A Short Story

I’ve always found writing short stories difficult. I like details and descriptions and depth to my characters, likewise in the books I read. Many years ago I did pen a few children’s stories, even wrote one as a bedtime story for my grandchildren. To this day I am still not sure if they fell asleep out of boredom listening to it or not!

However, back in November 2022, I took the plunge and entered a 6-weekly writing competition run by the company whose writing programme I use. Each week they gave a subject matter or topic, often it was to complete an opening sentence, discuss an emotion, describe a character in so many words, or something surrounding a particular item or place. Length was not important. The prize each week was a year’s free subscription to the writing programme. If nothing else, entering each week would help me get back into writing mode again and stretch those brain cells a little.

Joy of joys, one week my short story, such as it was, was chosen as the winner. I think, if my memory serves me right, the topic was on magic. At the time, I hoped it would be the outline or start of a longer novel. Who knows, perhaps one day it will be. It is only now I feel brave enough to show the world the short piece I had written. Your comments (polite ones only, please) would be appreciated. Any bad ones and you might just end up as a victim in one of my forthcoming novels. The comment box is at the very end of this page.

The Alchemist

Ignoring the shouts from outside in the street, the hurried footfalls down wooden stairs, Cardoc carefully dropped three pinches of crushed spagyric plumbago to the blue tincture bubbling away in his distilling flask above the burning candle. At the last drop, the liquid turned crystal clear. Quickly he removed the flask from the flame and poured its contents into a beaker. The brew was ready.
Two loud bangs shook the heavy solid oak workroom door. The time had come. Cardoc drank down the elixir in one gulp, praying to the devil this time he had the ingredients right. He had no way of knowing where the last person he had given the potion to was. It was the risk he was prepared to take.
At first, he felt no reaction to the warm liquid sliding down his throat into his gullet. At the third bang, Cardoc shuffled towards the door, turned the handle and pulled it open. A guardsman of the King stood before him, legs astride.
“Cardoc Mankskill, you are under arrest for poisoning the Queen and using your foul magic to make her vanish.”
One of Cardoc’s teeth fell out and clattered on the floor.
“You must come…” The guardsman did not finish his words, instead looking on in horror as more of Cardoc’s teeth fell from his mouth. Another followed. An avalanche of them until there were none left to fall. Before the guardsman’s bewildered dark eyes he watched dumbfounded as the old man aged rapidly. He watched Cardoc’s long unruly black hair turning grey then white, clumps of it falling to the floor. His wizzened face growing wane and drawn, his cheeks sinking into his mouth, his lips drooping. His eyes misting.
“Stop! Your magic will not—” Before he could say more, Cardoc faded, hollows where there should have been flesh and bone. All at once, the old man’s brown horsehair habit fell to the floor in a heap.
Cardoc had vanished.

A thousand miles away, Queen Kadenza with outstretched arms and a smile to lighten the darkest of nights ran towards her young lover shouting with joy.
“You’ve come. It’s worked! I was so frightened it wouldn’t.”
“Of course it worked,” Cardoc said, taking her into his arms. “Did you ever doubt?”
Queen Kadenza nodded. “A little, my sweet. But you are here now. “
Cardoc laughed. “Yes, and we are safe where no one can find us. Least of all the King. I made him a special powder this afternoon and dropped it into his wine glass. He will not wake up. Ever.”

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