Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop (or, at least, our contribution to that weekly event)
It is. hosted by Denise.
The prompt word:
CHARM
“Loathe as I am to make this request, I need you to get a haircut and visit our friends at Henry Poole & Co., there are matters afoot and forces in play that, unfortunately for you, require skills you willingly surrendered in exchange for your life here in the Order,” the woman sitting behind the plain oak desk began to speak the moment the man crossed the room.
The uncut hair and loose-fitting robe, standard dress in the Order, was favored by Brother Abbott, not the least for the effect of hiding most of his physical qualities and nearly all of his other strengths; it was not uncommon for a passerby to mistake him for a devout, pious and thoroughly innocuous member of a sect, the name of which seemed always just beyond quick recall, of course, the Mother Superior of the London chapter was very much not a stranger.
Brother Abbott felt the fabric of his robe whisper downwards as a deeply buried group of muscles awakened while another set relaxed; had there been an observer, one possessed of hearing sufficiently acute, they would have heard a sigh, of resignation not exhaustion.
“If, before I leave you and surrender this version of myself to tailors and barbers and footmen, allow me to retort: ‘Ephesians 4:22-24 ‘I am the person I have always been, in potential and in actuality, I only lacked the access to this power‘.
“We are aware that what we require of you is abhorrent, Brother Abbott, we very much appreciate, in a manner that may seem manipulative, your skills, no, your talents, honed to razor’s edge long before joining us; it is of a value only enhanced by their scarcity among those inclined to choose the life monastic.
“The devout have, by and large, a gentle charm, and few, if any, have commanded a stage and entertained an opera house full of skeptics and nay-sayers with a variety of diversions from singing bawdy songs to slight-of-hand, even to ventriloquism,” Brother Abbott barely had time to wonder how the woman had managed to leave her seat when she whispered into his ear, “Your quarry is a man of the world with the kind of power that can only come from breeding and wealth; while we will always value your ability to teach, I need the shepherd to become the wolf.”
About clarkscottroger
“I need the shepherd to become the wolf.” You summarised so much of my corporate experience in one sentence, Clark!
cool*
fun when (a) reality or world is reflected in fiction, intentionally or otherwise
How delightfully sinister! Especially those last two sentences which put me in mind of Silas from the Da Vinci Code.
puts me in a mind to perhaps read it (have not, as of yet*)
*a touch of a contrarian streak in my semi-voluntary participation in the culture
Love this glimpse of Brother Abbott’s back history. He’s been somewhat of an enigma thus far.
Indeed. Last sentence, most excellent.
And so began the search for Prof Egmont…
Now where/when did we see him last?
lol
now there’s a challenge, expressing a time-travel paradox in six sentences*
*now that I think of it, I suspect there have been attempts already…
Everything tied together nicely, including the music.
This six was a very welcome addition to my daily meditations.
Thank you.
I wonder what those secret skills were that Brother Abbott abandoned. Nice description of turning the shepherd back into the wolf. That Mother Superior seems to have secret skills of her own.
Thanks, Frank. Yeah, a body don’t get to be Mother Superior for an Order chapter without having some mad talents herownself
You never know when your past may come back to haunt you.
Tru dat.
(This was an interesting turn in the story. While I’ve always like charming ‘bad guys and bad guyettes’ this business of Brother Abbott’s past should present an interesting challenge. Surely a ‘good guy’ but how dark is his past and does it change him into a bad guy.)
Can’t wait to find out.