost white; she had another look in her tiny mirror, as she smiled happily, then she settled down to write again.

But then she heard something wonderful – she had raised her head and then stood up, and looked down, and then she laughed out loud; it was the Gatekeeper who was crouching next to Hūnga as they both howled together.

She picked up everything as she descended quickly, running down the fire exit to the bottom; she almost bumped into the tall, thin man, ‘gosh, sorry about that,’ she said, ‘well, it looks like almost all of us are here,’ – ‘shall we go together?’

They were back in the bar, sitting around the long table and chatting, it was lovely to see them, but now she needed something else and suddenly she thought; she had her big bag and and things stowed into it.

The Raconteuse decided to get into a taxi, then she will alight and then descend to find a train, but where she will go she’s not certain… yet.

next episode

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Di of Pensitivity 101 – Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: ALIGHT, DESCENT, RAISE (almost DESCEND)

Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge
Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: FOIL

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The Luggage

September 9, 2024 Chris Hall55 Comments

she’s moving again
how many times, she’s lost count
where will she go next?

the custom manager
threw the rest of her things out
‘good riddance,’ he shouted

her method is the same
she will find another place
it’s a tradition

a man’s there.

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Image credit: Bernhard @Unsplash

For the visually challenged reader, this image shows the view of a street where a stack of old luggage (suitcases) is piled one upon another, the lowest one resting on a wooden box. There’s a bicycle parked next to this pile, along a no parking sign.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #253 photo prompt.
Di’s Pensitivity101 – Monday’s Three Things Challenge: CUSTOM, TRADITION, METHOD

What do you see # 253- September 9, 2024

Three Things Challenge #M812

May Day

May 1, 2024May 9, 2024 Chris Hall55 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

previously

The ash and sulphur became so dense as the plane banked horribly and listed alarmingly – mayday, mayday – shouted the captain; at this point, the red-head writer, aka the Raconteuse, had so many thoughts but then she blacked out, which was just as well, since the plane lost power: it shuddered and quivered but it glided on the ice.

Just a few minutes later she’d recovered, she stared around, the plane was crippled and in a bad way, but it seemed that everyone was safe; and even better the volcano was silent again, just a few plumes of moulted rock and ash around.

The red-head writer realised that it would be a very long way to walk, but what else would she do; she decided that she would go alone and quickly – she was wearing all her warm clothes and she had a big bag – everything she needed.

She looked at her GPS, then set out.

She had been walking at least two hours, there was no ice now and it’s easier to walk, but suddenly the steep shale made her tumbled down, she had a long fall and stopped, she was rather shaken but soon recovered; now she saw a bank with deep water where the stream levels out – and here was the road.

A little later, she saw a huge car, she waved with her big bag, and it stopped; she smiled happily as she was whisked away by an excellent friend who drives too fast.

next episode

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Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

Di of Pensitivity 101 – Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: SHUDDER, SHAKE, QUIVER

Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge
Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: LEVEL

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The Jade Camel #21

June 15, 2022June 16, 2022 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

Three things challenge and Six sentence stories logos

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

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The Jade Camel #20

June 8, 2022June 17, 2022 Chris Hall62 Comments

Previously

‘I lost him!’ Gary panted through the side window of the van, ‘I followed him into the park but he jumped over the wall… I think he’s back in the house,’ his eyes slid to the building where Patterson and his cronies were waiting; one of their number had also just pitched up, red-cheeked from running.

A nerve in Patterson’s temple twitched as he took out his keys and strode over to his car; beckoning to two of his crew, he indicated the now-open boot: one retrieved a crow-bar and the other a stubby-handled axe.

‘They’re going in!’ Gary’s voice rose half an octave with anxiety as the front door began to splinter.

As the door gave way, Joey launched himself over the banister, kicking wildly, taking two of the intruders down as he swung to the floor; spinning away from the man who was wielding the axe and snatching the crow-bar from where it’d fallen; with a mighty roar, Joey raised the crow-bar, smashing it against bone and flesh, Patterson was the last to crumple.

Joey stumbled outside, allowing the crow-bar to clatter to the ground.

‘In here, mate!’ Gary beckoned from the open back door of the van.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: ANXIETY, CHEEK, NERVE
Denise Farley of Girlie On The Edge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: KEY

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

Click on the Café sign for more Six Sentence Stories

The Jade Camel #19

June 1, 2022June 8, 2022 Chris Hall78 Comments

Previously

Ignoring the repeated ringing of the doorbell in the flat above, Ceridwen was distracting her attention from the menacing figures standing in the front yard, concentrating on the progress of a wheelchair-bound man being chaperoned across the road by a white-clad nurse.

A new feeling of foreboding tugged at the edge of her consciousness, accompanied by a gentle tap-tap on her door; she pulled it open, Joey stood before her emitting the disquieting aura she’d sensed before: ‘How did you get in, Joey?’

