The club receded on all sides, everyone on the dancefloor vanishing from his sphere of consciousness. There were only two people left in the world, as time slowed and blood pounded in his ears. He could feel each heartbeat, distinct and separate, blotting out all other sounds. Even the band.
What was this oke even doing here, in a place like Valhalla, with his dayglo beach-wear and his ridiculous top hat? It wasn’t right.
Noddy knew he had to make the world a better place. He smacked the hat from its perch atop the long black curls. Before it hit the floor, Noddy had poured the rest of his beer over the man’s greasy hair and the circle of bandages that had been concealed under the hat. He could see each individual drop as it splashed off the oiled ringlets and carried on down to his shoulders, making beautiful colours and rainbows in the red and blue strobe lights from the stage.
Then the real sights and sounds of the club flooded back as the dude hunched his shoulders in the time-honoured “this is what happens when I’m wet” movement.
Noddy laughed.
The Hawaiian turned around, shoulders still hunched. He was no longer laughing. He reached a hand towards his hair in disbelief, eyes growing wider as his fingers confirmed the signals his scalp had been sending.
Noddy saw the widened eyes at the same time he noticed the Elastoplast across the man’s broken nose. Something about the look of those dilated pupils, combined with the tropical ensemble he was wearing, looked familiar.
The Hawaiian felt it too. Noddy watched in fascination as the eyes morphed from rage to confusion, through recognition into doubt, before returning via certainty to rage. Brows furrowed. Bloodshot eyes shot to the left. Head tilted to the side. Corners of his mouth turned down. Then a finger raised in a Eureka moment, and Noddy caught the memory as if by osmosis. The alley behind Mike’s Tavern.
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Read Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole book – 13 decadent twisted tales of mystery, music, magick & mayhem.
Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud. Including the new Burning Books sampler booklet (also available on Kindle Unlimited).
No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.
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On Black Friday (27th), you can grab an eBook copy of Dancing in Valhalla, and/or Big Day Out, for half price.
Visit www.books2read.com/b/Valhalla to find participating retailers.
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Join me at the Fontainebleau Community Market on Saturday, or find my books at Die Pouveer Craft Market in Alberton. Full details for both events – www.facebook.com/BurningRosesNovel/events
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Cheers.
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