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Excerpts
The Rat Of
Fury
By
Anna Fallon
CHAPTER ONE
“Miss Brightman?” Sunshine turned
toward the unfamiliar voice questioning her.
In the corridor of her office
building, Sunshine faced a medium built man. Dressed in full police
uniform, the officer looked directly into her eyes. She’d never seen
him before, never really seen any officer up close and personal.
Sadness lingered in his copper brown eyes. Sunshine's sharp sense of
intuition told her he didn't want directions to the nearest donut
shop. Something bad must have happened, very bad.
“You are Miss Sunshine Brightman,
correct?”
“Yes?” she answered and noted he
looked a little lost as to what to say next. With her heart striking
up a faster pace, Sunshine pressed him for more detail. “What can I
do for you, Officer?”
“Just a moment, Miss.” He turned
toward a suited man following about ten paces behind. This man
quickly closed the distance between them, quite frosty in his
expression. His tailored eyebrows touched together with a frown.
Large build, trim, tailored suit – looking like he had a purpose,
not just to get to her, for his whole existence.
“This is Miss Brightman, Sir,” the
officer stated simply.
“Very good, Harris. I'll take it from
here,” the suited man replied.
“Miss Brightman, is there a place we
can talk…privately?” his mouth smiled, his eyes didn't reflect
humor. Sunshine felt under examination, the way she thought a lab
rat would feel. Despite his cool looking demeanor, she knew he
instantly assessed everything about her on the spot.
“Yes, of course. Just go into my
office.” Sunshine extended her arm to indicating the wide oak door
across the hall. The pace of her heart slipped into a higher gear,
her moist palms clinging to her fingers, now curled into a tight
bunch. Closing the door behind her, and walking past him to flick a
switch, which blocked all calls. Sunshine made eye contact with him
once more. His steely blue eyes never blinked. His square jaw set
firmly, he spoke very deliberately.
“My name is Larson...Detective
Sergeant Larson, Hollowbrook City Police Department. Miss Brightman,
I’m afraid there has been an accident. A very tragic accident.”
“Just tell me,” Sunshine replied,
bluntly. The look in his eyes softened a little. If Sunshine wasn't
mistaken, she recognized a hint of admiration in them.
“Would you like to sit down?” he
offered, running his hand through his floppy dark fringe.
“Just tell me...please.”
Sitting down not an option in these situations, Sunshine remained
upright. Lord knew she stood too short now, the last thing she
needed was a surly, suited up cop standing over her. No, on
second thought, he is anything but surly. Still, she wanted to
feel in control. Pulling herself up to her full five foot four
height, Sunshine squared her petite shoulders. Her Chinese genes did
nothing to help her look formidable, but her attitude projection
could stop a bus. Having learned how to harness her inner-self, from
years of Kung-Fu and Tai Chi Chuan study, would hold her in good
stead now.
“Miss Brightman…your family…has been
murdered,” he exhaled slowly and audibly. Sunshine knew his eyes
watched carefully, gleaning every scrap of reaction he could from
her face. She tried to hold her expression poker-face straight.
The trembling started deep inside,
but she fought back the tears stinging her eyes. This shocking news
stunned Sunshine, maybe a heart attack or traffic accident, but
murder? Who would do such a thing, and why? Aunt Viv and Uncle
Tom, arguably, the gentlest people she’d ever known. They wouldn’t
even kill a spider; they just scooped it up with some newspaper and
popped it outside. The garden reeked of Tansy,
Basil, and Chamomile, to name a few of the herbs grown to repel
flies and other pesky insects. So why would anyone kill her family?
----------------------------------------
Snakes And
Ladders
By
Anna Fallon
Chapter
One
Lily watched the skin peel from the
back of the Python. Glistening new scales reflected the sunlight
beating down. Mesmerized, a wanton shudder engulfed her slim-line
body. Some said she possessed the body of a snake. No particular
shapeliness, no flaring of the hips, just a lean, muscular frame.
Not at all masculine, her hips
sashayed in an erotic manner, which drew attention from men. Lily
did not try to walk sexily; her body movement displayed a
natural undulation. Very much like the movement of a snake, she
supposed. Her eyes were still transfixed on the miracle of nature
before her, a sight rarely seen by the human eye, to witness the
shedding counted her among a chosen few now watching this
spectacular event. A regular visitor at the Australian Reptile Park,
Lily had been thrilled to hear of their special display. For six
months, the Pythons would be here. The shedding was a bonus. No one
expected it, but everyone sat in awe of it. Lily lived only
forty-five minutes away, in Newcastle, and, if anything special like
this cropped up, she could drop in anytime.
Unfortunately, those chosen few sat
with her now. The reptile sanctuary did not represent the place Lily
imagined her first shedding to take place. Filled with wonderful
imagery of India, Lily stuffed a mouthful of popcorn in and chewed
slowly, not shifting her gaze in the slightest. The Python slithered
a little and broke away from the old skin. How Lily wished a human
could do that, shake off the skin of the past and head into the
future, a clean, shiny new person.
Lily did not seem to fit comfortably
into the life carved out before her. Estranged from her mother, her
one brother off ‘finding himself’ and her father killed by fire five
years ago meant she led a lonely life. Her only friends seemed to be
workmates and pythons. She truly loved pythons, especially the
Indian Python she watched now. They could grow twenty feet long and
weigh two hundred pounds. Two hundred pounds of writhing muscle. The
snake now slid completely away from its excess baggage and continued
to bask. Lily shivered delicately and imagined her hand caressing
those bright new scales.
Everybody assumed a snake to be slimy
to touch. Nothing could be further from the truth. The scales felt
smooth and bumpy all at the same time. The pure muscular ripples of
the body of a snake could be nothing short of arousing in Lily’s
mind. Imagining a man so slim and lithely muscular, sliding over her
body and wrapping himself around hers came pretty close to perfect
in her mind. As long as he doesn’t eat mice! A surreptitious
giggle escaped.
A couple of hardened stares came her
way. Stuff it, you lot. No law against laughing. As the
shrill sound of her beeper imposed on the quiet, Lily swore under
her breath. Damn! Not another fire already? With three whole
days off, the beeper would only go off in a dire emergency. Oh
God. Hostile eyes from the small bunch of onlookers glared at
her. Quickly switching the irritating noise off, she ran back into
the reptile park office and called the down town fire station.
“Chief Peters,” a male voice
answered.
“Chief, what’s up?”
“Ah, Lily, yes…”
For more great stories by Anna Fallon, check
out her website:
http://www.annaf.net/
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