Crepuscular Rays

By Lara Biyuts

“Crepuscular Rays” is 6 tales. Crime. Actuality. Humour. Historical. One of the tales, “Red Wraith” is the next in the “OMG series”, the series of stories about and by Oscar Maria Graf, observant globe-trotter and writer, younger contemporary of Oscar Wilde. In the story “Red Wraith” he tells about Eric Stenbock (1860-1895) whose friend he used to be in virtue of his living in London. Oscar Maria Graf’s homeland is the fictional Baltic country Nyomanland. Oscar Maria Graf is the main character of my historical “Through the Baltic Looking-Glass”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lara Biyuts
• Release date: Apr 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311966940

Lara Biyuts

Lara Biyuts (aka Lara Biuts) author of 14 books of fiction, writer of the RevueBlanche.blogspot, collage maker for her bookcovers, translator, who signs her translations as Larisa Biyuts. Her novella A Handful of Blossoms is 2012 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention. Her works are accepted for anthologies: Cat’s Cradle Time Yarns (Time Yarns Anthologies), Authors off the Shelf (Lazy Beagle Entertainment), Of Words and Water 2014 (Words and Water group supporting WaterAid), Hope Springs a Turtle, The Black Rose of Winter, and Greek Fire (Lost Tower Publications). Her old tale and poems are featured on TheHolidayCafe.com (2013). Her poetry is on the monthly eJournal The Criterion (April, 2014). She is a Goodreads librarian.Her novel La Lune Blanche is the first of the series. "The novel is the world where pleasures of life and pleasures of art are just norms." (Turner Maxwell Books)“The author produces a setting which is detailed and believable, and also characters which the reader gets to know well. Also the plot moves along nicely through-out the story.” (April O., facebook.com)“Lara Biyuts’ writing is deep and multi layered.” (Maggie Mack Books, maggiemackbooks.com)“Lara Biyuts comes to us from the great tradition of Nabokov and Conrad, enriching our literature in English with the rich cosmopolitain perspecitve of the East European tradition leading back to Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Like those great masters she takes us also into the shadow world of sexuality with its hidden psychology, possession and sensual revelations.” (Robert Sheppard, Author of the novel Spiritus Mundi, linkedin.com)“The secret of Lara Biyuts is her tales. The secret of her tales is their charm. The secret of the charm is Lara Biyuts.” (Les Hudson, goodreads.com)Favorite quotes:“Follow me, reader! Who told you that there is no true, faithful, eternal love in this world! May the liar's vile tongue be cut out! Follow me, my reader, and me alone, and I will show you such a love!” (Mikhail Bulgakov)“Cowardice is the most terrible of vices.” (Mikhail Bulgakov)for emails: larisabeeATyahooDOTcom

Book preview

Crepuscular Rays of Hope

by

Lara Biyuts

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Lara Biyuts on Smashwords

Crepuscular Rays

Copyright 2014 by Lara Biyuts

Smashwords Edition, License 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 recipient. 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. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Crepuscular Rays

"The splendid murk of clear nights

makes murky light of the first sunrays."

(Lara Biyuts)

BELLE DE NUIT

(story of a perfect crime)

"All crime is vulgar,

just as all vulgarity is crime."

(Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray)

The sunset flooded into through the open balcony door. The red glow of the dying day coloured the man’s pale cheeks, lending the blond man’s face a look of a victim’s head seen through a bloodstained mirror.

His mate, the dark-haired man sitting in the low chair beside his, puffed cigar and said, Carmen’s on stage tonight.

The blond man looked at him with a hint of understanding in his eyes, but said nothing.

The dark-haired man continued, Leopoldine Monserrat performs the part of Carmen. José – the young Valentino. You are blind, Gray. We all your friends know how much Valentino in love with Monserrat.

The blond man’s hand with cigarette froze in the air. With no more sunrays, his white and golden visage was smoke-hazed.

The dark-haired man, smoke-hazed yet more than him, went on quietly, as though talking if something usual, She turned him down. Nice, isn’t it? Very nice, unless the only detail beyond your knowledge, the spicy circumstance that tonight, in the last act, Valentino will kill Leopoldine. Not his José. He himself. He is going to kill her for real. On the stage. In public. Your Belle de Nuit will perform the part of Carmen literally. Wearing her white dress-- white as the snow trampled by the crystal hooves of the unicorns that on the tapestry of your room are walking through the gardens, drinking from the amber basins and kneeling underneath the pillared portico, before the allegorical figures of Wisdom and Virtue-- though I always believed a red dress with a black bat embroidered on the top of the dress could become her much more. So, imagine the white dress blood-stained… Can you hear me?

Have you any proof, Arnold? the blond-haired man said with a slight quaver in his young melodious voice, Any proof about Valentino’s evil intention? How did you know of this?

It all is a secret for the time being. I’ll talk about it later. For time presses, John. A little more and even I, the renowned voyager Arnold Landor and your sophisticated friend, won’t be able to help. To help anybody with this difficult and dangerous situation.

In all appearance, his manner of talking about dangerous situations was familiar to his mate as the mate said, It’s true. Taking out his pocket watch, the blond man of the name of John Gray said, …A little more than an hour till the last act. The last!.. Shocking. I’m coming. John was about to stand up.

Arnold Landor gently touched his hand to stop him, You’ll make a scene on the backstage. The performance will be disrupted, you’ll accuse Valentino without any proof, and you’ll be prosecuted for assault and aspersion.

But something needs to be done!.. What to do?! In its all fatal simplicity, the poignant feeling of panic unfurled and rumbled in the blond head.

The two mates smoked no longer.

The dark-haired man said, Something may be done. Something actual and special.

What, tell me what it is! I’m ready for anything!

We must make Monserrat leave the theatre, suddenly, without finishing her performance.

Right!.. But how…

It’s difficult, but not impossible.

Exactly. Many ways. But I mustn’t come to the theatre, right?.. I mustn’t come to the show because I can’t control myself…my temper.

Right. Your temper. Too hot.

"All right. I’m not coming to the theatre. And