Wednesday 21 January 2015

To be Frank

Hey my lovely readership I need a favour. I need people to proof read 6 or 7 abridged versions of my stories. Just crossing i's and dotting t's etc. Just one story each, about 350 words. So if you fancy putting something back, let me know. 


‘No you can't take that away from me...’  Mitch bowed to the audience as the orchestra played the last few bars. He was milking the applause, choking back the tears and pinching himself to prove that this was not a dream, this was reality. One by one the audience members stood up until the whole room was giving Mitch a standing ovation. He bowed again and hurried off the stage simultaneously embarrassed and aroused by the acclaim. He quickly rearranged himself so the arousal was not too obvious, before the stage manager pushed him back out into the limelight for the encore. Mitch took a mouthful of water, cleared his throat and smiled.
'Start spreading the news,' he sang to the approval of the fans in the theatre, his fans.
Exactly one year ago Mitch was a low down assistant account manager being bullied by his boss and ignored by his girlfriend. He’d been sitting in a cafe feeling sorry for himself, on what they called blue Monday and Mitch could understand why. Nothing was going right; he’d nearly bankrupted himself buying Trish a necklace for Christmas and got a Toblerone in return. He was losing customers by the bucket load and to make matters worse his landlord had just told him he had a month to find a new place.

He was sitting there waiting in vain for Trish to show up, knowing that his phone would soon buzz to say she couldn't make it. He sighed, ordered another cup of coffee and sat back wondering where the hell his life was going; this wasn’t what he’d dreamt of as a boy.  The cafe was playing some online jazz radio station and they were having a Sinatra hour. Mitch closed his eyes and sang along to the songs, forgetting where he was for a moment and quite frankly not giving a jot who was watching. His boss didn't respect him, his lover was going to leave him, so why should he respect himself.
‘Excuse me,’ despite the gentleness of the voice Mitch jumped, he'd been lost in his own world. He looked up and saw a man standing over him.
‘Sorry I didn't mean to scare you.’ The man was softly spoken but he had a  showbiz smile. ‘My name is Billy Burns, I have a swing orchestra and I'd like you to audition for me.’
‘Fer’ something stopped Mitch from ending the word with a scoffing Koff.
The man smiled, he handed over his card. Mitch looked at it. Was this genuine?
'New Yoooooooork' Mitch smiled as the crowd went wild, boy it had been genuine alright.


Enjoyed this? Why not buy my novel Maggie's Milkman? Details HERE

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