Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Wakefield Doctrine’s contribution to the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted by Denise, there is one rule: Six (no more, no less) Sentenceses to the story
Prompt word:
RATTLE
“Just take a second of ya time, I promise?”
The voice from the vacant lot was assigned corporeal form, that of a young woman, well-dressed, (in the way of the young a celebration of flaunting the rules of good taste), standing as still as the moment before the grill slides in the church confessional; failing in her ambition to further rattle the young man’s confidence, she left it to the Sophomore to advance the narrative.
On this particular evening, the Gatekeeper, perhaps in the throes of a regressively-whimsical mood, had set up his station outside the entrance to the Six Sentence Café and Bistro with a rusted 50 gallon drum containing a scavenged firewood blaze that provided far more light than heat; the illumination crashed like storm waves along the granite walls of the building, resulting in a quite respectable ‘Bread and Roses Strike’ vibe.
“You’re that new girl, Ronetta…Rosetta, Rosetta Storme the one that those who aren’t afraid of, kinda hate…”
“And you’re that old guy pretending to be a young guy who’s supposedly a time-traveler from the Seventies, sophmoric… no, wait, missing the slightly pompous way over-done, leading article, I got it: The Sophomore!”
Leaning against the granite wall that divided the old mill building that housed the Café’ from the rubble-strewn vacant lot, Rosetta shifted her weight to her trailing left foot and turned to face the unsteady waves of light fleeing the drum set up in front of the entrance; a smile hid in the corner of her mouth, allowing plausible deniability as backup to her go-to strategy that focused on hormones and wishful thinking.
About clarkscottroger
She could get lucky any day, any time.
You must have missed the last part of the road trip – which explains why the Gatekeeper couldn’t be by the entrance of the SSC&B on that particular evening. Not yet.
( https://misky.uk/2025/04/02/3-04-six-trifecta-the-last-day/ )
and! (in the story, excellent ride)
Love your take on the prompt. Your writing flows beautifully.
thank you
Love the imagery in this line.
a rusted 50-gallon drum containing a scavenged firewood blaze that provided far more light than heat; the illumination crashed like storm waves along the granite walls of the building, resulting in a quite respectable ‘Bread and Roses Strike’ vibe.
thanks R
(I got totally caught up, when writing my still-WIP ‘Almira’ in the early days of the Worker’s Rights movement here in the US. The Bread and Roses Strike is such a dramatic-in-it’s-‘simplicity’ event I even ‘borrowed’ a historical figure from that event, (all in the spirit of writing what I refer to as a ‘historical fantasy novel) lol
Never keen to stand out in the street for very long – a little chilly for me!
(Love that song, by the way.)
know what’cha mean
Such an unpleasant young woman.
you don’t like Rosetta?!?!!
Nope.
She does strike me as one who always hedges her bets.
lol strategic, that one
Always like to spend time with the young sophomore – thank you
I don’t hate Rosetta, not yet anyway, I like a gutsy gal.
I concur
Inevitable, lol.
Dog, err, excuse me, that be “dog-ette”, with a bone. Rosetta spends New Year’s eve on the arm of the tall, thin man to now looking to conquer the Sophomore. Go R.
Excellent Six.
thankee