FICTION IN THE TIME OF WAR
Hi Tiffany & Mrs Mac fans
Once again I was MIA – you know Missing in Action, lost in cyberspace, somewhere in no-man’s land. I am blaming the war and everything….
But Mrs MacPhillamy is still on board the Queen Mary 2 as that cruise is never going to end, as long as I have the literary power to steer that ocean liner wherever I want it to go. If only life were like that.
Having been on 75 ships and river boats myself (and one cargo ship – an escapade I’d rather forget), I know a little about the nautical life.
Since I last posted I have been to the Jiggi Valley twice (where I hear you ask?), to Bali, to Bendigo and very recently to the eastern reaches of the Danube River. All fantastic destinations and very different experiences
And all this time, Tiffy and her grandmother have waited impatiently for me to continue their tale.
As you know I enter my meagre literary offerings into the Furious Fiction competition run by the Australian Writers Centre. A story we have to write in 50 hours, following a set of instructions (the stimulus) and in 500 words or less.
On this occasion, the narrative stimuli were as follows:
- Your story must take place on a character’s FIRST DAY OF A NEW JOB.
- Your story must include something being stolen.
- Your story must include the words TRIP, TRIANGLE and TSUNAMI. (Longer words are okay if original spelling is retained.)
Strap yourself into a life jacket – here goes! And I have to admit I did take a bit of licence with this one.
Mrs MacPhillamy looked forward to the Queen Mary 2 daily newsletter.
Finding it displayed on her bed, after retiring from dinner and dancing in the ballroom, was the icing on the cake after a day of indulgence. It was always accompanied by a Belgian chocolate, sometimes two, and often a little gift – a silk eye-mask here, a small bottle of exquisite body lotion there – all part of the seamless turn-down service. None of this slipping the pamphlet under the door in the dead of night, like other cruise lines did (or so she’d been told).
She loved to leaf through the many options of the day ahead, propped up against commodious pillows with a little port on the side table. There was so much happening on a three-month world cruise, and over the years she’d sampled many options from cooking classes to French lessons, line-dancing and even Texas Hold’em Poker…and, when at a loss, one day she wandered into the room where napkin folding lessons were taking place. Well, as you can imagine, she beat a hasty retreat. Some things are best left to others.
Meanwhile, granddaughter Tiffany was still in the bar, having settled into an armchair to chat with a handsome barman who’d come off duty. After two weeks at sea, this trip now promised a bit of fun.
But the whereabouts of Marjorie, Mrs Mac’s maid, were a complete mystery. Since coming on board, she’d been elusive – she had embraced this, her first holiday in years, with a gusto not often seen among Cunard loyal cruise passengers.
Always an early riser, Mrs Mac decided to approach the captain without delay, going straight to his quarters, rather than requesting an invitation.
If the QM2 master was surprised by the 8 am visit, his years of training in the art of enigmatic facial expression served him well.
“Ah, Mrs MacPhillamy, what a pleasant surprise…..do come in.”
“Captain,” she began. “Thank you for seeing me, uninvited as I am. Let me steal a moment of your time. I would d like to offer my services to the activity and enrichment team. I feel there’s an opportunity I could offer to many of your retiree passengers. I am happy to take on the role of senior blogger, where I will conduct lessons in social media and how to share one’s inner world with the outside world, if you get my drift.”
The captain struggled, but nodded, nonetheless.
“Ah, I see, but Mrs Macphil..
“No, no captain,” she interrupted. “I wouldn’t expect any payment. This is my way of giving back to the Cunard I love. And Captain, if you’ll indulge me, I could give you a hint of the tsunami of experiences I intend to share with my audience.”
The captain took a clipboard from the drawer.
“Ahh, Madam, it does seem we have an opening, a spot in need of a good speaker. If you don’t feel superstitious, it’s the day the ship will cruise from Miami through the Bermuda Triangle.”
It’s always a time of high expectation!”
Well, readers, will Mrs Mac accept this vacant time slot, and ‘man up’ in the face of the menacing maelstrom? Will she refuse to be sucked in by the whirlpool of worry and conspiracy theories?
Let’s tune in next time to see if her sea legs are as sturdy as she thinks they are. Will she be a symbol of strength and calm and a bridge over troubled waters. OK, that’s enough.
Once again if you’d like to write your own fiction and enter the competition, here’s the link: https://www.writerscentre.com.au/furious-fiction/
And thanks to UnSplash for the great images.https://unsplash.com/
And here’s a pic to illustrate my next episode.
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