This month I have been mainly trying to sell copies of my last book Cakes on a Train. The reason for this? I want to be able to publish my next book, Die Harf.
If you want a copy of Cakes on a Train, drop me a line at aimfables@proton.me or krishna_francis@hotmail.com
In case you’re wondering what the next book will be like here’s an extract.
Sitting Ducts
This was not good. Mia found herself trapped in the tube of an air-conditioning system. It was dark, the air was clammy and there was a German boy lying on her legs.
“Hans?” “Mia?” “What are we supposed to do now?”
“I do not know.” Hans thought about this. “Sorry.”
“No. That’s fine.”
Mia was strangely calm. “I don’t suppose we’re in immediate danger.”
For a moment neither of them did anything.
“Could you get off my legs please?”
“Oh!” Hans hadn’t considered how uncomfortable this must be for his tunnel mate.
“I’m sorry. I was just trying not to get us noticed by moving.”
While Hans repositioned himself so that Mia could move her legs, a thought occurred to Mia. She felt in her clothes and produced her phone. She turned on the torchlight. The bright beam illuminated their immediate surrounds. They weren’t very exciting. Ahead of her a metallic tube stretched into the visible distance. The torch light didn’t reach far enough to illuminate any visible features. If there was a bend or a sudden drop, they lay in the dimness beyond.
“Oh dear.” Hans stated from behind.
“Indeed.” Mia agreed. “Well, we can’t go back and staying here feels stupid.”
With this she began crawling along the tunnel.
“Maybe you could crawl a bit faster.” Hans whispered to Mia. “I keep getting your feet in my face.”
“Crawl slower!” Mia hissed back at him.
Before long they reached a junction. Another pipe intersected the one they’d been crawling along. Mia saw an opportunity. She managed it so that she went a little further forward, then reversed round a corner. Hans, having taken her advice was far enough back that she was able to do this without interrupting his progress. As he came up to her, she said his name. This made him squeal.
“You frightened me.”
“You hid that well.” “Really?!”
“No.” Mia put her phone torch on
“My eyes!” Hans yelped.
“You’ll be fine.” Mia was grateful Hans couldn’t see her blush. She hadn’t thought about him as she put the torch on. That felt a bit selfish.
“Keep your eyes closed till the glow goes away.”
“What is glow?”
“Brightness. Colours. Shine.”
“I think I understand.” Hans said, not sounding like he did.
“I think they’re going away now.”
While Hans adjusted to the situation Mia looked at their options. In all directions the tunnel stretched beyond the limit of the torch beam. She racked her brains to think of where the stairwell was in relation to other bits of the building. She remembered it was about fifty metres from the lift. In this darkness how could she know which direction to take? Who knew if there was even a tunnel that led to the lift. She turned off the torch to preserve the battery. In the darkness she heard Hans removing his hands from his eyes.
“Perhaps we go along the pipe in one direction each?” Mia said, slowly, thinking as she did so.
“When we get to a bend, we come back her and share information.”
“That will take a long time.”
“Oh, sorry.” Mia said softly. “I didn’t mean to mess up your schedule.”