The best laid plans of mice and men.......and stuff
Good morning journal,the time is now 7:36am,I have been out of bed for around fifteen minutes or so,but awake for a lot longer.I retired to bed last night at around 11:00pm,my night medication taking effect quickly,and I tottered off to our boudoir on legs that were seemingly controlled by a drunk puppeteer,who took a somewhat sadistic pleasure in bouncing me off a wall or two on the way.I am usually quite good at judging the time that I take my medication and the time that they take effect,but last night,much to the amusement of my wife and our canine children,my judgement,as well as my homing instinct for our bedroom door,was well wide of the mark.Anyway,I finally fell into bed,and within what must have been a matter of minutes,I fell into a deep,and for the most part,dreamless sleep.I vaguely remember my wife clambering in beside me,followed by all three fur babies,and when I awoke fully some time later both my wife and I were cocooned in a blanket of warm fur,with an accompaniment of contented snores and grunts all around.I lay there unable to move,so close were our dogs huddled to us,finally,I managed to extricate one arm from underneath the blankets to enable me to scratch my nose,and I lay there awake in a most unnatural position,my body lying diagonally across the bed,both legs trapped between Caesar and Bree,whilst my head was too close for my personal comfort to the backside of Buttons,who,now getting on in years,has a tendency for excessive flatulence at times,with unfortunate results for anyone inadvertently too close to her when her affliction becomes active.As I stroked her head,hoping to delay any action at the other end,she awakened and grunted softly,at least I prayed it was a grunt and nothing more sinister,and got off the bed,signalling with a quiet whumph that she felt the need to go outside.I got out of bed,and,as expected,she climbed back in again,settling down on my pillows and looking up at me with her soft brown eyes and whispering a little doggy murmur of gratitude,"your welcome",I said,and headed for the kitchen in search of coffee.What of yesterday? I hear you ask,well,as the title of this journal entry implies,nothing was achieved regarding a referral from the citizens advice bureau,I overslept yesterday morning finally being awakened by my wife at around 11:50am,so it was pointless going to the bureau as all of their walk in appointments would have all been allocated.However,I shall try this morning,never let it be said that I gave up without a fight,if I am successful then all well and good,if I am not,then we will have to resort to plan B,as soon as I come up with one that is,well,nobody's perfect!. Today is benefit day,and having already checked,I know that it has gone into our joint account,so today we eat without worrying,tomorrow?,well we will deal with that when it gets here.My spirits have lifted a little,and I have a bit more fire in my belly this morning,it occurred to me yesterday that I have worked all of my life and never asked anyone for anything,I have paid my taxes and my national insurance all of that time,now,if I am unable to work,as I currently am,anything I can claim off government sources I see as being due to me,I paid into the system,now pay me some of what I've been paying into all these years,I've earned it!. Well,now that I've gotten that little rant off my chest,I have decided to post a small part of my unfinished novel,it will get finished,I just have more pressing things to attend to at the moment.I would be interested in some feedback,just to see if it has possibilities or not,for at the end of the day,the aim is to bring in a few much needed pennies through self publication;so here goes journal.
THE JOURNEY
SEAL OF THE FOUR
CHAPTER ONE
Jeremiah Dark stretched lazily in the morning sunshine,he was a big man,well over six feet and muscular beneath his leather jerkin and terracotta tunic,strong legs covered in deerskin trousers tucked into well worn calf length brown leather boots,he looked every inch a man you didn't offend. He had left his village the morning before and had covered almost thirty miles on foot,stopping only to set up camp in the woods when night fell. After breakfasting on bread and cheese,he had set out at dawn,leaving the denseness of the forest behind to find himself in open terrain with views in every direction from his vantage point on the hill he stood on. To his left,there was a small hamlet of perhaps six or seven dwellings,a few animal pens and an inn with a welcoming fire in the hearth,if the coil of smoke from the chimney was anything to go by. He headed down into the valley,the thought of hot food provoking a low grumble in his stomach,it had been a while since breakfast;and a mug of ale would go down well too. Approaching the animal pens the stench of fresh sheep dung and chicken shit made him wrinkle his nose in distaste,making him rethink the food but not the ale. As he stooped under the door he shook his mane of copper colored hair,sending it cascading down over his shoulders,clouds of dust danced before his eyes as he surveyed the half dozen tables before him. There were eight or nine people in the inn,farm workers mostly,with perhaps an old soldier or two down on their luck;the conversation died immediately when he entered. He gazed around the scene,the top of his head touching the beams of the roof,”place is built for goblins,midgets and dwarfs”,he growled and made his way to an empty table by the far wall facing the door close to the fire. He lit his pipe from the candle on the table as a dark haired woman approached him,”what can I get you stranger?,” she asked,”a mug of ale would be nice miss,” he replied,taking in every inch of her ample form with his eyes,”any food with that?,”she smiled,”and it's missus,that's my man Toolan behind the bar,”. Jeremiah looked over at the rough counter that served as a bar where a man,almost as big as himself,stood wiping pots with a dirty rag,”what do you recommend?,”he asked quietly. “Well,there's mutton or rabbit stew,”she replied,wiping his table with a rag almost as dirty as the one being used behind the bar,”which is best?,”he asked,”don't know,they both taste the same being as Toolan is the cook,”she smiled,displaying small white teeth invitingly,”surprise me then,” said the big man returning her smile.”Orla O'Shea,”she said,extending her hand to him,Jeremiah took it in his bear like paw and caressed it softly,”Jeremiah Dark,”he replied,”your Irish?,”,”I am indeed Jeremiah Dark,”she said,”and you?,”Jeremiah hesitated,”I don't really know,”he said quietly,”I don't really belong anywhere as I remember,just always been somewhere or other I reckon,but never for too long,”.There was a loud bang on the counter that interrupted their conversation,”better go,”said Orla quickly,”Toolan is a jealous man,””he has reason to be,”replied Jeremiah with a smile.”I'll be bringing your stew shortly Jeremiah Dark,”she answered, grinning broadly,and made her way back to the counter,while Jeremiah watched every swing of her hips,feeling the first faint stirrings of desire warm his groin.
