Eustace was a mild-mannered minister whom everyone liked. His
elderly parishioners looked forward to his visits and the school-children
enjoyed his slide-show talks, but at weekends he became a different man.
On Saturdays he locked his study, sat at the desk he had inherited
from a long line of fire-and-brimstone preachers, and wrote furiously. His
congregation cringed when he stormed into the pulpit on Sundays and scoured
their souls of hidden sins with his sermons.
Afterwards they filed out of church in subdued awe, asking Eustace
what inspired such eloquence, but he wasn’t ready to confess to being a
ghost-writer.
.................................................................
Thanks once again to Rochelle http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/ for this week's Friday Fictioneers' photo prompt.
This picture immediately made me think of my father - he used to write his sermons at a similar desk, although Pa needed no ghosts to inspire his sermons.
If you follow the link on Rochelle's blog you can read what the photograph meant to other writers.
Is there no bottom to your well of ideas, Liz?
ReplyDeleteI love the way you write!
Helen
Thank you, Helen, and I hope the well won't run dry while my writing hand still works!
DeleteThat desk would inspire some very serious works, I imagine!
ReplyDeleteIt looks awfully battered, though - if it was mine I'd give it some TLC.
DeleteIs this post a confession? :-)
ReplyDeleteNope!
DeleteHmmm, must find a desk like that. It has all sorts of possibilities!
ReplyDeleteAll those drawers without handles must hide some secrets.
DeleteAh.. the brimstone of the past preachers talking.. a little bit Jekyll and Hide here..
ReplyDeleteCould be = that hadn't occurred to me. I was thinking more of actual hauntings.
DeleteVoices from the past scouring sin from today's souls. I loved the name Eustace--a perfect fit for this story.
ReplyDeleteThank you Russell - it's a grand name, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteDear Liz,
ReplyDeleteA ghost writer? Would that be a Holy Ghost writer? ;) Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
:D Nice one, Rochelle - that hadn't occurred to me!
ReplyDelete"scoured their souls" I can hear him ranting and raving! Kudos,
ReplyDeleteSo can I Alicia - thanks for commenting on that phrase.
DeleteI like Rochelle's comment of the "Holy Ghost" writer.
ReplyDeleteGood story.
Maybe we all are a little different people on Sabbaths.
Randy
Some of us go to church, others have a big breakfast!
Delete'scouring' sins sounds so ... well... painful. Nicely done.
ReplyDeletePerhaps pain is the only way to cleanse a soul?
Deletelove where you took this... i can almost envision Eustace writing furiously on the desk. i'd love to own an antique desk. just imagine all the secrets that it had heard and witnessed over the years! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope one day to inherit my father's desk - it's still there in Mum's flat, waiting!
DeleteLoved this! It was a great fascinating read. I now have this vision unfolding in my head - which is good thing --- and that line "ghost writer" ---- brilliantly woven in!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat - that line was a happy afterthought - ~I so nearly wrote something else!
DeleteSometimes things just work themselves out - in ways unexpected :)
DeleteMust be a very spirited Ghost writer. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteHeehee! Very clever! Thanks Subroto!
DeleteI picture said ghost rider in a long tailed coat, a bible under his arm, standing on a cliff in the desert, the blazing sun setting behind him. Not bad for 100 words. Thanks for the image.
ReplyDeleteWith a Western tune playing in the background? Except he's a ghost WRITER - but who am I to deny you your own interpretation? :~)
DeleteDear Lizy, Absolutely perfect and I love the name Eustace! Where do you come up with your ideas? Brilliant, just brilliant! I love Rochelle's Holy Ghost Writer note too. You are very interesting and such a talented author! Nan
ReplyDeleteThanks Nan - I knew his name had to be old-fashioned and my late mother-in-law's crossword solver's book has scores of useful names!
DeleteLiz, I bet no one fell asleep during his sermons. I think we need a little more of that. There are too many boring speakers. Humorous and well written. :) ---Susan
ReplyDeleteThey wouldn't dare, would they? My own father's sermons were a hard act to follow.
Delete