ben woestenburg
Bio
A blue-collar writer, I write stories to entertain myself. I have varied interests, and have a variety of stories. From dragons and dragonslayers, to saints, sinners and everything in between. But for now, I'm trying to build an audience...
Stories (104/0)
JACK OF DIAMONDS
The sun slipped slowly into the distance, locked in a blaze of bright autumn colours. Willow trees, standing in silent silhouette on the horizon were twisting and bending—crying in protest as the last vestiges of summer slunk passed—naked branches whipping as the wind picked up from the East bringing storm clouds scuttling across a darkening sky. Aspens, in serried masses row upon row, were bowing and undulating as if they were servants, while steady elms, with the taciturn patience of age, were standing proud, as if they were knights on a chessboard. The long grass writhed across variegated hills and hummocks—every hump, knoll, prominence, and tor—rippling in the setting sun as though they were waves on an emerald ocean.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
JACK OF DIAMONDS
Artie looked at Agatha's reflection laying on the bed, her body half covered by the bedsheet, the rest of it dressed in shadows. He could feel the warmth of the late afternoon light breaking in through the windows as if a thief. He was standing at one of the two windows, looking out at the small village below, his naked reflection mirrored in the window glass where he could see her watching him. He turned to look at her, smiling.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Filthy
JACK OF DIAMONDS
The Inn was typical for a village the size of Chumley Grove, he supposed. No more than six rooms, with a narrow hallway, a wooden floor worn out through years of use, and the paint a faded yellow. The ceiling was stained with age, waterstained from age-old leaks, darker corners blackened through years of flamed light. At least they had new electric features. Three of them lit the hallway, as well as four large windows letting in the late afternoon light. It would be long after dark before they made it home. He thought at most they had an hour before they had to be on the road again.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
Jack of Diamonds
CHAPTER 15 Gabby sat down on the bench and proceeded to roll a cigarette, watching the couple across the street. She'd discovered that she liked shocking the locals, scanning the small square to see if anyone was watching. There was no one in sight--which she found odd-- except the couple she was watching. They looked comfortable with each other, she noticed; and they seem to fit, she thought as she twisted the cigarette together. She tucked it up behind her ear as she'd seen so many men doing, and started rolling another one. She watched them walking. She'd first spotted them at the Town Hall pub. She just happened to be out and about herself, running errands and picking up foodstuffs from the market on the corner of Fore and George Streets. That was when she saw them. She knew the woman as one of the town Constables. She didn't know the man, but he looked young. A lot younger than the woman, if she were to guess.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
Jack of Diamonds
CHAPTER 14 The drive from Chumley Grove out to Okehampton was usually a little more than half an hour. With the mood they were in after having met DCI Bilge, it took Sonia an extra fifteen minutes to make the drive. The countryside was mostly farmland, the sky a light turquoise colour with large cumulus clouds moving in from the East. Farms, with hedgerows marking their boundaries, and trees of every colour swaying in a gentle breeze, appeared, and just as quickly, disappeared from view. A few of the small villages set off from the roadside were approached by narrow tracks of dirt worn deep by centuries of use. It was the type of drive Sonia usually enjoyed. She could see cows grazing lazily in the wide, open pastures, and sheep dotting the hillsides. Swans swam lazily in open ponds created by the recently flooded rivers and streams, and she wondered how long it would be until the water finally receded.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
Jack of Diamonds
Dimitri Chernetsov stood on the upper floor of Marlborough Estate sipping a whiskey sour and looking down at the large foyer. Two elaborate sets of staircases wound their way down from the landing he was standing on. There was a massive chandelier hanging from a chain as thick as a man’s arm, suspended twenty feet above the floor. The chandelier was at least two hundred years old and was the first thing he’d wanted to get rid of when he first bought the house. But Bubbi, he remembered, had other ideas. He was glad she’d talked him out of replacing it. There was a large Turkish rug laying on the black and white tiled floor, with two potted urns under each of the winding staircases. It was a nuisance as far as he was concerned. Again, Bubbi had a different opinion, filling the urns with silken flowers crafted by local women.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
JACK OF DIAMONDS
Nigel closed the Bentley’s door. “Are you serious! We have our one suspect right in front of us—even if we don’t know what he’s guilty of, we know he’s guilty of something—not murder, but something—and we have to leave because he accuses you of smoking opium? Opium? The worst part is, he's right. You’ve been smoking it since I met you,” Sonia said, turning to face him. “And all you can say is that didn’t quite go the way you’d hoped it would? My one chance to make an impression on those smug bastards, and you—you do this?”
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
JACK OF DIAMONDS
Reggie sat on the train holding the violin case as though his very life depended on it; considering where he's bringing it, he thought, that could well be true. Dressed in the only suit he owned--threadbare and faded, the elbows shining faintly in the afternoon light--he hardly felt like the gentleman he hoped he looked like. Wearing a dark brown pinstripe--a colour Claire said did nothing for him--he pulled his tie loose and looked out of the window at the slowly disappearing countryside. The lush, green rolling hills of Devon had too quickly given way to the stark industrial reality of what would soon be London. And when did that happen, he wondered? One moment, he's sitting in his seat looking at the passing countryside, and the next moment, they're near a tenement row of houses, with swings and picnic tables in the yards.That was the moment he realized he hadn’t missed it. He shifted uneasily in his seat, his hip feeling sore because of all the time he’d spent sitting in the one position.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
Jack of Diamonds
CHAPTER 8 The ride out to the Lightninged Tree—as Richard preferred to call it—took a little more than fifteen minutes from Bedloe Manor. The road was ragged, rough in places where the potholes were deep. Most of the potholes were off on the sides of the road, enabling Sonia to make better time than Nigel would’ve thought possible in an automobile. He could see her smile when she caught him looking at the speedometer.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction
JACK OF DIAMONDS
Artie woke up before the dawn. His muscles ached from the climb up the wall last night, but he fell to the floor and did forty quick push-ups regardless. He wasn’t getting any younger, he told himself as soon as he finished. Still, it had been an exhilarating climb, even if he felt as if he’d been beaten with a cricket bat. He remembered how the first time he’d tried climbing he nearly fell; since then, he carried a rope in case he ran into any obstacles. So far, that only happened the one time, in London; and he’d broken a finger that time.
By ben woestenburg2 years ago in Fiction