Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted by Denise.
Governed by the Rule of Six.
This week’s prompt word:
GUIDE
“Say what, now?”
“You will need everyone of the four people I put on the plane with you,” the volume of Anya Claireaux’s voice spiked to a value such that she might as well been standing in the aisle of the G750 as we taxi’d up to the terminal in Frankfort; for God knows what reason, I did a half-wave and a quarter-smile as four heads rotated towards me like an anime remake of the Exorcist.
“For what I’m paying you, I must say I’m beginning to feel a bit underwhelmed,” the ghost of a smile on the woman from Chicago’s face, beaming up from my phone, was the only vote in my head against throwing the phone down and walking off the plane.
“But, you’re not paying me, my client Leanne is,” for some reason, I put my hand over the phone as I walked past the pilot standing at the door; his expression was the institutional sympathy encountered when the door to the dentist’s office we’re entering is held open by someone leaving; I ignored him and stepped off the private jet into the gangway, the sound of countless travelers at the far end growing like a river rushing past a cave.
“Ian, Ian, Ian what could possibly make you so ungrateful,” Anya’s voice resonated with echoes from the Early Flirtatious Period from every boy’s life, when what we believed about the suddenly-fascinating girl was chiseled in adolescent granite; crossing the cavern of the main terminal, the two Interpol agents and Lacy Whitelaw and friend following me like year-old pilot fish.
“Ach du lieber! Ian, mein freund, it is good that you return,” Detective Captain Anton Rilke, every bit an understudy for John Banner on the set of the old TV show, Hogan’s Hero’s, held his arms out, threatening a hug; my phone, now an inert rectangle of LCDs and plastic; clearly I’d been successfully guided to where everyone wanted me.
About clarkscottroger
Love it. And the added plus of Steely Dan
Thanks, Paul
(and surely one of their best albums)
‘Early Flirtatious Period’ 😆 – and now I’m lost in music! Good one, Clark.
thanks, Chris
I’m hooked by this sentence – “You will need everyone of the four people I put on the plane with you,”
Yeah, I got a kick out of them (words) as well.
Love the sentence about the Early Flirtatious Period and the beliefs about the girl ‘chiseled in adolescent granite’. Took me right back. Girls had much the same views of boys!
thanks, J. This writing thing is fun, no?
It sounds like they expected Ian to leave the plane since he was now where everyone wanted him. It makes me wonder what the master plan is. Nice phrase: “For what I’m paying you, I must say I’m beginning to feel a bit underwhelmed,”
Ah, he’s in for it now, isn’t he.
I believe so
“clearly I’d been successfully guided to where everyone wanted me.”, that following Reena’s sentence about needing the four people makes it seem as if our intrepid narrator is dealing with destiny, and that the wheels are in motion.
man, I hope they tell me before the last minute this time!
(this was a not-a-clue-right-up-to-Thursday-morning) week… I tried to dream it the night before (which, for the record, has worked in the past) but when it doesn’t work… you ever wonder what several hours of scrap-paper-story-ideas and day-dreaming at night feels like?
lol you do not want to know
“..his expression was the institutional sympathy encountered when the door to the dentist’s office we’re entering is held open by someone leaving;”
Could it be Ian knows he’s knee deep in you know what? lol
that is a reasonable assertion
An intriguing tale, skillfully told plus an outstanding track. Nice one.
Thanks, Keith
Add me to the list of “EFP” admirers.
The anime Exorcist image works a treat, and the line: “You will need everyone of the four people I put on the plane with you,” just boils with intrigue and power at play.
(Don’t tell anyone, but, along with Lou, Anya is among my top three favorite characters)