Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Mystery Hotel


One of my daily "must read" blogs is Mark Leslie, a Canadian writer, whom I enjoy immensely. Well today on his blog he has issued a challenge of sorts to write a story based around this picture. Though I have been slack in keeping my Writings of the Imp updated I do love to write and so todays post will be an answer to that challenge.

"Bella Minton"

"Just one more moment, Gentlemen and we will capture this moment for all of history." Mr. Mathers adjusted his spectacles, clearing his throat and Henry shuffled his feet, tugging at his shirt collar. "Ok straighten up and hold." The photographer disappeared beneath the fabric curtain and held up the flash bulb. Spark! Henry muttered and disappeared through the door leading to the kitchens.

Mr. Mathers hurried over to the photographer to shake his hand. "Thank you, and you and the missus can have a complimentary night stay here at the Bella Minton! This is a grand day, a grand day indeed!" His tobacco-stained teeth flashing as he grinned. Packing up the camera, the photographer's eyes widened and darted a glance around the room as he involuntarily swallowed.

"A complimentary night eh? Well umm that sounds grand, I will have to speak with the missus about it. Well I had better go develop this, will get it to you soon." He hefted the camera over his shoulder, grabbed his bag and headed for the front doors.

Mr. Mathers grin faded but the business persona took over and he followed the photographer to the door. "Yes, yes discuss it with the missus and we have a splendid cook brought in all the way from France! I am sure you two will have a marvelous stay. " He moved to open the door for the man who rushed out with a nod and a mumbled response.

Mr. Mathers moved back to the front desk and waited patiently for the first customer. Surely the new renovations and management would be enough to dispel silly rumors about the hotel being haunted. Jenny grinned at the man and walked through the wall to give her bet to the others how long this owner would last.

Whew..that was not the easiest thing to write, mainly because of the 300 word limit. When I write I tend to get very long in breath so I had to crop, crop and crop some more to get this under 300 words. I hope you all enjoyed this little bit of a story and to enjoy more click the link above to Mark's blog!

2 comments:

Mark Leslie said...

LOL - I like it, love the ending. Funny how our minds thought alike and drudged up "ghosts" when we saw the picture.

I know what you mean about the 300 words, because my first version of the story was 500 words, so I had to trim a bit off. Always a fun exercise though, and glad that you played along!

Breazy said...

I always love reading excerpts especially when they concern haunted places ! Have a good weekend !