Noeline's Stories
Once Upon a Time
"Once upon a time, in a land far away - "
Doesn't every fairy story start that way?
What if it started, as it could,
"Once upon a time, in our neighbourhood - "
And went on to tell us, in words most clear,
Just what happened in our yesteryear.
Maybe a romance, the girl next door.
Her first date with the boy she'd adore
For the rest of her life, through the years;
Joy and laughter, heartache and tears.
Maybe a street death, a tragic affair,
With a young life ended, no one to care.
"He's just a street bum, that's no loss."
Homeless and hopeless, who gave a toss?
Or maybe a recluse, hiding away
In his dark mansion, day after day.
No one knew, for he kept out of sight,
That he had been famous in his own right.
A great pianist, one of the best,
But illness claimed him, you know the rest.
So he shunned the limelight, kept to himself,
Alone with his memories, guarding his pelf.
Yes, what if it started, as it could,
"Once upon a time, in your neighbourhood "
Diamonds are - ?
"Come on, Evelyn - I just have to show you this ring!"
Cynthia caught her friend's hand, literally dragging her into the jeweller's shop.
"What's so important about this ring?" queried Evelyn, as they paused in front of a showcase displaying a quantity of beautiful jewellery, including many very expensive rings.
"Because James has asked me to marry him, and we are going to buy the ring tomorrow, and it has to be this one!" Cynthia pointed to her choice, a huge sparkling diamond in a plain platinum setting.
"Wow!" exclaimed Evelyn, "Look at the price! Can he afford that?"
"Indeed he can. A rich old relative died last year and left him a small fortune. He insists on buying me whatever I want."
At that moment there was a rude interruption. A man burst into the shop, his head and face covered, only his eyes visible. He brandished a revolver at the two women and the jeweller.
"Down on the floor!" he snarled in a muffled voice. Terrified, the three obeyed. The man took a spanner from a bag at his waist, smashed the glass top of the showcase and began scooping the contents into the bag, all the while keeping the gun trained on his victims.
When the case was quite empty he backed out of the shop, climbed quickly into a small car parked outside with its engine running, and drove off. Trembling, the women rose to their feet while the jeweller phoned the police, who arrived in about ten minutes.
They questioned the three extensively, but all the information they could give was approximate height, colour of clothes and a brief description of the man; though Cynthia thought there was something else she should remember. There was something odd about the man, but try as she would, she couldn't remember it.
Needless to say the car - stolen, of course - was found the next day, abandoned and burnt, so there were no leads from that.
The police told Cynthia that there had been four big jewel robberies in eighteen months. In each case the same man, a stolen car, later found burnt, and they had been unable to trace any of the missing jewellery. The criminal must have an exceptionally good fence.
Cynthia and James had their engagement party, with Cynthia sporting a slightly less expensive ring - not her first choice. James was in very high spirits - as, thought Cynthia, he should be on this occasion, but his good mood faded a little when a young, rather hard-looking man ambled over to them.
"Hi, Jimmy," the man drawled. "Introduce me, why don't you?" James hesitated, then said reluctantly,
"Cynthia, this is Ray Striker - Ray, my fiancée, Cynthia."
"Pleased to meet you, Cynthia. Jimmy's a lucky man."
"Yes, aren't I?" snapped James. "Now, if you'll excuse us - "
He led Cynthia away to another group, but then left her and went back to Ray. Cynthia saw him say something to the young man, who shrugged his shoulders and moved away. Cynthia hoped he'd go; there was something about him she didn't like - something odd about him, too.
The date for the wedding was set, and Cynthia and Evelyn went shopping. James had said 'Money's no object - go for it.' So they spent a very pleasant morning trying on some very beautiful wedding and bridesmaid's outfits.
Their shopping over, the two young women decided to go to a nearby snack bar for lunch. As they entered, they almost bumped into Ray Striker leaving. He would have begun a conversation with them, but Cynthia said quickly, "Sorry, we're in a hurry, Ray," and pulled Evelyn away with her.
"I take it you don't like him," giggled Evelyn.
"No. I don't, and there's something odd about - " Cynthia broke off suddenly. "Now I remember! His eyes - they are different colours - one is grey and the other is pale blue.Evelyn - he's the jewel thief!"
Quickly they rushed to the door, and saw Ray almost out of sight. "We must follow him."
The two women trailed their quarry, keeping a safe distance behind, and saw him turn into a rather seedy-looking apartment house just off the main shopping area. Cynthia had her mobile with her; she called the police, giving them a brief run-down on events.
Within a few minutes, a bevy of armed police were on the scene.
