Author's Note: In case you missed the posts explaining what this is all about, a few years ago, some friends and I decided to create a list of writing prompts where our original characters "visited" other books. Seeing as the resulting stories were too much fun to let languish on my hard drive, I've dusted them off to share on my blog :)
Enjoy!
Much love,
Saffron Amatti xx
'I get seasick.'
'First I've heard of it,' I said, pushing Lucas onto the boat.
'I'm a pacifist,' he cried, sticking his arms and legs out and catching the doorframe like a cat that doesn't want to go into its carrier, which is a fairly accurate comparison for most of these prompts, to be honest. 'Hunting whales is wrong, especially ones with a grudge.'
'Look,' I said, pushing him a little harder before putting a foot to the back of his knee and shoving him through the door at last, 'you won't die. Promise.'
'How do you know?'
'Ishmael - the guy telling the story - couldn't very well tell it if he'd been killed, could he?'
'He might. A lot of dead people tell me their stories.'
This was true, but I wasn't about to admit it.
'Well, Ishmael survived, that's all you need to know,' I said, retreating from the boat quickly and slamming the door shut, myself on the outside and a very cross Lucas on the inside.
'Saffron,' he yelled, hammering on the door. 'This isn't fair! You know I hate being in stories alone.'
'You won't be alone for long,' I said. 'You'll be meeting Captain Ahab and all that lot in a moment.'
'The loony who wants to kill a whale and will get us all killed?'
'That's the one.'
'Who are you calling a loony?' growled a voice behind Lucas. He turned to face the speaker, and his shoulders relaxed for the first time in a while.
'Oh,' he said, grinning at Tommy. 'It's only you.'
'That's "It's only you, Captain", sonny boy,' said Tommy.
Lucas turned to me again. 'Really? You're putting him in charge of the ship?'
I shrugged. 'Ishmael is the only survivor, but if you'd rather be captain...'
'Nope,' said Lucas, turning back to Tommy. 'If you're killing people off, much rather him than me.'
Tommy blinked. 'You're killing me off? Saff, I thought we talked about this...?'
'Not really killing you,' I said, waving a hand flippantly. 'Only for today's prompt. You'll be back again tomorrow in one piece. I think you'll enjoy tomorrow.'
'But I'm not going to enjoy today, am I?' whined Tommy. 'What's this all about, anyway? Revenge? I thought it was better to forgive and forget.'
'Yes,' said Lucas, turning back to me and making me feel very ganged-up on. 'Wasn't that the whole point of his story in your book, Sins of the Father?'
'I mean, yes,' I admitted rather reluctantly, 'but -'
'In which case,' said Tommy rather smugly, 'I forgive this Moby Dick fellow for whatever it is he did. Easy. And now,’ he added, pushing past me and Lucas. ‘I’m going to the pub.'
'You can't do that!' I protested, knowing full well that it was hopeless.
'Oh yes I can,' said Tommy, opening the door and joining me on deck. 'Are you two joining me or not?'
'Rather,' said Lucas, following him.
'Oh, I suppose so,' I sighed.
'Cheer up, Saff,' said Tommy, putting his arm around my shoulders. 'I'll buy you a drink to say thanks for not killing me.'
'Temporarily killing you,' I muttered, before remembering that The Brewer's Thumb is a much nicer place to spend the day than some awful sea. I smiled.
'That's better,' said Tommy happily. 'Now, let's get that drink in, shall we...'
Thank you so much for reading! If you'd like to see Lucas and Tommy in their real books (instead of hijacking someone elses), you can find them all on my website, or on Amazon & Kobo here - and check back next week for another topsy turvy book tour story :)