The Story – Be Careful What You Read

By T G Trouper

Daniel and the demure, and slightly shy Gabby are due to go on holiday to Kefalonia. Gabby, having received a bonus from work, treats herself to some clothes. Realizing she hadn’t bought much for Daniel, she sees an e-book in the window of a second-hand shop. With only one story loaded, she reads the synopsis and sees that it is a rom-com, knowing it's not Daniel’s style but still buys it for him. When he reads the synopsis, he finds the story to be a violent action thriller. He decides to save the book until they are on holiday, and in the run-up, the weather in Britain turns unseasonably cold. As he starts to read the story, he discovers it is a spy thriller but begins to notice strange similarities between the characters in the story and their own experiences. The more he reads, the more uncomfortable he becomes. He speaks to Gabby about it, but she dismisses it as a coincidence. He notices words changing as he reads them, and the e-book seems to be communicating with him. Gradually, the story starts to predict their future, a future full of danger. He feels compelled to continue reading and ignores Gabby, driving her into the arms of another man to fulfil her desires that Daniel wasn’t giving her. Too late, he finds out that he must never stop reading.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9781035860197

T G Trouper

TG Trouper lives with his wife in Essex, England. With four novels already published, he is rapidly establishing himself as an author of fast paced stories with themes that often challenge accepted norms. When not writing, he works in the sound industry preparing equipment for shows and concerts. He is also a singer and guitarist.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Bedtime Read

Daniel had read the paragraph for the third time, and had not taken any of it in, and for the third time his eyelids drooped. It wasn’t helped by Gabby lying beside him softly snoring. They’d only been in bed for a few minutes and he was astonished, as he always was, at just how fast she could drop off, when he had to read something for at least a quarter of an hour. But then again, her job, though she loved it, was intense and tiring. Eventually tiredness took over and the inevitable happened, the thing that happened every night when he was reading this novel on his iPad. He fell asleep and the tablet fell forward and hit him on the nose.

Ow, bollocks!

Gabby instantly woke up. What’s wrong? she asked anxiously, then realised what had happened and started to laugh.

Every bloody time, he grumbled, rubbing his nose.

Oh dear, are you a hurt little soldier, she said in an overly mothering way.

It damn well hurts, and look, he grumbled as he rubbed his nose and showed her a slight smear of blood. I’m injured!

Oh yeah, you’ve got the tiniest, teensy-weensy little cut, let me get a magnifying glass so I can examine it.

There’s no need to be sarcastic, it hurts.

Well you be a brave little soldier and Mummy will kiss it better for you. She leant over him and kissed his nose making an exaggerated ‘m-wah, m-wah’ sound. There, all better, now how about going to sleep!

She rolled over with her back to him and pulled the quilt up over her shoulder. He looked at her and decided to play a prank, he held the iPad over his groin and dropped it, but he wasn’t thinking straight.

Ow! he gasped, not faking though, grabbing his crotch as the corner had hit his penis.

What’s wrong now?

I dropped the iPad on my dick, Christ it hurts.

Well, that was a silly thing to do, wasn’t it?

It’s not funny, I’m in pain, you couldn’t kiss it better, could you?

Err, no. I know what will happen, you’ll get all interested and you’ll want to have sex, but I have to get up before you to go to work.

Well, I’ll just sit here and suffer then.

Gabby sighed. Go to sleep, Daniel.

You do look really sexy tonight.

She sighed again, exasperated. This grey, washed-out nightie is at least nine years old, I had it before we even got married, what in the world makes it sexy?

You’re in it!

I appreciate the comment, even though it’s just your way of trying to talk me into sex, which isn’t going to happen. She pulled the quilt up over her shoulder and turned her back to him. We’ll be on holiday in a couple of weeks’ time; you can ravish me then.

Will you go topless on this holiday? you said last year that you might.

She rolled back to face him, gasping in frustration. Seriously? you’re asking me that right now, in the middle of the night?

He smirked. Well, you’re all about equality, which I totally support by the way, and I’ll be topless, so you should be as well.

It’s hardly the same thing, Daniel, but why are you so keen for me to be topless.

I’ll be able to see your boobs.

Daniel! she said firmly. You’ve seen my boobs thousands of times, you see them just about every day, what difference will us being on holiday make?

Well, it’s all about context isn’t it!

She squinted at him, confused at the statement, What do you mean, context?

You know, we’ll be on a beach, and you’ll just have your skimpy bikini bottoms on, it’ll be dead sexy.

Gabby rolled onto her back and sighed. I have never understood guys’ fixations with boobs! She rolled back onto her side and as she did, she looked at her clock. Oh, Jesus Christ Daniel, it’s quarter to twelve! I have to be up and be ready to go to work at six. I have to present my report to justify my promotion and the bonus I got, which, if you recall, is paying for the holiday. So I have to get to sleep.

Okay, I’ll leave you alone. But I want to read a bit more.

I don’t know why you read books on your iPad, why don’t you get an eBook?