‘Through the window by the back door you leave open for Cullen,’ her young neighbour looked about anxiously, ‘I just came to pick up some stuff.’

Ceridwen’s eyes followed his, ‘I take it those people outside are after whatever it is you have; not that it’s any of my business, but I should get rid of it if I were you.’

‘Look, here’s the plan,’ Joey’s eyes darted towards the stairs, ‘I’m in and out quickly, then I’ll ring the phone downstairs from the call-box up the road; you go and answer then tell the man outside it’s for him; I’ll talk to him, draw him off, like…’

Joey was interrupted by the sound of splintering wood.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: CHAPERONE, NURSE, WHEELCHAIR
Denise Farley of Girlie On The Edge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: EDGE

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

The Jade Camel #18

May 25, 2022June 1, 2022 Chris Hall51 Comments

Previously

Stealing a glance around a tatty blue van, Joey observed the man he knew as Patterson drawing on a cigarette and obviously awaiting his return; the man’s head turned to face him and Joey saw the hunger in his piercing blue-grey eyes for object he was carrying in the pocket of his parka.

With one nod from Patterson to his little crew of small squat men lurking in the driveway, the chase was on.

Joey spun around and sprinted back down the road; hearing a vehicle’s doors slamming behind him and a voice calling out his name, he ducked into the grounds of the nearest building.

In one fluid movement, he cleared the back boundary wall, landing heavily on the grass at the edge of Princes Park; he dove down the leafy corridor between the bushes, feeling like a fox with a pack of hounds at his heels threatening to devour him.

Joey was almost level with his own building; grabbing for the top of the wall, his feet fought for purchase on the shiny brick, then he swung himself over and stumbled towards the slightly open window.

Minutes later, Joey was knocking softly on the door to Ceridwen’s flat.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: DEVOUR, HUNGER, STEAL
Denise Farley of Girlie On The Edge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: FLUID

Three things challenge and Six Sentence Story logos

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

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The Jade Camel #17

May 18, 2022May 25, 2022 Chris Hall82 Comments

Previously

Gary paced the floor in front of his girlfriend, Gina, struggling to regain his composure after speaking to Joey – the moment the interview had ended he’d grabbed his jacket and sprinted back to their flat, ‘I have to get the camel off Joey!’

‘Aye, aye, what’s the shouting about?’ Bob entered the sitting room breathing heavily, having taken the stairs two at a time, followed by Fingers, his pet monkey, ‘we only took a little detour to fetch that paper for me Nan.’

‘Bob, mate, I need your help… it’s about the camel,’ Gary grabbed his friend’s arm, ‘we have to hurry!’

A moment later, Gary and Gina piled into Bob’s van, ‘assuming we get the camel back, we need to make a plan to get rid of it, we can’t dump something like that in the trash,’ she shouted, gripping an agitated Fingers as they sped off.

Bob pulled in behind a large midnight-blue car; the man who was leaning against its glossy bonnet calmly lit a cigarette with an elegant silver lighter and turned towards them, a malevolent glint in his blue-grey eyes.

‘One thing at a time,’ said Bob, ‘we have to get past him first.’

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: DUMP, TRASH, REGAIN
Denise Farley of Girlie On The Edge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: DETOUR

More #SixSentenceStories here!

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

The Jade Camel #16

May 11, 2022May 18, 2022 Chris Hall61 Comments

Previously

Ceridwen gazed out of the open window watching the pink May blossom float like confetti over the path outside her flat and inhaling the yeasty smell from Cain’s Brewery, which was carried on the same soft breeze; Cullen, purring on her lap, stretched out his front paws, kneaded her thigh for a moment, then curled up again, his purr drifting to silence, only to be replaced by a louder, throatier purr as a sleek, midnight-blue Silver Shadow glided to a halt outside; a vehicle which was definitely out of place in the neighbourhood.

The driver’s door opened and an immaculately dressed silver-haired man got out, carefully adjusting his white shirt cuffs a precise half-inch beyond his grey-wool sleeves as he watched four strange squat little men descend from the car.

Ceridwen craned forward and Cullen sprung from her lap, jumping onto the window sill to observe the scene below.

As the four little men gathered around him, the silver-haired man stared upwards, his gaze meeting Ceridwen’s; Cullen’s tail began to twitch.

The first of the strange little men advanced to the front door and applied a doughy finger to the bell labelled five.

A low growl stirred in Cullen’s throat.

next episode

Written in response to two challenges:

Di of Pensitivity 101’s Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: DOUGH, KNEAD, YEAST
Denise Farley of Girlie On The Edge’s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: CONFETTI

Join us at the #SixSentenceCafeAndBistro for more stories