Harvey sat down at the table. As he did so a middle-aged man in a suit came over and handed him a newspaper.
“Ah, thank you, Winston.” Harvey said.
“Of course, sir. And what will you have for breakfast this morning?” Winston asked.
“Just eggs and toast this morning please, I am feeling something light today. Oh, and an orange juice as well as my coffee.” Harvey answered.
“Right away, sir.” Winston said as he turned and walked toward the kitchen.
Harvey thumbed through the news section. Nothing out of the ordinary. A few thefts. Parliament in gridlock. Just another normal day. As he sipped his coffee, he heard a crash behind him, down the hall.
“What the bloody hell was that? Was that a window?” Harvey exclaimed, startled.
“Winston! Go investigate the cause of that noise.” He commanded, but was only met with silence. “Fine, I’ll just see to it myself!”
Harvey got up and made his way towards the source of the noise. As he rounded the corner he saw the broken window and glass covering the floor. He looked up. In front of him was a man walking away from him down the hall. Gun drawn. Harvey turned, slowly. As he did so he stepped on the glass. The man stopped. Harvey bolted just as the man raised his weapon and fired a shot.
Harvey had never run so fast in his lift. In fact, he had never had to run in his life. Huffing, he managed to duck into the kitchen as a bullet impacted the wall to his right. Harvey hid behind a table, cowering. The intruder made his way into the kitchen. As he rounded the corner he was met with a bullet. Lifeless, his body fell to the floor.
“Tsk tsk tsk. Serkov, you used to be the best. You’ve grown sloppy in your old age. Such a shame.” A familiar voice said, disappointed.
Harvey peaked out from behind the table. “Winston?” Harvey exclaimed, bewildered to see his butler standing over the intruder with a gun in hand. “What the hell is going on here?”
“We knew it was only a matter of time before the Russians sent someone after you since you outed their smuggling operations here.” Winston said, coolly.
“We? Who’s we?” Harvey asked.
“MI6.” Winston said as he began to search the man’s body. He took the man's weapon from his hand and put it to the side.
“Who are you, really.” Harvey asked
“David Cross.” He replied.
“So, you’re not really a butler?” Harvey questioned, now coming to grips with the scene that had just unfolded.
“I’m whatever the agency needs me to be.” Cross said nonchalantly. “Now come on, help me get rid of this body. Then we need to get you prepped for the police statement.”
Author's Note
In the original story, all of the Pandavas were disguised in the court of a king. They all took on inconspicuous jobs to blend in. After finding out that the king's cattle had been stolen, the prince looked to go take them back. One of the Pandavas offered to be his chariot driver. The prince initially refuses, but then agrees. Shortly after he finds out that the Pandava brother is a fierce warrior. In this story, I condensed the Pandavas into one person, the butler. Harvey is a stand in for the king. Instead of stealing property, the antagonists try to take Harvey's life. Unlike in the original where they succeeded in taking what they wanted, in this version the hero manages to save the day.
References
Image Information: Silenced Makarov
ReplyDeleteHey Chris, I really enjoyed your story. It felt very James Bond-esque. I am glad that you explained in your Author's notes how the story correlated to "Mahabharata". I thought it might have to do with the brothers hiding there identifies when in King Virata court but was not entirely sure. Great job, I'll try and come back later on to read more of your stories!
Hello Chris. This is a really interesting spin on the story of the Pandava brothers, and I like it quite a bit. The dialogue you put into the story reads very smoothly and feels like an actual conversation would, which is a surprisingly hard thing to do when writing something. You had a typo here and there, but ultimately this was an excellent read.
ReplyDeleteHey Chris! I like that you turned your story into a James Bond-esque type style. I found a few mistakes in grammar or punctuation, but nothing horrible. It started slow, but it escalated quickly. I think you could expand on this story if you are doing a storybook project. That would be exciting. I will have to read the original story. The author's note was well written.
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