Well,there it is journal,the opening paragraphs of my novel,there is more,a lot more,but that is enough for now.So,until next time,peace,contentment and,most of all today,success with the powers that be.
THE JOURNEY
SEAL OF THE FOUR
CHAPTER ONE
Jeremiah Dark stretched lazily in the morning sunshine,he was a big man,well over six feet and muscular beneath his leather jerkin and terracotta tunic,strong legs covered in deerskin trousers tucked into well worn calf length brown leather boots,he looked every inch a man you didn't offend. He had left his village the morning before and had covered almost thirty miles on foot,stopping only to set up camp in the woods when night fell. After breakfasting on bread and cheese,he had set out at dawn,leaving the denseness of the forest behind to find himself in open terrain with views in every direction from his vantage point on the hill he stood on. To his left,there was a small hamlet of perhaps six or seven dwellings,a few animal pens and an inn with a welcoming fire in the hearth,if the coil of smoke from the chimney was anything to go by. He headed down into the valley,the thought of hot food provoking a low grumble in his stomach,it had been a while since breakfast;and a mug of ale would go down well too. Approaching the animal pens the stench of fresh sheep dung and chicken shit made him wrinkle his nose in distaste,making him rethink the food but not the ale. As he stooped under the door he shook his mane of copper colored hair,sending it cascading down over his shoulders,clouds of dust danced before his eyes as he surveyed the half dozen tables before him. There were eight or nine people in the inn,farm workers mostly,with perhaps an old soldier or two down on their luck;the conversation died immediately when he entered. He gazed around the scene,the top of his head touching the beams of the roof,”place is built for goblins,midgets and dwarfs”,he growled and made his way to an empty table by the far wall facing the door close to the fire. He lit his pipe from the candle on the table as a dark haired woman approached him,”what can I get you stranger?,” she asked,”a mug of ale would be nice miss,” he replied,taking in every inch of her ample form with his eyes,”any food with that?,”she smiled,”and it's missus,that's my man Toolan behind the bar,”. Jeremiah looked over at the rough counter that served as a bar where a man,almost as big as himself,stood wiping pots with a dirty rag,”what do you recommend?,”he asked quietly. “Well,there's mutton or rabbit stew,”she replied,wiping his table with a rag almost as dirty as the one being used behind the bar,”which is best?,”he asked,”don't know,they both taste the same being as Toolan is the cook,”she smiled,displaying small white teeth invitingly,”surprise me then,” said the big man returning her smile.”Orla O'Shea,”she said,extending her hand to him,Jeremiah took it in his bear like paw and caressed it softly,”Jeremiah Dark,”he replied,”your Irish?,”,”I am indeed Jeremiah Dark,”she said,”and you?,”Jeremiah hesitated,”I don't really know,”he said quietly,”I don't really belong anywhere as I remember,just always been somewhere or other I reckon,but never for too long,”.There was a loud bang on the counter that interrupted their conversation,”better go,”said Orla quickly,”Toolan is a jealous man,””he has reason to be,”replied Jeremiah with a smile.”I'll be bringing your stew shortly Jeremiah Dark,”she answered, grinning broadly,and made her way back to the counter,while Jeremiah watched every swing of her hips,feeling the first faint stirrings of desire warm his groin.
Well,there it is journal,the opening paragraphs of my novel,there is more,a lot more,but that is enough for now.So,until next time,peace,contentment and,most of all today,success with the powers that be.
Replies
I would read your novel. Got me interested.
Man, that was just enough to get me wanting more! Your novel sounds wonderful, and I would definitely read it! One question....is \"breakfasting\" really a word? hehehehe.....