Comic fantasy author.  Mostly.
JAMIE BRINDLE
  • Free books!
  • Bibliography
  • Short stories and Flash Fiction
  • Storystream Quest
  • Interviews and Short Stories
  • About
  • Contact
  • BlackJack_from Flyer
  • Sherlock Puzzle

Refuge

17/7/2022

1 Comment

 
Picture
Art by ShadowSantos, who you can find on Fiverr.
“But you’re a solider,” protested Anne, a mock-serious frown on her pretty face.  “Surely, you have to fight the enemy.  It’s rather in the job description.”
Captain Bleck chuckled, his broad chest shaking within the tight confines of his dress uniform.
“That’s what we want you women to believe,” he replied, a teasing edge just audible in his voice. “But don’t you think it for a moment.  Why, in Burma, in ‘62…”
The party had overflown the ballroom.  Couples strolled along the twilight paths, keeping discrete distances from one another.  The night had reached that familiar stage of mild inebriation when the taut edges were beginning to wear off formal manners.  Lucy knew this moment well.  It was the part she always dreaded - the part her sisters all seemed to like so much - and she wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to avoid all the depressingly eligible young men.
“Oh, you military men are all the same,” protested Anne, and Lucy stifled a yawn, because she had heard her sister use that phrase at least three times tonight already - to three different (but equally beastly-looking) men.  There was so much conceit there it made her want to scream; but the men seemed to like it well enough.
Lucy wanted to leave her discrete little seat in the gazebo - she was quite sure that horrid little man from the Admiralty had spotted her - could feel him looming up behind - but when she got up to go, she saw it was a stranger.
“Oh,” said Lucy, the barbed remark dying on her lips as she realised she has no idea who this man was at all.
He was an odd fellow - thin, and jagged, somehow, though not unpleasant-looking.  He looked very out of place amongst the well-to-do of society, and Lucy was suddenly struck by the thought that she would much rather spend time with this stranger than with any of the many people here whom she had known most her life.
“Oh,” replied the man, blinking at her with large , watery eyes, then gazing off into the murk as if there was something far more exciting there than the dimly-visible form of the creeping wisteria.
“Who are you?” Asked Lucy, half-hating herself for being interested enough to ask.  She made a point of never, ever, asking anyone anything at one of mother’s dreadful parties.
The angular man waved a hand vaguely in the air.
“No-one important,” he muttered, pleasantly enough, not coming close to meeting her eye.​..


Read More
1 Comment

    Short Stories/flash fictions

    Sign up to my newsletter to get notifications of new stories - I post them regularly and they are free!

    If you find one you really like, why not consider picking up a limited edition NFT?  Check out my showcase on Cargo.  My books are also available as ebook and some in print, which make good gifts!

    Archives

    August 2024
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021

    Categories

    All
    Caper
    Cosmic
    Crime
    Dark
    Fantasy
    Fantasy News
    Flash Fiction
    Haunting
    Horror
    Humorous
    Metafiction
    Poem
    Science Fiction
    Short Story
    Storystream Quest
    Strange

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.