Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is a post for the Six Sentence Story bloghop, hosted by Denise and participated in by many a writer.
Rules are simplest: Prompt word (plus) six sentences (equals) story. (Secret Rule 7.4 reminds us to: Read and comment on as many of the other Sixes as you can. Speaking only for myself, one-third of the reason for my participation is to get the response from ‘real’ readers. Even better, getting a response from a peer. Ya know?)
Hey! This may, (or may not), be the first of any number of scenes from our newest serial story, ‘the Hobbomock Chronicles‘. (God knows if I can keep track anymore. I may have written a six about this very house sometime in the last few years. In any event, given that the new serial is comprised of three inter-twining narratives (based in current day, 1965 and 1665), good luck finding the source Six. lol)
In any event, what follows is from the core story, which begins with a real estate broker being transported, (by unknown agencies), from Present Day to 1965. He is very much working to remain calm in the face of traumatic change. (If you follow the link to the serial and enjoy what you read, be sure to click on ‘Follow’ and you’ll receive each weekly installment automatically.
This week’s prompt word:
Vacation
“If you’re sure you’re alright, lets join the others,” Allyson pushed open the butler’s door just enough to flood the kitchen with the sounds of a house full of people gathered for no other reason than it was a warm August day; the wind off the ocean was light and the sky was a summer-washed blue.
Reminding himself that being addressed as ‘Michael’, by an attractive young woman, wasn’t the worst thing to happen since re-gaining consciousness on the cellar floor, at least that could be the other person’s mistake; no explanation whatsoever could account for the fact that he occupied the body of a man one-third his age.
The real estate broker’s smile of confident reassurance stuttered, as the calendar on the wall acquired the irresistible gravity of a spontaneous black hole; the top consisted of a photo of a twelve meter yacht, however, the lower-half demanded his attention like a barber with a straight-edge razor: 1965 in solid block letters daring him to deny it.
Allyson was halfway through the doorway, her attention on the people in the living room; like the survivor of a tornado strike stepping from the pile of rubble that was supposed to be his home, ‘Michael’ took her hand, allowing her to pull him further into a world he could not explain.
The living room consisted of both the familiar and things that shouldn’t be: banks of cigarette smoke eddied like a fog over coffee tables full of highball glasses and overflowing ashtrays; men with razor-cut hair, pressed chinos, and boat shoes without socks, stood in half-moon groups in front of women sitting on wicker couches, dresses as delicate and distinctive as the salt-and-iodine scent of the ocean; greetings, like leis, were casually tossed in their direction, “How’s the vacation been so far?”, “Allyson, what do you think of the new hospital?”
The real estate broker’s confidence gave way, pre-human reflex squeezed the hand he still held; despite the promises of childhood, his guardian angel was as real as the Wind Song that whispered behind her ear and the sunburn-pressure of her fingers on his forearm, it was the world around him that was as unreal.
music
About clarkscottroger
Your Six would surely grab my attention if I had not already been reading the serial thus far :)
I was totally “in the scene” here. Love your style of descriptive writing.
Looking forward to the next episode in the Hobbomock Chronicles!
Due out this weekend! Maybe even Saturday
Thanks!
“…the sky was a summer washed blue…” so good. Also, I partied with Rush one night in a hotel in Columbus, Ohio in the mid 70s. I don’t remember much…wonder why ? good six.
thanks, man. No, way!* I’m totally jealous.
*god only knows, but this scene popped into my head:
Delightful Six. Sometimes it is best to let go of reality and enjoy the journey.
Excellent six! Your descriptions always draw me in.
thank you, Lisa
Oh my, you just never know where you’ll end up over here. A fun and engaging Six here on its own, but man, I can’t imagine keeping track of all this! One of these days I’m going to have to start at the beginning.
lol this is true.
The keeping track isn’t the challenge, is the getting into a ‘so-what?-I-think-what-happens-next-is… mood so I can get the characters busy being characters, ya know?
But, that said, technically* keeping the narrative in three widely separated eras coherent while I write and hope for interesting interconnections. The 1665 era is the tough one for ‘credibility’. I lived through the sixties, so I’m good there. Not being a roger makes learning about life in Rhode Island in the 1660s both fascinating and frustrating… only in the last week have a found a resource for language and that is primarily for Algonquin (which Narragansetts are relate to/part/descended from)… Not that I need to become an expert in life in the pre-colonial period (which, btw estimates range from 10 to 30,000 years (can I get a ‘?!?!’) yes ma’am totally ‘way before the persecuted religious sects found a New World and peoples to persecute for themselves (ahh the cycle of abuse!).
I’m just at the point where I have some names that sound reasonably native and a hint at life at the time (separate summer and winter camps/communities. one at the shore for the summer, inland for the winter).
The history of the settlers is what we’ve all come to expect: “I like what you have, give it to me. Better yet, give it to me and leave.”
But! I get to spend time in a small New England (read ‘Rhode Island’) coastal town, that should be fun.
*and not just good-writing ‘technical’
Things were already a mess by 1665. An engaging and informative read is Nat Philbrick’s Mayflower and the notes and bibliography will give you more leads. Children’s books and picture books, believe it or not, can be a good resource and a quick read. Hit the library. One of the casinos,I think it was over the border in CT, is it Foxwoods, or Mohegan Sun, has a Pequot museum that is worth the trip.
Good luck!