Formed over forty years ago, our Writers Circle is based in Felixstowe, Suffolk. Meetings are held in The Room at the Top in Felixstowe Library, normally on the first and third Tuesday of each month commencing at 7.30pm and finishing by 10.00pm. Check this weblog for details of meetings.

There is an annual November to November fee of £30, April to November is £20 and June to November £15. For members preferring to pay at each meeting the charge is £5 per meeting. To contact Felixstowe Scribblers simply email scribblers.1@btinternet.com or the Secretary, catherine.stafford1@ntlworld.com

2019 Writeathon Part Two


(Kay: Part 13) 18 October 2019



Falaro stepped back from the huge plate glass window set into the side of the circular tower.



‘Interesting’ he commented ‘those two children are cleverer than we imagined. They have almost reached the solution to the problem.’



‘Well, let us hope so,’ said his companion, Vestis, ‘we cannot wait much longer, the Master is getting impatient. If we cannot reach a conclusion soon, all will be lost, and so-called Captain Jackson will be in possession of the secret of eternal life.’



Falaro frowned, his dark eyebrows almost meeting across his broad white forehead. Vestis could detect the working of his not inconsiderable intellect behind his sea green eyes. She waited for his next pronouncement. 



‘That cannot be allowed to happen. He is already too powerful and his intentions are evil. If he is allowed to gain the secret hidden in Logan’s rock he will use it for his own ends, and the rest of mankind will only suffer. Immortality allows bad people to prosper. They can never be brought to account. But he is already powerful, and he can only be defeated by innocents. Those children are ideal for the purpose.’



‘But Falaro, they will have to remain innocent. I detect some lessening in that characteristic, particularly in the boy.’

    

‘We cannot intervene Vestis, it is not allowed. We can only watch and wait, and hope that the Fiery Horse can lead them to the answer before it is too late.’



With that, they both returned to the window, from where they could see the whole of the small area of coastline which housed the two cottages. Although the sea mist had crept in, pearling the hedgerows and fields, they were able to discern the two children crouching down behind the rock. They concentrated on willing the children to do the right thing. The next few hours would be crucial 





(Rani: Part 14) 28 October 2019      



Beth pressed the glass key to Logan’s rock. Silence, suspension, then a slowly falling backwards through glass, a sharp severing of life followed by a gentle floating, warm like blood, a pulsing of light and life, a dazzling dissolving metamorphosis of form and shape.

Beth and Jeremy stood, or rather stumbled, before an imposing figure sat upon a golden throne. He was swathed form head to toe in purple, his face shrouded by a mask of gold. He looked like a god and perhaps he was one.

Jeremy was never lost for words and now was no exception. Wow, his mates would be really impressed by this adventure!

“Hey dude, who are you?” he asked.

“I am unknowable” replied the figure “virtually unknowable.”

“Well, Mr Virtually Unknowable, can you grant wishes, like the genii?”

Here the figure raised a hand and bid the children each make a wish. Both children wished hard.

Jeremy found himself holding a giant cone of candy floss flavoured ice cream. He took a lick but it tasted vile.

Beth watched horrified as her wish charged into the room, all flashing purple eyes and rainbow hair, his unicorn horn lowered towards the children. This was not the cute fluffy creature of her dreams.

Laughing Mr. Unknowable waved a hand and the wishes vanished.

“Now children, what do you really wish to find?”

“Our missing friend Jane.” said Beth.

“Wild women, Vodka, endless wealth and immortality!” said Jeremy.  

“As you wish so may it be!” intoned the purple god “Anthony will find Jane, he looks after lost property and young man Jude will see to you, he deals with lost causes!”

With that a door opened and the children found themselves alone in a city made of dreams.



(Morag: Part 15) 3 November 2019

‘I want to go home,’ Beth said, as she followed her brother along the dimly lit street. ‘I don’t like this place.’ She glanced up at the shuttered windows, sure they were being watched, by someone or something, she wasn’t sure.

‘We can’t go home yet,’ Jeremy said. ‘We’ve only just got here, and look, there’s a light on up ahead. See, in that shop over there.’

Beth was heartened to see it was a toyshop. She gazed into the brightly lit window. A lone train was trundling round a track that was surrounded with cuddly toys, dolls, teddies, jigsaws and cars.

‘There’s a horse like our fire horse,’ she said, pointing excitedly. ‘See how it glows.’

But Jeremy wasn’t listening. He was staring at the woman in the doorway of the building opposite. She had hair like a wild mane of straw and she was brandishing a bottle of vodka at him, beckoning him with her finger.

‘Let’s go in,’ Beth said, tugging at his sleeve.

‘What?’ Jeremy glanced at his sister, then back at the doorway. The woman had gone.

‘The toyshop. Let’s go in.’

The bell above the door tinkled as Beth pushed it open.

An elderly man rose from a wicker chair by the counter and peered at them over the top of his gold rimmed glasses. He had ruddy red cheeks and a thick white beard.

‘Welcome, children,’ he said, smiling.’ I’ve been expecting you.’