"You young ladies had better go to the station and wait there for identification purposes - there may be violence," they were advised.
The women did so, and watched with excitement as the police car pulled up with not one prisoner, but two. Excitement turned to horror as they recognised the second man.
"James!" cried Cynthia. "What are you doing here?"
"They are a team, young lady - and a very successful one. We always thought that there must be more than one operator, but we never had any leads. Now we've caught them with a great deal of the missing jewellery, obviously awaiting pick-up. Do you know this young man?"
"I thought I did!" wept Cynthia. "But how wrong I was. No wonder he always had plenty of money. Rich relative, indeed. Oh James!"
Limericks
There was a young lady from Perth
Who blamed her increasing girth
On the fact that each Easter
Her boyfriend would feast her
On chocolates for all he was worth.
There was a young man from Morocco
Who was blown away by the Sirocco.
When he finally landed
He found he was stranded
In a room that was really rococo.
There was a young man from Eton
Who would never admit he was beaten.
When a game he would lose
He would study his shoes
And pretend it was something he'd eaten.
There was a young lady called Karen
Whose life was exceedingly barren.
One day in a tizzy
She bought a Tin Lizzie.
Now she drives Formula One for McLaren.
There was a young fellow called Pete
Who had awfully oversize feet.
When shoes he would buy
The salesman would cry
And run screaming out into the street.
There was a young lady called Mary
Who was always exceedingly wary
Of strangers she'd meet
In the shops or the street.
She found them exceptionally scary.
Water (an adventure story)
The mist was still rising. From his window Richard Vaughan could see it, thick, white and deadly. Deadly because it was the life-blood of Planet Earth, siphoning up into the heavens, into that great silent space where an unseeable 'something' was lurking.
All over the globe, in this year 2060, Earth's precious water was being sucked away. As the planet rotated, so the mists would begin to rise towards that one spot in the sky.
Lakes were emptying, the oceans were receding, rivers were drying up and crops were dying.
The government had sent up aircraft, rockets, probes; none of them had reached their target. Nothing could penetrate the armour of the invisible 'thing' that hovered in the stratosphere.
Now they were pinning all their hopes on one last try. A spacecraft was to leave Earth on the night side, to ascend into outer space and hopefully to come upon the enemy from above and destroy 'it' with laser cannons.
Richard Vaughan was briefed, space-suited and ready to go. He surveyed his crew, and inwardly groaned. Not Kelly Bryant! A good navigator, but the kid was a pain - a real little know-all. Still, there were compensations. The Communications Officer was feminine, young, and rather delicious. Not that there would be time for any romance. This was a do-or-die effort - the last chance to save Earth.
The countdown ended and the spacecraft rose through the night sky, jets flaring, and headed for its planned position. This would take some hours, as the craft had to be well above the unknown 'something' before it began its descent.
As they put space between themselves and Earth, Marla, the Communications Officer, begged time off. As she wasn't needed just then, Richard granted her request. A little while later he had occasion to leave the bridge and check on something in his cabin. As he approached his door from a side passage, he saw Marla hurrying off in the opposite direction, almost as though she had just left that same door. Suspicious, Richard checked his cabin carefully. Nothing seemed amiss. Even his jacket was carefully folded over the back of his chair. Carefully folded!! Richard was notoriously untidy; his clothes were never carefully folded. They were usually left where he discarded them until such time as he felt bound to restore some semblance of neatness.
"So she's been sitting at my computer." Richard set the computer to detail its last instructions, and found his plan of attack detailed on the screen. "Looks as though we have a spy. But why would an Earth woman be aiding aliens?"
This was a serious situation. If Marla had been able to transfer those details to the mysterious unknown, they would have no chance of success. Any warning message to Earth would have to pass through the Communication centre and Marla would know.
As Richard hurried back to the bridge, his mind was working rapidly, trying to devise some plan to avert the defeat which threatened his ship. On his way he passed a small storage cupboard, and noticed a piece of paper sticking out from beneath the door - a piece of paper which was behaving in a very odd manner; it was jerking backwards and forwards. Intrigued, Richard opened the door - and a bound and bagged figure fell out into the passage. "Marla!" gasped Richard. "But - you can't be here!" Quickly he untied the gag, and the girl panted.
"Your Communications Officer - she's an alien. She overpowered me, tied me up, and as she pushed me into this cupboard, she - changed into me!"
Quickly Richard told her what he had discovered, and how this had put his plan at risk. "You'd better stay in my cabin," he told the real Marla. "I don't want her to know that I'm aware of her deception. Meanwhile I have to figure out a way of foiling her and her people."
