Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
Design courtesy of Nick Spira
This is the Six Sentence Story
Denise is host
The Six Sentence Story this week is the first of a series of stories in which a nightspot, (in an unnamed city), plays a pivotal role. The nightspot is the Six Sentence Café and Bistro.
The prompt word:
REDEMPTION
“Man once’t told me”, cigarette smoke rose to obscure the finer details of the old man’s face, “He said, you find your path by walking straight ahead, don’t do you no good lookin’ back, ain’t nothin behind you other’n regret and ole Scratch’s hellhound”.
The college sophomore listened with rapt attention to age-creased man sitting on the other side of the round table, cigarette burns in its lacquered surface, hieroglyphics of an urban Rosetta Stone; the bluesman’s voice was a dry riverbed of rock and gravel, but once on stage, became whiskey-and-honey as he sang about the road and women, life, death and bargains with the devil.
The night had a distinctly dream-like tenor, beginning when the psychology major and Dean’s List wannabe accepted an out-of-left-field invitation from his roommate’s sister to accompany her to a part of the city that did not encourage solitary female explorers, continuing as he introduced himself to the old black man sitting alone nursing a Crown and soda between sets and, most astonishing was how not paralyzed by social adequacy and fearful of strangers he felt.
The building that housed the spontaneous couple’s destination had once been at the center of a thriving industrial district, however, as they approached, it’s provenance became increasingly dodgy as a place of refuge/ path to escape/ celebration of voluntary damnation/ or long-sought road to redemption; following a decidedly-profane baptism by neon light, they stepped through the entrance to the Six Sentence Café and Bistro.
Behind the bar that ran along the wall to the right of the entrance, was a long mirror, the patina of age showing dull silver along it’s upper edge and below that, rows of liquor bottles throwing a spectrum of colors and hues to rival the pink and blue stage lights that waited mutely for the show to begin.
At the far end of the bar, affording a view of guests entering and customers at the tables, was a half-open door, ‘Manager’ in flaking gold letters, green-tinted light of an old desk lamp backlit two leather chairs facing a desk; a passerby, at the moment the young man and his companion entered the club, might have heard a man and a woman raise their voices.
About clarkscottroger
You can really build up the atmosphere for a story.
Thank you, Reena
A 5-Star WOW.
;]
“…the bluesman’s voice was a dry riverbed of rock and gravel, but once on stage, became whiskey-and-honey as he sang about the road and women, life, death and bargains with the devil.”
Very cool Six (downs a shot of Spirytus Vodka )
Reena nails it. Atmosphere. All there. Gonna need to change my clothes before work. People be thinkin’ I’ve been out all night.
ty
I feel sorry for younger people who never get to experience this:
“The college sophomore listened with rapt attention to age-creased man sitting on the other side of the round table, cigarette burns in its lacquered surface, hieroglyphics of an urban Rosetta Stone”
Thank you for the memory.
Always a major effort and result here
Thanks, Paul
I’m soaking up that atmosphere like a fine single malt. Beyond cool, Clark!
Hey! There you are… I’ve been looking high and low. Two cabs and a bus stopped at the end of the alley. Coulda swore I saw you and even had a brief conversation
lol
Baptism by neon-light…
and the thing ends soaked in hazy eyed intrigue.
Another cool Six!
thanks, Miz Avery. (Yeah about that audio-only disagreement…intriguing
Nice description of the “dodgy” six-sentence cafe and bistro as a “celebration of voluntary damnation/ or long-sought road to redemption”.
Thanks Frank, it was fun to try and find a context for the prompt word this week
A place we all want to be.
tru dat
Wow! You really showed us how it is done! There are descriptive phrases that make it impossible not to see that place.
“a long mirror, the patina of age showing dull silver along it’s upper edge” etc.
Thank you, Pat What a nice thing to say.
Ooh, and the scene is set for the adventure to begin.
This is the cafe of cafes, no doubt about it.
Such a living description that I’m right in there thinking, ‘What next?’
Oh, and with a terrible longing for a packet of Gauloises! ;)
;}
this one (I mentioned in the thread) I used my sophomore self/avatar to be the MC. (a particularly convoluted character development in this case, seeing how this would be the 3rd Person POV of the 1st Person I did on the first time travel story.
I kinda like this ‘at a distance’… I ‘know’ it’s ‘me’ but by virtue of the POV I can appreciate the character differently
or something
lol
thanks
I can smell the ambience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ri7TcukAJ8
don’t ya hear me cryin
excellent tuneage
You set that up so well. The premises feels… warmly familiar already 😎
And familiarly warm.
(let’s see if this comment passes internet’s Scylla & Charybdis)
damn! it would appear that you have successfully accepted the Mark of the Beast
@ Spira, my reply passed fine (eventually) – even a McKellen voice impression booming “You shall not pass” couldn’t stop it 😂
The trick to commenting or replying to any of Clark’s posts (at least for me) is to do it directly through his site and not through the WP reader, otherwise you get a “Reply Failed, please try again” message, or a “Could not retrieve comments” message…
lol
Yes, that does the trick .