What’s wrong with my iPad?

You always drop it on your face, remember? Now put the iPad down and go to sleep!

Chapter 2

The Reward

It was a few days before the flight and Gabby was out shopping for clothes for the holiday; a week had passed since her presentation. She’d received a lot of praise from her bosses for the work she had done, and she was feeling good. A complete new set of beach apparel and eveningwear and a couple of pairs of new shoes were what she was rewarding herself with. She’d bought Daniel a new pair of Bermuda shorts and a couple of stylish T shirts.

She had finished shopping, and as she walked back to the car park she passed a second-hand shop. In the window was an eBook. Slightly concerned that she had bought so much for herself and not much for Daniel, she went in and asked for it. The shop owner got it and showed it to her. She opened it to see just one book installed.

The Holiday:

David and Gwen are a newly married couple who go on holiday to a Greek island spending time together on the sandy beaches and travelling through the rugged hilltops. A series of comic events unfold, and through this they find their love for each other growing ever stronger.

Tags: Romantic, love, girlie, comedy, rom-com.

A five-star review said: This book should have a warning that says it will leave you feeling all warm and gooey inside.

I’ll take it, how much?

Oh you can have it.

Oh no, I have to pay you something.

Two quid then. It’s going to be the last two quid I get here; I close for good tonight.

She stayed and chatted to the man, making all the sympathetic sounds, then left feeling sad for him.

Chapter 3

The Holiday

Gabby had filled both suitcases and both carry-on bags; Daniel was sorting out passports, tickets, and money.

Sod it, twenty-one kilos, she grumbled as she took her case off the scales. The limit is twenty kilos for each suitcase, and I thought I’d got away with it.

She plonked the case back on the bed and opened it. He leant over and took out her bikini top.

Well, you don’t need to take this, he said with a mischievous grin.

She snatched it back out of his hand. Yes I do! And it’s hardly going to save over a kilo, is it! my boobs aren’t so big that I need a one-kilo bikini top!

It’s a start, leave that out and go through the rest of the clothes.

Daniel! I am going to wear my bikini top! she said firmly, then smiled. I might take it off when we’re on the beach, only ‘might’ though.

You will!

You wish, she grumbled, faking indignance.

Nah, you will.

He moved some of her clothes around. Gabby, we’re only going for seven days; why do you need nine pairs of shoes, plus the ones you’ll be wearing on the flight?

I need to have options.

Ten options?!

You’re not a girl, so you don’t understand. Anyway, I bought you something today.

She handed over a box about twenty by fifteen centimetres. He looked at it, puzzled as to what could be in it.

Well go on, aren’t you going to open it?

Oh it’s an eBook, thanks babe.

Gabby blushed a little. It didn’t cost much, and I thought we’d see how you get on with it before buying you a better one. So you won’t need to take your iPad on holiday.

Thank you so much.

I got it from a second-hand shop. The guy practically gave it away. Apparently, it was the only thing that survived a house fire unscathed.

Daniel looked all over at it. It looks brand new. Why do you say he practically gave it away?

Well, his shop is closing down, and he just wanted to get rid of it. He got all the salvage stuff from the house fire and refurbished it all, but he said that since then his business has done really badly. He’d made a really good job of all of it and every bit looked great, but he’s just not getting any customers. I was the only one in this week.

Oh that’s quite surprising, refurbished furniture is very a’ la mode around here. He studied the eBook for a few moments. I’ve not seen this make before.

It’s a Chinese knock-off, I looked them up, the company doesn’t exist anymore.

Probably sued by you know who.

No, it burned down, and a lot of the workers were trapped inside and died, it was ghastly. There’s a book on it already, but I presume you connect it to the internet to download more, and I think you’ll need to, I don’t think the book is your style.

He sat down, swiped to open it and read the book synopsis.

The Holiday.

David and Gwen are a newly married couple who go on holiday to a Greek island where a dangerous game of cat and mouse is taking place between the American and Russian secret services. Contains very strong adult themes.

Tags: Thriller, danger, murder, violence, sex, torture.

A five-star review said: This book should come with a warning, as the depictions of violence, sex and death are the most graphic this reviewer has ever read.

He shrugged, slightly impressed. Oh I don’t know; it sounds right up my street.

What?

He read it out to her.

She looked at him quizzically. Are you mucking around? Because that’s not what is said when I got it.

Well there must have been another book, because that’s what it says here.

Okay, well you’d better start reading then.

No, I’ll wait until we’re away.

You’d better make sure it’s charged.

Good point, I guess it takes a regular USB micro B.

Yeah, whatever one of those is, laughed Gabby.

It’s one of those tiny ones, you know like your old phone had. Daniel looked all over the eBook again, searching for a charge point. Actually, I can’t see a USB port, in fact, there doesn’t seem to be a way of plugging it in.

Maybe it’s one of those ones that uses the electrical signals in the air.

"Maybe it does because the battery indicator is at one hundred percent. But I