Gold
()
About this ebook
If you like comic erotica, tragedy, drama, adventure, horror, or just plain farce, these stories are for you. You will get lost in the back streets of Marrakesh, follow Will Saunders on the journey of a lifetime, shudder at the fate of a most unlucky urban cannibal, and laugh at the pretentions of Chang, the world's only vampire Pekinese dog. And that's not all...
Arthur Mackeown
My name is Arthur Mackeown, 65 years old, and a British ex-pat living in the hot and dusty Middle East. I first started writing three years ago, and have been published in several e-zines, and a couple of print magazines. My main hobby is travel,and I have spent time in India, Nepal, Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Morocco.My experiences in these places sometimes appear in my stories. I have worked at a variety of jobs, even as a sculptor selling work in local markets. I've also sold the occasional painting, but my dream is to become a full-time writer.
Read more from Arthur Mackeown
On The House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNext-doors' Cat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCopper-bottom's Downfall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Gold
Related ebooks
Scarlet And Hyssop Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMind of a Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bath Conspiracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blessed are the Dead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House at the Edge of the Jungle: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Story Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScarlet and Hyssop A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Private Wound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men at Arms: A Discworld Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love Among the Chickens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters of a Woman Homesteader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOver the Rocky Mountains: Wandering Will in the Land of the Redskin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPunch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105 December 9, 1893 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLord Jim Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventures of a Modest Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bride of the Sphinx Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOver the Rocky Mountains Wandering Will in the Land of the Redskins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScally The Story of a Perfect Gentleman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere the sky touches the land: Mythology, mysticism and life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Gentleman's Gentleman (Musaicum Vintage Mysteries) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Viscount's New Housekeeper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swords Reluctant War and The Woman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Tiger's Skin The Lady of the Barge and Others, Part 8. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Fairy Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLord Jim (Annotated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoems for Pale People: A Volume of Verse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeven Roads to Travel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Little Colonel in Arizona Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Performing Arts For You
The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hamlet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Macbeth (new classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Dog Lessons: From Renowned Expert Dog Trainer and Host of Lucky Dog: Reunions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fifth Mountain: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romeo and Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hollywood's Dark History: Silver Screen Scandals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsheltered: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count Of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Women's Monologues from New Plays, 2020 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How I Learned to Drive (Stand-Alone TCG Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Strange Loop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Whale / A Bright New Boise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Gold
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Gold - Arthur Mackeown
GOLD
Short Stories
Arthur Mackeown
****
Published by:
Arthur Mackeown at Smashwords
Copyright (c) 2011 by Arthur Mackeown
****
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Smashwords Edition Licence Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.
****
This book contains dramatic tales of travel in far places, humour, horror and ghost stories and, occasionally, absolute nonsense. Some stories are pure invention, others based on fact, and I have done my best, in most cases, to conceal from the reader which is which. There are also several stories written in dialogue only. One of them—‘Next-door’s Cat’—is based on an actual telephone conversation. As to the truth of the rest—that you’ll have to decide for yourselves.
Hopefully, there is something here for everyone.
A. M.
***
Contents
Gold
Rocking-horse Paint
Twenty Dollars
Mirror
Can’t Catch Me
Say goodbye
Vampire’s Night Out
On The house
The Eyes Have It
Next-door’s Cat
The Yellow Road
The Shop Window
The Detective
The Biter Bit
Copper-bottom’s Downfall
Rose
***
GOLD
After a long, slow day in his cramped and musty book shop Mr. Green was dying to close up and escape to the pub. As he hunted for his keys, the bell jangled and his friend Will Saunders came in.
Evening all,
said Will. Got anything new for me?
Depends where you want to go,
said Mr. Green. South Pole? Outer Mongolia? A little jaunt among the Zulus, perhaps?
Anywhere, so long as it’s warm.
Let me see.
Mr. Green rummaged under his desk. Where did I put it…? Ah, here it is: ‘Camel train to Mecca—Letters of a gentleman adventurer.’ That should suit you right down to the ground.
The thought of Will Saunders, plump, bespectacled and sixty, bouncing about on a camel, made the normally dour-looking Mr. Green smile.
"Have you read it?"
Me?
Mr. Green looked gloomy again. I saw enough foreign travel during the war.
You don’t know how lucky you are,
said Will. His greatest ambition was to travel the world and experience all the wonders he read about in Mr. Green’s books. Up to now, he’d got no further than Brighton, yet he could speak with such authority of Ankor Wat and the pyramids at Giza you almost believed he’d discovered them himself.
Then why don’t you just go?
said Mr. Green impatiently. It’s always the same with you…talk, talk, talk, but you never do anything.
Go? Just like that?
said Will doubtfully. "I suppose I could, but…"
’Course you could,
answered Mr. Green. It can’t be that difficult. All you have to do is buy a ticket and someone else does all the work. Even you can manage that.
*
Will returned to the book shop several days later, interrupting Mr. Green in the middle of his accounts.
What’s this?
asked Mr. Green. Why aren’t you at work?
Never mind about work,
said Will. I’ve given in my notice.
What on earth for?
Because I’m going, Eric. I’m off,
stated Will triumphantly.
Mr. Green stared at him. Off? Off where?
"First Paris, then Rome, Venice, Athens, Istanbul, Jerusalem and then…Africa." Will sounded as if he intended to conquer Africa single handed.
You must be joking. On your own?
You’re the one who said there’d be nothing to it. Besides,
Will reddened slightly, who said I’m going on my own?
"Well, well, well, you have been keeping secrets, haven’t you?"
Mr. Green was not really surprised; despite his age and roly-poly appearance, Will Saunders possessed a mystifying ability to charm women like birds out of the trees.
"So who is it this time?" he asked.
Her name’s Dianne,
said Will. I met her at the bingo club.
Mr. Green laughed. And now you’re going round the world with her? You must be barmy.
You’ll see,
replied Will. I’ll introduce you when I get back.
I can’t wait,
said Mr. Green. "Just you remember to send me a postcard now and then, so I’ll know you’re