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Six Sentence Story -the Wakefield Doctrine-

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.

Hosted by Denise

Only requirement is to make the story complete in Six (and only six) sentences.

This is a ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf’ week. So, what say we see what our dauntless detective, Ian Devereaux, is up to?

Our prompt word is

HOME

‘The People of the Abyss’ tucked under my arm, the bookstore receipt, a resolute, if not insecure, sentry drafted into service as bookmark, I walked down Commercial Street, the brick and masonry buildings that lined the street, once dominating the world with their four and five story height, now quaint, except for the graffiti that mocked their classic Victorian lines, colorful invader flags caught mid-wave.

I’d given up any hope of affecting a causal stroll and settled for a business-like walk, my target was Thrawl Street, highlighted in the google map sent by my ‘resource’ in Chicago; somehow I doubted that Henry Stanley would be as famous if his charts of the African jungle included a big ‘X’ marked ‘Historical footnote here’.

“Could show you around the ‘chapel, I could, nobody knows Spitalfields as good as your’s truly,” with a slight bow, a young man stepped out from a doorway labeled as property of ‘MONGOLZ’, though given the retro-psychedelic font, I wouldn’t swear it didn’t say ‘Mono Golf’, which would make about as much sense.

“I’ll double your rate for the location of certain Victorian-era site,” the confidence in his smile was dimmed by a flicker of calculation in his eyes, it was very much the look new inmates get from the lifers on their first day in prison; “What do you know about the location of a soup kitchen somewhere around here that was a front for the Order of Lilith?”

That he was alarmed at my mention of the Order told me nearly enough about what I was getting into, but given I liked my client and was too afraid of Anya Claireaux, all I could do was let him lead me down a series of increasingly dark-narrow streets, finally stopping at a storefront with windows like parchment paper, on either side of a single, un-marked entrance.

Opening the door like he lived there and, without bothering to look to see if I followed, my guide disappeared into the interior with a haste that spoke more of fear than dismissal; the way a dog, resigned to the visit to the vet, pulls on the leash to get in the door, the better to confront the threat and return home.

 

 

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clarkscottroger About clarkscottroger
Well, what exactly do you want to know? Whether I am a clark or a scott or roger? If you have to ask, then you need to keep reading the Posts for two reasons: a)to get a clear enough understanding to be able to make the determination of which type I am and 2) to realize that by definition I am all three.* *which is true for you as well, all three...but mostly one

Comments

  1. Frank Hubeny says:

    I like how the Order used a soup kitchen as a front, the fear of the guide when the Order was mentioned, and those “increasingly dark-narrow streets”.

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      Thanks, Frank..that part of London, especially with images from Victorian times are really vivid and quite suggestive.

  2. The bookstore receipt an often used substitute for a bookmark. Been there, plus train and plane tickets. Like how the once grand Victorian buildings are reduced to quaintness in these time, then further reduced by street tags. The idignity!
    Lol at ‘Mono Golf’ – could be a thing if one enjoyed playing just one hole and against one self?
    I like how the guide was instantly alarmed at the mention of the Order. Yikes.
    Nice Six, sir!
    Yours, Ford / V – (on a hiatus from TVTA)

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      Thanks, Ford
      The real challenge, going forward, is how much the story lines intersect and, hopefully, reinforce each other… the Order of Lilith will be a constant, of course… not sure how Jack (the Ripper) figures into this… the fun of real time serial writing
      The offer still stands… if you’re ever in the mood for a ‘walk on’, lemme know.

      • Well, that’s going to be the real fun challenge I reckon – inserting such a figure as him into your timeline. Glad the Order of Lilith will be a constant – it’s my favourite of the two.
        So, this ‘walk on’ – how does it work?

        • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

          very much like musical improvisation (aka jamming)… find a figure/feature/bystander/or opportunity for your character to enter the narrative (half the fun and most of the skill (in music and serials) is to make the walk-on seem totally natural, at home, and as possible… it can be a single event or a narrative branch…as long as its fun for a) the writer and 2) the Readers

        • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

          (follow-up to previous reply, re: walk ons). Remembering having done one (here in the Six Sentence Story, a number of years ago)… If you pick the serial (Whitechapel or Fig Leaf) I’ll send you a draft of my own Six at whatever interval prior to you’d like… that way, I can use my Six space judiciously, i.e. a broader brush on the scene than I might otherwise…and with the set up you should have plenty of opportunities available (you know, ‘Key of G slow blues anywhere after the first two verses…)
          looking forward to it*

          *the whole of Whitechapel is a ‘walk-on… from something Len wrote, god, it’s got to be two, three years now

          • Man, let’s do this! Let’s jam. The Whitechapel would be a good place to start I reckon. D’s prompt word for next week is ‘walk’ so what better time to do a ‘walk on’?
            If not, we can delay for another prompt word suitable for Whitechapel – I already have ideas buzzing around me noggin 😎😊

  3. phyllis0711 says:

    I especially liked the dog going to the Vet reference.
    And I am always a fan of Jethro Tull.
    Thank you for a wonderful six that allows the imagination to wonder.

  4. Excellent six! Setting an intriguing mood and bringing the reader to the ‘door’. (I expected a shove from behind.)

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      Thanks, Susan (I suspect if anyone pushes Ian, it’ll be Anya… she’s probably scarier than the Order)

  5. Pat Brockett says:

    You really pulled us into that building, and I was feeling resistance just like the dog. Then I listened to the music, and now think I should have been listening to the music as I read this SSS! Perfect selection for your contribution this week.

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      Thanks, Pat… I try to find music that, even if not directly related to the subject or the action, reinforces and/or enhances the reading experience. No, you don’t want to explore the full implications of that notion

  6. Every chapter brings up more questions than it answers.

  7. UP says:

    Excellent!!! You really know how to pull us in.

  8. I agree with Pat. Softly playing in the background, Bourée is a lovely compliment to your Six.. a warm crumpet to a cup of tea.
    Enjoyed the walk to the storefront. Now what??!

  9. So loved the Jethro Tull track … What’s next?

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      well, this week, we’re back to Victorian London and the next installment of ‘the Whitechapel Interlude’ and, our friend, Mr. Prefect* will be doing a ‘walk on’

      *yes, nickname-in-training borrowed from ‘…Guide to the Galaxy’ lol

  10. The tone, man, the tone… trepidation and resolve all there together, combining to leave us once again in suspense. And thank you for the Jethro Tull, it was a good match for this episode.

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      Agree on the music… providing a combination of the contemporary and the Victorian sensibility, it does, doesn’t it?*

      You know the expression relating to painting oneself into a corner?
      This approaching juxtaposition of storylines of ‘the Whitechapel Interlude’ and ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf’ should have me more worried than I am… at present.
      So, it’s like that aforementioned painting, except, in reverse… painting oneself out of a center lol

      * Liking the efforts at … an approximation of dialect… funny, it’s harder to get the effect in writing than it sounds like in the head.

Trackbacks

  1. […] note: The Calling of Molly Jane Hardy is set in the universe of The Whitechapel Interlude by Clark Farley. Many thanks to Clark for inviting me to write this walk on part. Wilton’s […]

  2. […] note: The Calling of Molly Jane Hardy is set in the universe of The Whitechapel Interlude by Clark Farley. Many thanks to Clark for inviting me to write this walk on part. Wilton’s […]