Thursday, September 9, 2010

SHADE (#fridayflash)

Press play for some mood music

When Shade pistol-whipped her husband, Amberlee let out a cry and fell to the ground. That pissed him off so he pistol-whipped him again shooting her a look that said, "Don't back down now."

"Get me some rope," Shade said. She didn't move.

"Rope!" Shade shouted. "This pig's not gonna hogtie himself."

Amberlee, stood up, fixed her dress and headed towards the utility closet when she heard him shout, "And some whiskey, too!"

She grabbed the Canadian Club from the butler's pantry and, after fetching the rope, returned to her lover.

"Thanks, baby," he said, sizing up the job. "Pour me some of that bug juice, huh?"

She did. She thought of the first day she met him at the Kentucky Derby. Even in that overbearing Southern Fried heat, she was drawn to that thing he had.

Her husband looked up at them. Eyes watery. Nose bloody. Vision blurry. He squinted at his wife, trying to focus, all the while wondering why he even brought her to Churchhill Downs to begin with.

Shade knew this was the perfect time. "Let's give him a show, baby..." he whispered, unzipping that tight green number she was wearing.

As she unfastened her bra, her husband wondered how long it would be before they'd kill him.

Amberlee also wondered. About how long the life insurance settlement would take.

And Shade? He just wondered how long it would take to con her out of it.
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Art: Robert McGinnis is an American artist and illustrator known for his illustrations of over 1200 paperback book covers and 40 movie posters, including Breakfast at Tiffanys, Barbarella, and several James Bond and Matt Helm films. Read more about him HERE. More of his work can be seen HERE.

Music: John Coltrane, "While My Lady Sleeps," courtesy of the Internet Archive. It can be downloaded HERE.

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30 comments:

  1. Very cool combination of illustration, music, and text. Gritty little flash.

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  2. Grit. Terse, tight dialog. Exposition of noir style, raw and clean. Crisp and sharp-edge piece, Anthony. Another home run, sir. You just keep smashin' 'em out of the park.

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  3. That is the sexiest piece of art I've seen in a long time. Nice tribute to it, Ant.

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  4. Tight write. Said it all in that itty bitty space Ant. Love it.

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  5. oh man those last 3 POV sentences just took this story on to a whole other plane of brilliance. Wonderful stuff.

    Marc Nash

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  6. Yes, the last three paragraphs were so wonderful because they indicated so much about each.

    Great mood music. Shade pistol-whipped the husband and "shot" Amberlee a look. Love that!

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  7. An unforgiving tale of greed and deceit. Nice choice of music as well, Ant.

    My favourite line was, "...she was drawn to that thing he had."

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  8. Love, love, love this Ant! I couldn't help but think of Chicago, maybe because of the music, but more due to the voice here. Fantabulous!
    And thanks for the link to the artist's work. Love the photo!

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  9. Like John I was mesmerized by the art - at the beginning.. then your story took hold and I forgot all about the picture. Great stuff, Ant.

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  10. As usual, you nailed Friday Flash with a tight piece of writing, Anthony. Short, sweet and not a wasted word! Well done, mate.

    Have a great weekend.

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  11. really like the voice on this one ant, great visuals and perfect mood, yep nailed.

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  12. a brilliant piece of noir! a good way to start the end of the work week. loved it!

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  13. A lot of sharp points on this triangle. Lots said in these few paragraphs too.

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  14. Fantastic piece! Short with a bite.

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  15. Short but sweet ... er, maybe not so sweet. But it's a terrific piece, Anthony - keep up the good work :-)

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  16. Ah, fantastic. My Friday is complete now. The art, the story, the music... nothing could be finer than this combination.

    Loved the last three paragraphs, too. Down and dirty and simply divine.

    Top form, Ant.

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  17. Excellent story. They're all left with a question at the end. Loved the art you paired with it.

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  18. Man! That is a hot pic. So's the story. You ace this genre, every time.

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  19. You create a pulp epic in a matter of just a few lines.

    Great!

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  20. Nice jazzy tune! Who plays it? I'm new to your basement, Anthony ;)
    Like you, I appreciate Hemingway's economy of words and Carver's clarity. I had to read them in my writing class. I went to Hemingway's house in Key West and was so inspired by it (and him, of course!) that I wrote a story about my experience there. Sorry, I digressed. Cool basement you have here. You want to eat some poutine? Come up north to beautiful Montreal, and while there, drop by neighbourhood at: www.claudiadelbalso.blogspot.com
    Cheers!
    Claudia

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  21. The whole piece packs a series of punches, but the last line pistol-whips it home. Great job!

    CD

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  22. A tight little picture of a sad bunch of people. Nice work.

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  23. That was so hardboiled it bounced like an eight ball on concrete. Great illustration too. Bad, bad people.

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  24. That was so hardboiled it bounced like an eight ball on concrete. Great illustration too. Bad, bad people.

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  25. It's a dog eat dog world out there. Ya gotta take what you can get. Rawr. The writing is sexy, pic is too.

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  26. They're all so rotten! Well, maybe not the husband. But what a piece. Very well done, Anthony. I need a shower.

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  27. "bug juice" - I've never heard that expression before, love it! Not sure it would apply to a fine single malt, however.

    Brilliant last 3 lines, telling all the backstory we need

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  28. A scammer knows they can't trust a scammer. She has another boyfriend ready to kill this one.

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  29. Wow. You never disappoint; do you? Great job.

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