Wednesday's Words on a Friday


The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles.

The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along and read it.

This month the words are supplied by me and can be found right here.

This week's words are:

1. pitiless
2. circumstance
3. coffee
4. black
5. shimmer
6. bottles

and/or:

1. reminded
2. sluice
3. blazing
4. fragment
5. routine
6. compartment

Here is my story:


The pitiless glare Bruce levelled at Andrea had her cringing back into the corner of the sofa. She managed to stammer, “I didn’t know he was in town. How could I possibly have known?”

“So you’d have me believe this is circumstance? You haven’t been communicating with any of the old crowd at all?”

“No,” Andrea whined. “Not even once. But I don’t think he noticed me, he was with another officer, a woman who went into Curly Cuts as I was coming out. I turned away the second I saw him, probably he didn’t even see me, but I was all jittery by then and just had a few drinks to calm down.”

“A few?” yelled Bruce. “You got back here all glassy-eyed and staggering. How you managed the car I’ll never know!”

A blazing argument erupted over who should have done what and how it wasn’t fair for Bruce to expect her to suddenly be friends with people she’d been avoiding for the last few years. “I never wanted to leave the city in the first place,” she shouted. “This is all your fault anyway, this hare-brained scheme between you and what’s his name! All over a bit of ground with a little Bed and Breakfast shed on it!”

Bruce barely controlled himself, stating “that bit of ground is sitting on top of a seam of rare copper coloured granite. It’s worth billions if it can be mined and I want my share!” He immediately regretted telling Andrea so much, she hadn’t known about the granite, only that the land was worth quite a bit to a certain developer who had paid Bruce a fat advance to get those Retreat people to sell to him. He turned away, saying he would make a pot of  coffee and suggested Andrea wash the tear-stained make-up off her face.

“We’ll talk more when you’ve settled down,” he said. “You can tell me if you learned anything in that Hairdresser place. Right now I’m going to make us that pot of coffee.” 
Walking into the kitchen, he glanced at several tiny bottles on the window ledge, each holding a shimmering fragment of copper granite. They reminded him of why they were here, and how everything seemed to be against him lately. People turning up to stay at the Retreat, Detective Stanley Grace turning up out of the blue and Stephanie…well, Stephanie presented a whole new slew of problems now. Bruce’s mission had been to somehow get the owner to sell him The Scenic Retreat and the land, then there could have been a convenient accident with her and that Saunders couple. They were old, a nice kitchen fire or something similar would have done the job.

Bruce poured himself a cup of black coffee, then one for Andrea, adding plenty of sugar to hers, just as she liked it, thankful the sweetness would hide the taste of the sedative he also dropped in there. He hid the rest of the sedatives in a secret compartment at the back of a drawer and carried the coffees into the living room where Andrea sat slumped in a wing chair, staring vacantly at the fireplace, her tired face now cleaned of make-up. He decided any discussion could wait until tomorrow. His plans for a new routine for Stephanie’s medications, he had to make sure her mind remained clouded even through possible sleepovers at The Retreat. He wondered if he should mention that Stephanie had begun to talk again and seemed to be remembering things.


Comments

  1. Well done. I could never put together a story with required words. I was wondering how you might use sluice...don't blame you for not choosing that one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. joeh; thank you, this is just one more chapter of something I began years ago. I have something in mind for sluice and it will turn up when I need it.

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  2. Can't wait to see where this eventually ends up.

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    Replies
    1. only slightly confused; this has a long, long way to go. It's chapter 17 of the Lost and Found story I began a couple of years ago.

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  3. I would certainly like to know what this is all about...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grace; if you have the time and inclination, all the lead-ups are scattered throughout the archives here. All on Fridays, but so is every other story...

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  4. Oh, what a tangled web we weave! I'm pretty sure Bruce's plan will not turn out as...um...as he planned!

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    Replies
    1. Val; Bruce's plan is quite devious, but things are happening that he hadn't counted on, so it will not end well for him.

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  5. Oh my. I am glad that your words took us back to this story. And am anxiously waiting for more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elephant's Child; I knew you would recognise the characters :)
      I'm hoping to take it further, but there's a lot more thinking involved than I'm used to, so it will be slow going. I think it is already almost three years old.

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  6. Replies
    1. fishducky; me too! lots more, but it will take time.

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  7. Bruce sure is a sneaky beast. I'm hoping for karma.

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    Replies
    1. Arkansas Patti; karma takes too long. Bruce will come undone a bit faster.

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  8. I hope Bruce picked up the wrong coffee by mistake! That'll teach him!!

    You're on a roll, River...well done. :)

    I left a site for you to look at on your previous post....re Lola. I hope she's okay.

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    Replies
    1. Lee; Bruce would never pick up the wrong coffee, but other things happen later on that see him get what he deserves. I'll check that site a bit later. Lola will be fine, she has an appointment for Tuesday morning, and is well otherwise.

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  9. Bruce needs a comeuppance, and i hope he gets it.

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    Replies
    1. messymimi; Bruce definitely needs something and there is something in the works, I just need to work out the details. Right after I map out the story.

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  10. oh my. I'm on the edge of my chair now! Here is mine: the lake

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    Replies
    1. Cindi; please don't fall off your chair :) I'll pop over and read yours in a minute.

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  11. Nobody sees her black heart shimmer
    Blazing away while the light grows dimmer
    Pitiless are the fragments of what used to be
    Stored in a compartment for none to see.

    Nobody sees what can’t be done
    Yet playing the game is always fun
    Cries become laughter in just awhile
    Cries turned happy are called a smile.

    Reminded to quickly sluice her face
    While the colorful bottles marched in place
    Coffee mug music makes them sway and dance
    No longer is this just routine circumstance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mildred Ratched; this is fabulous! and what a great way to use "sluice". I should have thought of that :( oh well.

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  12. Curly cuts is hair dress place.
    Coffee is on

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    Replies
    1. peppylady (Dora); yes, Curly Cuts is the hairdresser place in the small town where this story is set. But it is all fiction, even the town.

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  13. Ah HA! A return to an old story! Well done. Good use of the words, and a good job keeping the story going. :)

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    Replies
    1. Susan; thank you. I'm glad to be able to add a chapter, but it's turning out harder than I thought. I'm not sure it will ever get finished, I have to find a way to tie a few odd characters together. Bernice is a key there.

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