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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
ii Three hours later Nigel was laying on the small bed, his body wracked with pain. He was feverish, kicking the blankets down because the weight of them were burning his skin; he tried ripping his shirt off but his strength failed him, and he ended up writhing in pain one moment exposed as he was to the elements. His skin was on fire and he felt as if he was burning from the inside, out. Sonia was sitting beside him with a wooden bowl of water and a twisted rag, trying to wipe the sweat that was puddling on his skin. He wanted to push her away; he wanted to tell her that the rag she was using was tearing the flesh off his bones—that it was peeling his skin off in layers, as if he were an onion. He wanted to scream out in agony, but he couldn’t move his tongue enough to form the words he needed. He tried swatting at her hands, but she was able to push his hands aside with ease, as if he were nothing more than a child. She tried telling him to keep his voice down, and he remembered thinking he hadn’t even spoken out. And then he heard his moans somewhere in the back of his head and realized what he’d thought was in his head, was actually him crying out at the top of his lungs.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
Jack of Diamonds
CHAPTER 18: When You’re Shivering in the Grave… i Nigel woke up with a chill running through his body that reminded him of France. He was just a boy then; he knew that now. Still, he’d been cold that first winter. It was so cold your bones ached.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
jack of diamonds
Chapter 17: EVEN SHROUDS HAVE NO LININGS part iii “This it?” Chernetsov asked, looking at the rust-stained hulk of the Minotaur sitting in its berth. It was dusk, so there was little more he could see other than a dark silhouette as he listened to the water slapping against the hull as it rested on the tide. Massive tie-up lines wrapped around squat bollards slick with seaweed, the lines running at sagging lengths to the deck above; he could hear the hull scraping up against the berth with every passing wave of the tide.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
jack of diamonds
ii The train out to Plymouth was s slow and plodding thing, and Reggie looked out at the passing countryside wondering what he’d gotten himself into. Guns; dope; Russians; the Solomon brothers? It was enough to make a man want to pull his hair out and scream at the top of his lungs. He’d have to be on top of his game, though; he’d have to be at his best. He’d been out of the game for so long now, that while Charlie may have felt confident having him back on board, Reggie didn’t feel the same way. He kept looking at his watch and looking up at the conductor, wanting time to press on. He wanted this over with; he wanted to get back to Chumley Grove, and Claire, settling back into the life he’d chosen, not this. He looked at his watch again. He had to get into the station and set up before six o’clock. The deal was set for eight o’clock tonight, so it’d be dark enough not to attract attention, Charlie said, and Reggie saw the sense in that. There were no electric lights along that side of the docks, and while an inconvenience, he thought it might work to his advantage by keeping the meeting area small. But he wanted to get there earlier because he didn’t trust the Solomons; he didn’t trust Charlie either, but then, he knew Charlie. Still, there was always going to be that nagging doubt in the back of his head, wasn’t there? An itch that just wouldn’t scratch; a pain that wouldn’t go away.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
jack of diamonds
Chapter 16 part 5 (Skullduggery) The night didn’t so much wear on as it did slip by, Sonia thought, sitting back and fanning herself with the bowler that came with her costume. She felt good though, better than she thought she would, considering. Considering what, she had to ask herself? The fact that Nigel has yet to display symptoms of an early withdrawal? She was grateful for that; but the promise of it was still there, she told herself, all of the chills and aches, the puking and shitting, waiting for her out there on the periphery.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
jack of diamonds
CHAPTER 16 parts 2 & 3 “I suppose this is the reason these were the only two costumes left?” Nigel said, stepping into the foyer and looking around. Yesterday had been his first time in one of these palaces—there was no other way for him to describe it—and he smiled, reminding him of the opulent hotel lobbies in Paris where the Generals headquartered. They always occupied the largest of the suites, perhaps thinking rank had its privileges?
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
jack of diamonds
CHAPTER 16 Pt 1 SKULLDUGGERY As Artie entered the foyer at Marlborough, he thought it was about as close to home as he’d ever feel. There were the same wide bannisters on the staircase he remembered from his own youth, along with the black and white checkered floor he and his sister used to play on; potted plants, statues, paintings, bookcases, all the knick-knacks he’d expect to find in Rolvenden Manor were placed tastefully about the entryway. He looked up at the large chandelier hanging over the entrance and smiled. He remembered leaping from the bannister to the chandelier on a dare from his brother when he was sixteen years old. Well, it had been more than just a leap, he remembered. He’d had to take a running start, and that had involved running up a length of the bannister before leaping out and latching onto whatever handhold was available. His parents were furious with him as they had to bring a ladder in for him to climb down.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
JACK OF DIAMONDS
iii The sun slowly slipped into the distance, locked in a blaze of bright autumnal colours on the horizon. Willow trees were standing in silhouette on the horizon, twisting, bending—as if crying out in protest over the last vestiges of summers past—whipping their near naked branches in frustration as the wind picked up from the East, bringing huge storm clouds scuttling across a darkening sky. Tall aspens serving as windbreaks, bowed and undulated as though they were servants, while steely elms stood with the taciturn patience of age, along with fir trees, standing tall and erect, and looking as if they were rooks on a chessboard. The long grass writhed across the various hills and hummocks—every hump, knoll, prominence, and tor—the long blades rippling in the setting sun as though waves on an emerald ocean.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction
jack of diamonds
“How are you?” “How am I? I’m still hungry. I told you I was hungry hours ago.” “Maybe later. We still have to make a decision about tonight,” Sonia said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face as she slipped her notebook back into her pocket. They were walking along George Street, approaching Fore and The White Hart, the local hotel and eatery. The sun was starting to set. Nigel supposed it would be another hour at the most. The east side of the street was Saunders’s pig farm, where they’d just come from; the west side of the street was thin, spindly birch and aspen trees which had lost most of their leaves. The sun came through the trees at an angle, dappling the paving stones ahead of them with light and shadows. The breeze had a bite to it too, but Nigel wasn’t about to tell her he was cold.
By ben woestenburg3 years ago in Fiction