Saturday, July 11, 2009

Entry #57

Red with Wine
by Four Dinners


Percy Braithwaite worked for The British Intelligence Service. He put aside his latest report to read one recently received.

“Extraordinary thing!” exclaimed Percy putting down his glass of red wine.

“What is dear?” asked his wife Mildred disinterestedly

“The commies dear. They’ve knocked off an old KGB defector with poisoned wine. Says so right here in black and white in this report. Good chap. He gave me a lot of very damaging information when he first came over. Poor old Andre”

“Really?” mumbled his wife gazing out of the living room window.

“Yes really. Apparently they injected the poison through the cork”

Percy was a very successful high ranking officer in British Intelligence. He had been singularly responsible for unmasking over a dozen enemy agents.

“Wedding Anniversary tomorrow dear” said Percy with a sigh leaning back in his chair, “40 years eh old girl?.” He sipped his wine contentedly.

He never felt the baseball bat hit him around the head. He slumped dead with his bloodied head on the table. The blood mixed with the spilt wine.

“Chateaux Percy” smiled Mildred, “a very deep and fruity red”

Four hours later, Mildred Braithwaite, soon to be known for the first time in forty one years as Natalia Schevchenko, boarded an aeroplane at Heathrow bound for Moscow.

‘I do not consider ‘sleepers’ a genuine or even likely risk’ read Percy’s unfinished report.

37 comments:

Aimee Laine said...

That's what assuming does to ya! Never underestimate, never assume. :) Nice story!

laughingwolf said...

little does he know! :O lol

Karen said...

I like the different twist on this one.

Laurel said...

I've no idea what you did to the dialogue that made it sound British in my head but I swear the dialogue "read" in a British accent. Just the dialogue.

How fun!

JR's Thumbprints said...

Very original, and I agree with Laurel regarding the dialogue.

wrath999 said...

Cool very imaginative

alex

Chris Eldin said...

I also read it with a British accent.
:-)
Nice take on the prompt!

Catherine Vibert said...

That's funny, I heard it in a British accent too. How'd you do that? Funny twist on the end, I enjoyed it.

Adisha said...

That was certainly interesting... The concept of sleepers ... 40 years , wow !!! :) Well thought out ...

Aniket Thakkar said...

Hey, is this you Preacherman?

I was expecting a funny one about mates crashing the bar or something. This is way way better.

I love spy stories. This one had a classic end, much like Forsyth generally writes.

She so reminded me of Mata Hari.

The Preacherman said...

Yeah it's me Ani.

Ta peeps. I'm flattered. Usually just take the piss but thought I'd try some'at a bit different for me. Glad yer like it.

Read about a third of the others as I'm working another two days. Soon as I'm on rest I'll catch the rest. Bloody good standard again!!!

Sarah Laurenson said...

That's a long time to live a lie. Wow. Excellent!

Precie said...

Yup, heard the British accent in my head too!

I love the irony of this piece! Love it!

punxxi said...

Hiya Dinners, another capital story!
So did you tell this lot that you are, indeed British?

Mona said...

Oh! That backfired didn't it? I like the twist and irony in the end!

Zakk said...

definitely a nice story.
I thought she would kill him with the wine as well.... :)

Tessa said...

Move over, John le Carré! Pretty damn excellent, old boy.

Pat said...

Well done my son!

keltikdragon said...

Hey,
Well done dinners/preacher!
Made me giggle and gave me a few ideas lol.

Blimy i cant ever imagine u talking with a "britsh" accent lol
Well done a change from your usal *hugz*
Good Luck

Kurt Hendricks said...

Thought you were going to zig, then you zagged...the mark of a good writer!

The Preacherman said...

Ta very much for all the nice comments. The standard is incredibly high so I'm just enjoying being a part of it in my own small way.

I've found I've really got into the poetry entries - especially after a few beers for some reason...

Hoodie said...

EXCELLENT!
You nailed it.

BernardL said...

That's why James Bond rebelled against marriage. :)

PJD said...

And here I thought five years pretending to be in love with the drunk driver who killed your family was intense. Forty years!

And I must say, she's got a wicked good swing for a 60- or 70-something Russian lady. Ironic, that. A baseball bat (America's pastime) used by a Russian to kill a Brit in his own house.

For some reason, I kept envisioning Wallace (of Wallace & Grommit) whenever Percy spoke.

Blodeuedd said...

A spook story, very nice :)
I always did like MI5 and 6

aditi said...

Oh my! I love the whole spy - conspiracy theory and now i will be looking for spy - grannies around me!
Really though... its too cool, even minus the gadgets.

Unknown said...

Oh very neat! Just goes to prove how true that old phrase about "assume" is! Good story, very entertaining!

Carrie Clevenger said...

Definitely British in my head. Great job. =)

Cloves said...

Very nicely done. I love the twist in the end.

JaneyV said...

“Chateaux Percy” smiled Mildred, “a very deep and fruity red”

Perfect. This was terrific Preacherman. Percy was quite the idiot.

Anonymous said...

Oh crikey this is another entry that my comment didn't come through.

I said something eloquent about a Cold War throwback and how well you evoked it - well, just think of your own eloquent praise and pretend I said it. :)


wv: obbkvz - seems fitting, Russian-wise

The Preacherman said...

Ta very much peeps.

Good luck to everyone. Voted for my readers choices. Very hard to decide. Very!

Keep on writing!!


Four Dinners

Watters' Reflection said...

Nice read, Preacherman, old bean :)

Terri said...

Great ending! I didn't see that coming at all, well written :-)

Jade L Blackwater said...

Great final touch with the unfinished report!

Anonymous said...

An assignment like that would take monumental patience and dedication. Well conceived story!

Welcome to The Forties Club!!

The Preacherman said...

Thanks Jason. Proud to be in The Forties Club.

Thing is I'm shite at lying.

The story took me maybe 20 minutes tops?

Stuff comes out of my head and I write it. No idea where it comes from. Don't take time going back over and all that stuff. Just write what comes out of my head.

Well chuffed people liked it but, more importantly, well enjoyed reading all the efforts.

I can't believe some who didn't win something. The quality of writing is quite extraordinary.

Ta very much for letting me be a part of this sort of thing.

You are a gentleman old bean.


Four Dinners