Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
It is hosted by Denise.
It’s easy as pie and trickier than threading a needle wearing boxing gloves while standing in a cold shower.
But you should write a Six and link it up. Its fun! And a big part of the fun is reading how the others have worked the week’s prompt word into their stories. And we trade comments and such.
If the name ‘Ian Devereaux’ doesn’t turn on a clackety movie projector in your head, you need to check the backstory on this week’s Six. The Case of the Missing Fig Leaf (an Ian Devereaux mystery) will bring you up to date.
Warning: adult language and a risk of ear worm from music vid.
This week’s prompt word:
BEND
My office was quieter than a foreclosed church, as I sat at my cigarette-and-tear-stained desk, in the middle of a featureless Thursday morning, pretending to work; I suspected I was avoiding something, but my detective skills were insufficient to drag it out into the light.
Hazel, my admin, had the day off, something about a conference with the school principal about her son, Seth’s truant streak, I offered to go with her, for moral support or as an intimidation resource, then remembered he attended Our Lady of Intercession and, instead, offered her the loan of my gun; she smiled and accepted the day-with-pay; I figured I got off cheap.
My email were shouting silently from the inside of my computer screen on one side and Leanne’s case folder on the other, I considered heading down to the Bottom of the Sea Strip Club and Lounge now, rather than wait the two hours until lunchtime; this prompted a replay of a conversation with the owner, Lou Ceasare, “Yeah, I tried once to, you know, add some class to the joint, do a brunch for the weekend crowd, fuckin reglars drank the fuckin Sterno out from under the chafing dishes, had to bend a couple of… things, to get them to stop,” his laughter, guarded by an expression as lethal as the Sterno, allowed me to know what a Great White shark would sound like, laughing.
Dr. Thunberg, of Radcliffe and my close friend, was being a good client, leaving me pretty much alone in the process of locating her missing ex-husband Elias; her weekly Status of Search questionnaire was low-key formal and it wasn’t in a Pass/Fail format.
In a moment of inexcusable over-confidence, I decided to check my email and then get to looking for missing husbands, big mistake; the first email was from Haley and my smile dissolved at the subject line: Notice of Final Decree; my mind rallied with practiced desperation, this was the best thing for both of us because she was a full partner at her law firm and I was busy with my private detection.
Muttering like a thorazine-addled heckler, the voice in my head reminded me that, if only I could remember one thing I missed, when we were married, maybe I wouldn’t have to drive home every night to an empty house that had somehow become too small for the two of us and, yet, now, intolerably large for one.
About clarkscottroger
Excellent! Intro and Six. Totally enjoyable ride :D
Fast pace, chock full and hey, who doesn’t have a soft spot for Lou, lol
Thanks!
I haven’t read the backstory, but I like this story, which sounds like a scene in a drama.
the backstory (click on title, in the intro portion of my post) comprises an on-going story, a short-form serial, to harken back to olden days. it is a detective story (the detective, Ian Devereaux, is the 1st person protagonist in this week’s Six) and I will be continuing it on a every-other-week basis.
so, you are correct (and thank you) it is a scene from a drama of sorts
Divorce, for any reason, makes me sad for lots of reasons. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to check email.
Excellent story.
true, Ian seems to be mostly accepting of the unfortunate dissolution of his marriage, which is, of course, detailed more fully in ‘the Case of the Missing Starr‘
Another excellent performance, shark laughter must be sharp!
Thank you, Lisa.
(Lou Ceasare is one of those characters that readers enjoy and are fun to write for. You can encounter Lou in greater depth in ‘the Case of the Missing Starr’ which is the first in the series of serials (lol) about the adventures of Ian Devereaux.)
I enjoyed spending time with the Scotian owner of the club – Lou.
yeah, right? Who does’t enjoy Lou?
Great again. Your Bogie obsession is akin to my Liz Obsession.
thanks, man. The thing about Bogie, serves as a reminder to reach for a certain kind of cool. All imaginary, the product of very gifted writers, but, for whatever reason, that pulp-noir is something I find easier to get into, like music, back in the day. played guitar and blues was the style that spoke the loudest.
What a ride, like playing jazz on a *70s Zildjian Ping with a **bunch of musicians you don’t know but are proud to call them your friends.
You made every character stand proud and tall and yelling out for recognition in this entertaining six, plus bags of crackling, bittersweet wit. Then bam! That ending, but taken in a stride like you know he’s somehow gonna get thru it (or at least I suspect he will).
And in that last sentence, you even made the house a character.
Top six, mec!
*best damn cymbal I ever played
**too many to name here
Thanks, V
Funny thing about genres, or at least how I’m currently coming to relate to them, some are more better to write than others. I was saying as much up there in reply to Paul’s comment, the whole 1940’s pulp noir vibe just seems to make sense. lol
…course, I still have that little problem of serial writing, aka seat-of-the-pants, so I don’t have a clue where the story is going, but, as we’ve discussed before, once the characters start to come to life, half the hard part is over… just a matter of hoping they tell me what happens in time to write it.
Wow. Jam packed. That last paragraph, so telling, so poignant. Well done Sirs.
Thank you, Miz Avery