An Odd Quartet

By Michael Brookes

An Odd Quartet is a collection of four dark short stories, each with a twist in the tale.

The Yellow Lady

A grave robber encounters a ghost from a story he was told as a child.

This Empty Place

At the heat death of the universe, the Grim Reaper contemplates his existence.

Forced Entry 

A special forces team enters a suburban house to rescue a family taken hostage, they encounter more than they were trained for.

The Reluctant Demon

A young demon prepares to take his possession exam.

This Drabble Enhanced edition also includes some of my favourite drabbles (100 word stories).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Brookes
• Release date: Apr 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497781481

Book preview

THE YELLOW LADY

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I’d visited the grave of the Yellow Lady many years before. Behind the screen of threadbare trees I’d camped on the rough field. The grave looked the same as I remembered. Now of course, I didn’t fear at its stark shape. The graveyard had existed for centuries. The more modern road lined one side; the occasional passing car disturbed my concentration. To complete the triangle an old chapel stood sentry.

Thirty years ago I’d camped here with dozens of other boys my age as part of a youth camp. The field in which we camped nestled against the graveyard. The tent I slept in lay within spitting distance of the infamous grave.

The camp was much like many others designed to keep poor kids occupied and out of their rough estates for one week out of the year. I loved it. I was used to the grimy city streets, the week in the countryside showed me an aspect of the world I’d previously only read about.

Through the day the camp volunteers kept us entertained with games and a myriad of activities. At the foot of the field lapped a large lake which drained into an even larger marsh. In the lake we swam and tried to catch fish with small nets. We frightened each other with tales of giant pike who would bite our legs if we weren’t careful.

We continued trying to scare each other in the evenings. By the campfire we ate burned burgers and told ghost stories. Our stories amused the volunteers with the thankless task of keeping us in order. They kept their story until last and we all sat spellbound as the group leader told the tale.

The Yellow Lady had been buried in the small cemetery well beyond the safe glow of the fire. At first she was buried in a pauper’s grave, not anymore. Now she lay encased in an iron casket, with iron spikes driven through the coffin. Her headstone was not the usual carved stone, but instead formed from iron in the Celtic form. Iron spikes ornamented the cross.

Why? We wondered.

The old man teased us, well practised in the telling of this story. He told us of the young woman, betrothed to the local Lord. They were paired in an arranged marriage that would provide him with finances for his estate. She’d gain nothing from the partnership, but her father would enjoy the patronage of aristocracy.

But she didn’t love the Lord, she already loved another. She loved a woodsman and he loved her in return. Even after the marriage ceremony she continued to see her love in secret.

We didn’t care for that part of the story. At ten (or maybe eleven?) years old I hadn’t yet acquired the taste for girls. The old man’s voice carried the story well, and despite the smoochy bit, we remained captivated.

Inevitably the Lord discovered his wife’s infidelity. She arrived at her lover’s hut, deep in the woods. She found him purple faced and hanging from the tree. His hands and feet had been cut off then placed in a basket.

She rushed to her lover’s dangling corpse and screamed to the sky in her grief. The Lord stepped into view. He battered her to the ground and in his rage cut out her heart and nailed it to the tree from which her lover hung.

To this day it is said that

Reviews for An Odd Quartet

[catya77 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a collection of short stories with a humorous while potentially scary feel.The writing flows easily and crisply. The characters and stories are minimalist in nature, which makes sense. Even though some of the topics can be conceived as scary or creepy, there is often humor in the writing which with the details not being gruesome, allows for a semi-light than normal tone for this type of book.Overall, a fun read!

[vibrantminds · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Four short stories that each tell a unique story. Overall the stories had interesting topics that held the attention of the reader and left the feeling of what's next. The following is a summary of each story and my thoughts on each.The Yellow LadyThe story begins as a ghost tale over a campsite, quickly changing into a grave digging scheme, and ending with a ghost show and tell act. For a short story this is all over the place. The sentences are too short and not detailed. It’s like reading point blank statements, not smooth and flowing. The transition between the ideas in the story is very abrupt and unexpected. An idea is presented only to have it changed completely and utterly thus altering the whole concept of how the story began. The idea is compelling but one idea needs to be focused on and expanded from there. There were three separate stories introduced, each one able to stand on their own if told with enhanced detail. The author needs to decide which story he wants to utilize and expand it from there. This Empty PlaceThis is an elusive story about the life of “Death” and his role throughout the universe. There is no point to the story other than “Death” is doomed to lead a lonely sad life. He witnesses death from atoms to dinosaurs to humans to the universe itself but he continues on. It is a decent idea but there needs to be something more to draw the reader in to know the purpose of what and why “Death” is, without an explanation it is futile. “Death” continues on after the end of the universe but if death has ceased to occur, “Death” should no longer exist unless there is an additional particular as to why that is the case.Forced EntryA SWAT team enters a residence only to discover a mostly empty house, a bloody bedroom and a bathroom with what appears to be a corpse that is talking. A door leading to a basement is forced open and the SWAT team enters and descends a great distance before arriving at the bottom to where they find people nailed to the walls screaming. A figure appears that has super powers and they are unable to bring him down. The room quickly seals up and the team has no way out and those above have no way in seeing how the door leading to the basement has vanished as well. It is a fast paced story that keeps the reader intrigued wondering what ensued but the answers never come and what the talking corpse in the bathroom has to do with the vanishing basement seems misplaced. The Reluctant DemonThe onset of possessing a human body begins at demon school, where Morlock has to come face to face with his reluctant attitude for the demon ways. He is forced to possess a teenage girl to pass his exams but once inside her body a pact ensues between the two. Morlock plays along with the girl as together they convince her acquaintances of her demonic possession. An exorcism ensues and just as Morlock feels he can take no more the portal to Hell begins to open, however he is thrust back into the girl’s body while her spirit is deported back to Hell and Morlock becomes bound to a human body. The girl’s character is somewhat lacking, there is really no explanation of why she would come to terms with a demon and have the desire to switch places. And what of Morlock at the end, is he content to stay in the body once the exorcism ends, after all he won’t have to go back to Hell and face his father. It seems like it could be a win/win for both parties if the girl is really that evil and Morlock not.