When Richard reached the bridge, he was careful to act as though nothing was wrong. Kelly Bryant, at the controls, turned to look at him, and seeing that the false Marla at the Communications Board had her back to them, he beckoned Richard over. He showed Richard a message written on a pad beside him.
'There's something strange about Marla; she can't stand bright sunlight. When we headed out of the darkness into the daylight, even though our windows are tinted against the sun, she sort of winced and covered her eyes - and now she's wearing dark glasses!'
An idea began to form in Richard's mind. He gave Kelly a little pat on the shoulder. "I think you're a pretty good navigator," he told him. Then he added his contribution to the message on the pad.
'Take this ship directly into the face of the sun; we'll come on to the alien from there, with the sun behind us.'
Richard stepped out into the corridor again, and called the Security Guards. When they arrived Marla was heavily sedated before she could resist and placed in strict security, while the real Marla took her place.
As the space-craft began to descent with the sun behind it, the crew could now see an enormous while cloud below them; a cloud which had not been visible from Earth. They came down fast, firing their laser cannons as they did so. As the huge cloud began to glow, Richard's craft reversed rapidly, and watched in safety as the cloud literally exploded, and torrential rain began to pour down upon Earth. This was something the authorities had anticipated, and safety measures were already in place.
Very satisfied and very relieved, Richard went to interview his prisoner - and found her no longer there.
"When we destroyed the enemy craft - she just evaporated!" the astonished guards told him.
Richard felt a certain regret when he thought of the attractive spy. Then he remembered that the real Marla was still there; still attractive and very much alive, and he felt a whole lot better.
A little Bit of Excitement
Elaine liked her job, but she had to admit that there wasn't much excitement in her day. She worked in a book store in an inner suburb of Sydney and her customers were, understandably, mostly the literary type - not given to excesses of emotion.
But, I repeat, she liked her job, and was always pleasant and friendly to her customers. That is, until the young man reeled into the shop one quiet Friday afternoon. As Elaine approached him with apprehension, he held out to her a small package. His hand trembled badly and his voice was slurred as he muttered, "You musht give this to - to your boss. It's very important that - that he gets it."
"I'm sorry, Mr Foster is away on holidays, and I don't have his address or phone number," said Elaine, reluctant to get too close.
"Doesn't matter - you musht take it and get it to him somehow." He thrust the package into her less than willing hands and staggered out of the shop again.
Left with the package, Elaine studied it with some interest. There was no name or address, simply a rather strange emblem stamped upon it, rather like a unicorn.
'Well,' she thought, 'I can't do anything about getting it to Mr Foster. It will have to wait until he comes back. I'll put it in the safe for now.' Which she did.
As there was no one in the shop, she went to the door and stood looking out into the street. She noticed a man go into the chemist's three doors away, and almost immediately come out again. He repeated this performance in the next two shops, and by this time Elaine was becoming suspicious. When the man, who was dark and brutal-looking, approached her, she was prepared for what he was about to say.
"Did a drunken dead-beat come into your shop a little while ago?" he asked her in a heavily accented voice.
"No; no one's been here for hours. It's very dull, actually."
"You are sure?" The man sounded disbelieving.
"Of course I'm sure! I've been here all day!" snapped Elaine, fingers crossed firmly behind her back.
The dark man glared at her, and continued his inspections of the adjacent shops, until he finally disappeared from view.
'Well!' thought Elaine. 'What have I got myself into? And what do I do now?' She decided the safe was probably still the best place for the parcel. She certainly didn't want to take it home with her.
When she did arrive home, she found to her surprise that there was a message from her boss on the answering machine. It was brief and to the point. "If necessary, contact me on - " Here he gave an Indonesian phone number.
"I certainly will!" said Elaine and immediately rang the number given. After a rather long wait, an accented voice answered the phone.
"Please may I speak to Mr James Foster?" requested Elaine.
"I am so sorry - Mr Foster, he had had a very bad accident and he is in hospital now."
"Accident," exclaimed Elaine. "What sort of accident?"
"Oh, he hit by car and the driver, he speed off - not stop. The police are looking for him now."
"Oh." Elaine was about to explain the affair of the package, but thought better of it. 'Less people who know, the better,' she decided, and after receiving instructions on how to reach the hospital in Jakarta, she thanked the speaker and rang off.
Now what to do? She simply wanted to have the whole affair settled, but the only way to do that was to deliver the package safely into James Foster's hands. Also, she was rather fond of her boss, and would like to find out how badly he was hurt.
Hastily she rang a friend who had filled in for her on occasions, and arranged for her to take over the running of the bookshop for a week. Then she made air reservations for the next day, and packed a small case.
