Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
The Six Sentence Story is a bloghop, hosted by Denise, that invites all inclined to writing to fashion and otherwise create a story utilizing the week’s prompt word. The length of said story is to be exactly… Six Sentences!
This week, as fans will infer from the photo above, is a ‘Missing Starr’ story.
This week’s prompt word:
PAD
“The first time I saw a Superman comic book, I must have been all of nine, I laughed at my friend Susan’s brother, ‘They don’t recognize him because he’s wearing glasses?’
Sister Margaret Ryan looked up from the checkout counter full of groceries and grinned, “So, working in a supermarket on the Delmarva Peninsula is, like, some kind of Heiress Outward Bound Adventure?”
The tall young woman, Brunello Cucinelli t-shirt under a bright-green smock, stood out from the other two cashiers like a Ferrari in the dirt parking lot of a country flea market, “Yeah. something like that”, she paused and, leaning over the counter, said, “I need you to decrypt something for me, a thumb drive, I’ll be leaving it in a storage locker.”
Margaret put her hands into the black folds of her habit, “Hold on, let me get the note pad Sister Cletus makes me use for the convent’s grocery list.”
Starr arched a perfect eyebrow, “Said the girl who hacked into the IRS, using her phone, in the middle of an interview with Radcliffe’s Dean of Admissions?”
Seeing the young novitiate’s expression, she responded to the unspoken invitation, “No thanks, following you back to your new life wouldn’t be such as good idea; I’m kinda on the run from people you really don’t want showing up on your doorstep.”
About clarkscottroger
She could have used the notepad feature on her iphone.
aha! I believe I need to introduce you to one, Sister Cletus! lol Part of Margaret Ryan’s genius is to allow herself to become part of the milieu she has, in self-defense, immersed herself in. (While this scene is an interlude in ‘The Case of the Missing Starr’, Sister Margaret Ryan is the protagonist in a couple of WIPs… written in what I chose to call, nun noir.
ah! here is a passage from the Sister Margaret WIP ‘Home and Heart’ that might serve to introduce Sister Cletus:
One Sunday evening in mid-July, while clearing the dinner table, Sister Imelda, a young novitiate from the convent in suburban Chicago, asked Sister Margaret why she left Radcliffe only three semesters from graduation.
Sister Margaret was taken aback at the question. Her background and life prior to standing on the doorsteps of St. Dominique’s with only a single suitcase, was not something she shared with strangers from outside the convent. She was spared having to respond by Sister Cletus. The old nun, standing at the sink, washing dishes, managed to capture the young Sister Imelda by nothing more than the tone of her voice and the reflection of her very intense eyes in the window over the sink. She said in a quiet, patient voice, “Most of us are here in the Order because we seek a better life. Some of us view this as an extension of childhood, a natural and eagerly taken next step in life. Others have had to fight to get here. And, a very small number of women here among us, are required to pay a price for membership that you can barely imagine, much less be willing to pay. The Order cherishes all and is grateful for some.”
“So, working in a supermarket on the Delmarva Peninsula is, like, some kind of Heiress Outward Bound Adventure?”
Great line and also funny!
Thank you, Pat.
It’s so noir, habit forming noir. That nun character is a good one, I enjoy her.
Thanks. She (Margaret Ryan, novitiate at St. Dominique’s convent in Crissfield MD) is one of my favorite characters. As I mention to Dyanne, she is of another WIP, but the fun of interweaving story worlds… is impossible to resist.
The mysterious power of the obvious is stunning.
Thanks, Lisa!
The last line appealed to me the most.
Cool. The line refers to the ‘bad guys’ who are alluded to in the latest chapter of my serial story, ‘The Case of the Missing Starr’ (link here). There is something interweaving between stories in this week’s Six. Total fun to have existing characters find and develop existing (if not under-appreciated) relationships. The serial is also on the Facebook.
I am a sucker for a good nun story – thank you.
Darkness, Nuns, Pink Floyd, you’ve made my day! Good one.
“stood out from the other two cashiers like a Ferrari in the dirt parking lot of a country flea market,”
Excellent.
I love the Sr. Margaret stories and the crossover you do with the Case of the Missing Starr is way fun! And I love that these 2 characters are so kick ass cool. :D
Yes, indeed, i like how your worlds are colliding.
(smile emojoi-thing here)