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Rigby Taylor

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  1. Rigby Taylor

    Arnold's Luck

    Arnold bit the bullet and bravely faced his wife the morning after his second night in the arms of Fidel. The pair went early to the house before his wife left for work. She was in the kitchen when they walked in, gave them a cursory glance and returned to boiling an egg. ‘I’m moving out and will get divorce papers this afternoon,’ Arnold said as if he was going for a game of squash with friends. She turned with a sneer. ‘Who’s this? Your boyfriend?’ ‘I’m not a boy, but I am a friend
  2. Drink a glass of warm milk, Okiegrad. Worry exacerbates stomach ulcers.
  3. There's Fidel and Arnold... and Bart and Robert are pretty good in a crisis... Pretty evenly matched - if they all play by the rules.
  4. Every story needs a little tension, don't you think?
  5. Fidel dialled the number then passed the receiver to Arnold, who seemed nervous. ‘Bart? You probably don’t remember me, I'm Constable Jurgenz who… Oh you do? I'm flattered. I’m ringing from your parents’ place, Fidel gave me your number—I'm with him now. I wanted to speak to you about the other fellow… yes Lance, but not over the phone. Can we meet sometime?..... Today?..... Sure?..... Ok, sounds great… see you then. Cheers.’ He shook his head as if confused as he replaced the receiver.
  6. Not quite three, actually.
  7. He's too smart to run into the wrong people... His radar's functioning perfectly... and if they run into him... he's becoming a tough young cookie. Thanks for enjoying the humour.
  8. Rigby Taylor

    Arnold Jurgenz

    On a Saturday night a couple of weeks later, Bart and Robert had returned to their freshly painted and decorated apartment and Fidel was becoming bored spending evenings alone. He’d gone through all the music CDs in Sanjay’s collection, decided he loved Donizetti and Rossini but not Puccini, and was sort of interested in an old copy of Voltaire’s Zadig, but his muscles felt cramped. It had been raining for three days and was still pelting down so he couldn’t even go for a jog. The front door
  9. Blissful - lovely word. Ah yes, I used to dance till I dropped... them were the days. What system do you play? We used to play in clubs - International Master Points and all that, but here it's mainly women in duplicate tournaments and boy are they bitchy! When we simplified our system they kept calling the director to complain. Now with Bridge Baron and other computer bridge programmes, the game has become fun again. I never complain about my bidding - only my partners.
  10. When the owner of Bart and Robert’s small apartment decided to refurbish it, Fidel insisted they come and stay. In return they insisted that Fidel would join them for meals and evenings so they could be a family; not feel like boarders. Thus the kitchen came to life, the dining table a place for chatter, and the lounge somewhere to relax and feel at home—something Fidel had never felt. Much nicer than living like a hermit crab in the shell of his little flat. On the first morning, however, F
  11. Bart.... the font of all common sense - yes indeed. 'They' think they are taxing labour. You have to be a cunning demagogue, not clever to become a politician when the selection process is a popularity poll. You underrate yourself, Canuk. Clearly you were already a clear thinker before entering the hallowed halls of learning - otherwise you'd not have chosen that course. Hammers and nails - excellent analogy. Roman Empire similarities with the US are interesting - destroy anyone who gets in your way, then install a puppet satrap. Carthage cf. Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria...
  12. It's a laxative, Wesley - gives you the shits so can enjoy breakfast and feel comfortable and relaxed all day.
  13. And you,sir, delight me by allowing yourself to become hooked.
  14. Australia is the obedient, cringing puppet of the USA. When your government says jump, we jump. We idolise everything about the USA - Our PrimeMinister wets himself if your president phones him. He's constantly saying how we share all the values of the USA - our wonderful everlasting ally. Our government denies human induced climate change, refuses to support renewable energy or honest food labelling. Encourages multinationals to pay zero tax... is determined to mine more coal and open up new coal-fired power stations. Solar energy is hated although we are the sunniest country on earth. We are ruled by imbeciles. You read very fast.
  15. An hour later Fidel was bathed, patched up, dressed in his host’s pyjamas, drinking hot chocolate, nervously describing his experience with the police, and his ill-fated search for somewhere to sleep because he had left home. To the polite Indian gentleman in his late forties who introduced himself as Sanjay, and his wife Monique who spoke with a charming accent, it was obvious there was much more to the story than that, but just as obviously the boy was in shock, in need of rest, and there woul
  16. Rigby Taylor

    Escape

    That's lucky - You're hopes will not be dashed
  17. Rigby Taylor

    Escape

    I write misery well. Wow! No greater compliment is possible. Without valleys there are no mountains, remember.
  18. Rigby Taylor

    Escape

    As Monique is Sanjay's wife - your deduction is probably correct. Thanks for being hooked.
  19. Rigby Taylor

    Escape

    Fidel was scared. Shit scared. He felt like throwing up and probably would have if he'd had any breakfast. He had to stop thinking about what he was doing or he’d chicken out. His whole life had been one long worry that he’d done something wrong and would be punished, but this was sharper, more urgent, more exciting too if he could only stop thinking about all the possible consequences. Taking a deep breath he shouldered the backpack he’d concealed in a corner for the last three weeks, let himse
  20. Rigby Taylor

    Author's Note

    My stories are prompted by ideas that rattle around in my head demanding escape. Fidel is the result of wondering what life will be like in another few decades when the planet’s population has doubled to fifteen billion, food and water are running out, infrastructure is decaying, and the climate has become ever more dangerously unstable. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, commenting on social order in 1849 wrote; “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose”. A proposition I choose to interpret as me
  21. Rigby Taylor

    Fidel

    Fifteen year-old Fidel runs away to the city where he falls into trouble, then falls out again and then is too busy living to notice a quiet political revolution. He and his friends fall foul of the new government and, after a series of adventures, excitements and horrifying experiences, work out how to live, what to value and how to survive during a reign of terror that it seems is not going to end.
  22. And I've enjoyed your comments, Thanks. As for winter, it is the best time here, cool nights and sunny warm days in the mid to high twenties. No mosquitoes, plenty of fruit and vegetables. Bliss.
  23. Thank you for reading it. I hope you enjoy the next -
  24. Thanks, Okiegrad. I'm too soft hearted to have written it otherwise.
  25. And I look forward to reading your opinions, Wesley. Thanks for following the story.
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