Next day she called at the bookshop early, removed the package from the safe and put it in her carry-all. When her friend arrived, she left the shop keys with her, thanked her profusely and took a taxi to the airport. As she alighted, she noticed another taxi pull up nearby, and the dark man of the day before alight. He kept his face averted, but Elaine recognised him.
'Oh boy! What do I do now?' She hurried into the terminal with her case and bag, and straight to the Rest Room. Once there, she took out the package and examined it. it was oblong in shape, wrapped in brown paper and tied with cord, and weighed very little.
Hastily she unwrapped it, and found inside a plain cardboard box. Opening one end of the box, she saw another small cylindrical package, about five inches long. Elaine unlocked her suitcase and placed this package at the bottom, wrapped in a T-shirt. Now, what to replace it with? A cylinder about five inches long? Of course! An almost empty toilet roll, stuffed with some more paper to give it some body; into the box and all wrapped up in the brown paper again. This parcel went back into her carry-all. Then she tucked her purse and passport into her jacket pockets, and taking a deep breath, stepped out of the Rest Room and over to the check-in desk.
Her case safely on its way to the aircraft, she breathed easier, and went with others to the boarding gate, as her flight number had already been called.
Suddenly, in the crowd, someone bumped into her, the carry-all was snatched from her hands, and she caught a glimpse of the dark man taking off towards the terminal doors.
A young man beside her said, astonished, "That fellow snatched your bag. Aren't you going to raise the alarm?"
Elaine, desperate to stop him making a fuss put her finger to her lips. "Ssh! It's all right. I'll explain when we get on the plane." Even as she spoke, she thought, 'There's something familiar about him - but I don't know what.'
Explaining turned out to be easier than expected. The young man had the seat next to Elaine. Once settled, her fixed her with a penetrating stare, and said, "I'm Tom Western - now, please explain!"
"Well - I'm Elaine Bright, and - " She then told Tom what she knew of the situation, and what she had done with the package. When she had finished, Tom gave a little chuckle.
"So your strange man has a roll of toilet paper which he thinks is an important package. You know, you live up to your name; you are bright! But what happens when he finds out?"
"I'm not thinking that far ahead. All I want to do is get the package to my boss, and hopefully he'll know what to do with it."
"Sounds a bit risky to me. Mind if I tag along? I'm on holidays; I've plenty of spare time."
Elaine didn't mind at all. It was a relief to have someone on her side; it made her feel a lot safer.
They disembarked at Jakarta airport, and directed a taxi to take them to the hospital.
When they located James Foster's room, they were surprised to see an armed guard at the door. He demanded to see their credentials, then disappeared into the room, saying, "You wait here." When he reappeared, he said to Elaine, "You go in."
"I'll just wait here," said Tom, and grinned at the guard, who stared back unsmiling.
Elaine was relieved to see James sitting up in bed. Although heavily bandaged, he seemed in reasonable shape, and was obviously pleased to see her.
"I believe you've something for me," he said.
"Yes, indeed! And it must be important." And she proceeded to tell him what had transpired in the previous two days. He, too, gave a little chuckle when she told him of her decoy package.
"That was very clever of you. But now you can relax. I am under government protection, and the package will be delivered to the proper authorities. Once that is done we will both be out of danger. I really can't thank you enough for what you've done."
"I didn't have a lot of choice," retorted Elaine. "But, anyway, I'm glad I could help. Now how about telling me what that package contains, and why you had to have it?"
"All I can tell you is that I am a government agent, as well as a bookshop owner, and the package contains a formula that will be of great medical benefit to all. A foreign company wish to get their hands on it and manufacture it privately; it would earn them millions of dollars. We think it should be used for all humankind."
Elaine had a sudden thought. "What about the young man who gave me the package? What happened to him?"
James gave another chuckle. "I think you'll find him waiting outside the door. He's very good at disguises, our Tom."
Elaine wasn't sure whether to laugh or be annoyed, but seeing Tom's boyish grin, she decided on the former.
"So, tell me - how did you avoid the thug?" she asked him.
"Oh, I collapsed in a 'drunken' heap on the nearest patch of lawn. The thug, thinking I was out to it, frisked me, and of course found nothing. He didn't have orders to kill me, thank goodness!"
"Then why did he follow me to the airport? He didn't seem suspicious at the shop."
Tom grinned again. "I think you were a little too vehement when you denied seeing me. He thought it probable that you had the package. I thought I'd better keep an eye on you.
Didn't need it though, did you?"
"No. I didn't need it, but I appreciate it. Er - are you married or anything?"
Tom wasn't married, then. But I think he's heading that way.