This is the first section of the newest segment in my WIP series, Fetch. I was going to put it into the first book, The Ballad of Gerry Clifford, but then decided it would fit better into Gerry's son Daniel's story, and I don't know what number in the series that one will be.
The entire segment is 3000 words. I used multiple prompts, a list of which can be found following the segment.
The entire segment can be purchased from LBRY for 15 LBC (approximately 45 cents). Next week, you may be able to read the story free on my Reedsy profile. This will depend on whether or not they accept the story, but they usually do.
I
The late morning was clear and crisp as Sawyer Roth stepped
out of the travel hostel. Suddenly, an overpowering smell of roses assailed his
nostrils, followed by a taste like sour milk. He clasped his hands over his
mouth. After all, it wouldn’t do for a civilized man to vomit on the street in the
sight of the good folk out for a cool lunchtime stroll.
Sawyer hurried to the lavatory. After many miserable moments
of seemingly endless sickness spewing from deep within him, he collapsed against
the toilet, trying to bring the dry heaves under control. A halo began to form
around his vision, and Sawyer knew that a skull-splitting headache would follow
as it had every time since the first moment that he had breathed in the cloying
scent of roses at five years old.
Sawyer explained to the sweet hostel-keeper that he was experiencing
a migraine headache and wondered if she could provide him with a private room
where he could pull the curtains and ride it out. He promised that he would pay
extra, but the grandmotherly Desideria Ferrari wouldn’t hear of it. She rang for
her assistant to take over at the desk, then hustled Sawyer into the rickety
elevator and took him to a cozy little flat on the fourth floor.
“I have this room ready for my grandchildren when they come
visit,” Signora Ferrari explained. “You call if anything you need, Signore. Tea,
food, I fix for you. Ay, povoretto! The migraine headaches are un fardello
terribile. I pray you rest well and dream them away. Nel nome del padre e del
figlio e dello spirito santo. Amen.”
“Grazie Signora,” Sawyer responded, grimacing. “Perhaps you
could bring me a glass of water so I can take my medicine and I would
appreciate if you might fix me a pot of weak tea and leave it for me to drink
throughout the day. Molte grazie per la vostra gentilezza.”
Desideria brought Sawyer some water and he swallowed his
tablets.
“Rubbish setback this is,” he sighed. “I’ve not been back to
jolly old Crouch End since I left at eighteen. Hopefully, this is the nadir of
this trip. I wished to be off to the London museum to see that glorious new
Renaissance art display. Well, I’ve had to inure these rotten headaches putting
a dent in me best-laid plans from the time I was a knee-high nipper so it’s not
as if it’s taken me by surprise.”
“Eh, the art has been around since the Renaissance, no? It
will be there tomorrow or the next day. You rest now, dolce figlio di Dio.”
The touch of the kindly old woman’s fingers on his temples
soothed Sawyer, and he drifted off to sleep. She pulled the door closed quietly
and made the sign of the cross before leaving.
Notes
Acknowledgments
The Cerenarian Sea is part of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands.
It appears in his story Celephais, first publication The Rainbow, May 1922.
“Seventeen” is a power-pop song released in 1988 by Winger.
The line “I like my girls a little bit older” comes from the
song “Your Love,” released in 1986 by The Outfield.
Prompts Used
https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2020/09/21/wordle-207-2/
Strong
Setback
Milk
Cool
Deep
Inure- to grow accustomed to something undesirable
Nadir- the lowest point
Man
Hands
Sight
Touch
Lover
https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2020/09/25/first-line-friday-september-25th-2020/
https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2020/09/24/tale-weaver-294-epic-fail-24th-september/
https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2020/09/22/photo-challenge-333/
https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/plot-twist-story-prompts-divine-act
For today's prompt, have something unexpected and
uncontrollable happen.
Write about a character who smells something familiar and is
instantly taken back to the first moment they smelled it.
This piece was submitted to https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/
on 27 September 2020 for the above prompt. It was also inspired by the
following prompt.
Write about a character who’s obsessed with an era they
never lived through.
Translations
Povoretto = poor fellow
un fardello terribile = a terrible burden
Nel nome del padre e del figlio e dello spirito santo. = in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
Molte grazie per la vostra gentilezza. = many thanks for
your kindness
Migraines!!!
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that. Refuse to wear the t-shirt.
Your usual intriguing snippet. Thank you.