(Gerry: Part 16) 22 November 2019

“Oh, terrific,” Jeremy muttered.  “We’ve landed in Santa’s workshop!”

If the shopkeeper heard the jibe, he made no sign of it.  He ushered the children through the doorway: “Come in, come in – make yourselves at home.  I’ll rustle up some food: you must be starving.”



He disappeared into a back room, leaving the children alone in the toyshop.  While Jeremy inspected the model railway, Beth wandered between the shelves, peering closely at the merchandise.

What did he mean, he was expecting us?” she wondered.

In the far wall, she spotted a door, half-hidden by a curtain.  Putting her ear to the woodwork, she heard a distant sound of scraping and tapping.

She glanced around, but nobody was looking.  After a moment’s hesitation, she turned the door handle and stepped through.

On the other side, she found herself in a passageway, lit by oil lamps.  As she cautiously made her way down the passage, the scraping and tapping she’d heard grew louder.  She came to an archway and ducked through.

She gaped.

She was standing on a metal gantry, twenty feet above the earthen floor of a huge basement room.  In the centre lay a huge stone sculpture of the Flame Horse, on which scores of children were working, chipping away at the stone with hammers and chisels.

As if sensing she was being watched, one of the children glanced up towards her.  Beth gasped: “Jane!”

She started forward, but just then she heard a sound behind her.  There stood the shopkeeper, holding Jeremy struggling in his arms.  Beside him were two grim-looking men with clubs.

“So you’ve found your friend,” the shopkeeper said, softly.  “A pity you’ll never get to tell anyone about it ...”




Beth could hear the panic in her brother's voice as he cried out to her. She realised that their quest had changed into something else. It was no longer an exciting adventure but a terrible experience that they could not understand. She wished that she had never seen the horse or found the key.



Jane approached her. She seemed different somehow, older and more confident.



    "I'm sorry that your search to find me has brought you here," said Jane. "I really need you both to help me now."



Captain Jackson appeared on the gantry. He shouted orders to everyone around him and his attention fixed on Jane. He spoke to her in such a way that Beth and Jeremy were frozen in fear. 



    "Inanna," he said, ''betrayal will cost you everything. You could have shared in the secret; you could have been immortal."



    "My loyalty belongs to another," she said, ''my heart also. The thing that you seek is not ours to possess. It will bring pain and suffering upon us all."



Beth called out to Jeremy as he fought to free himself. As they looked at each other they thought about their friendship with Jane and they wanted more than anything to protect her. They thought about their mother and of all the things that they shared together. They thought about their unbreakable bond and in that moment love overwhelmed them.



The Captain was ageing before their eyes and he was losing his power. Jeremy was able to break free from his captors.



Inanna ran towards the captain and stood over him. "As foretold," she said, ''the pure hearts of the innocents will defeat you."  



As she spoke they heard the pounding of horses hooves approaching.

(Liz: Part 18)



The flame horse bore down on them with savage beauty, its physical strength and movement causing a vortex in which everyone was caught up. The children were flung to the perimeter of the swirling mass and what they saw terrified them.



Twisting, rearing, nostrils flared, teeth tearing, the flame horse was mercilessly attacking Captain Jackson and his company. A crashing blow to a man's skull with iron shod hooves saw a body drop broken and dead in the wake of the horse's onslaught.



The wind decreased and the light flowing from the flame horse began to recede yet the children saw the captain and his company had been smashed like broken discarded toys. The flame horse saw the children and walked towards them, it bowed and on raising its magnificent head held the children in its gaze before turning to walk away. 



Beth gasped as she saw the fatal wounds on the animal's flank. She wanted to run to the horse but she was rooted to the spot unable to move, the spot was the beach near to their house. 



Tears began to flow from the children's eyes as the horse began to walk away. Was it the tears that made the outline of the horse appear to quiver? The horse's outline became translucent and then it gradually disappeared from sight, so too did the dead bodies. There was no trace of the battle nothing was left even the sand was undisturbed. Utter sadness gripped the children. The flame horse had taken its last walk on the Earth and was now lost for all time. 



Also lost was the children's memory of what had happened, although they never spoke about it both had a sense of experiencing something so traumatic that they were compelled to act but, as yet, they did not know how. Mother too had no recollection of Captain Jackson and events relating to him.



Looking down from his tower Falaro and his companions were taken aback at what they had witnessed. They were unsure how the Master would take the news but it was relayed to him factually.



It was a few minutes before the Master responded explaining the news was only partially good. He was satisfied that Captain Jackson had not learnt the secret of eternal life and the subsequent result that mankind may suffer less. The demise of the flame horse was tragic news. He warned Falaro and his companions that they must remain patient and vigilant to see if any other human children in the generations to come would ever come close to the discovery of eternal life. Without the flame horse this would be very difficult to do.



He concluded by saying he felt the children were of pure hearts and had the strength to bring about a change to improve the quality of life for all and for the Earth. That quality of life was more valuable to all than eternal existence.





The end!!!!!!