My soon to be released novella, ‘Chopsticks’ is a gothic ghost story filled with mystery and intrigue. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but here’s a short extract to give you a little taster of what it’s all about.

EXTRACT FROM MY FORTHCOMING NOVELLA – CHOPSTICKS

     She never actually found out who stole the lebkuchen. They were the expensive ones that her Mutti would not buy. Her teacher kept them in a glass jar on his desk but refused to share with the pupils even if they worked especially hard. He would sit and munch on them, mouth open, talking through the crumbs as he garbled through algebra, or composition. When the class returned from the break the jar was empty, and her teacher was furious. He concluded from the offset that Patty was responsible. He dragged Patty from her chair by her arm and marched her to the front of the class.

     “This is what happens to greedy thieves!” he yelled. With his free hand he reached for a short can. He raised it above his head and managed to swish it twice at Patty before she grabbed hold of his arm. 

     “No” she shouted “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!”

The teacher paused for a second, before replying “I don’t care what you say, If I had my way I would give your whole neighbourhood a good beating and teach them a lesson!”

     The stick swished and swished. Patty could barely move when he had finished. The beating of a child in those days was not that unusual. What happened the next day was.

     The teacher did not arrive at school. Within a week, a replacement had been found and the class were informed that Herr Richter would not be returning. Patty found out soon enough what had happened. She had been sent to collect some books and overheard the conversation in the staffroom.

     “Poor Heiko, so terrible what happened to him, such a good teacher. They say he will never walk again”

     “Who would do such a thing? and in his own home as well?”

     “I heard there was not an inch of that man’s body that had not been beaten black and blue. It was as if a whole gang of men had beat him till there was almost nothing left”

     “I went to see him in the hospital. Never mind a gang of men. It was more like a whole neighbourhood had come out to take turns beating him close to death”

So how did you find this short section? Did it spark your interest? want to know more?

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