Monday 4 July 2011

TEA AND CRUMPET ANTHOLOGY - FROZEN ANGEL BY LISA WORRALL


Here is a little excerpt from my contribution to the Tea and Crumpet Anthology:

Frozen Angel - by Lisa Worrall


He gazed at the angel before him. 
Her eyes were closed, hands pressed together in prayer and her head slightly bent. He moved around her in a circle and marvelled at the slender arch of her neck, as smooth as silk with tendrils of hair curling at the nape. Whoever had sculpted this piece was a genius. The wings were a work of art in themselves. Each feather had been carefully crafted in minute detail to such an extent that Joe was sure if he touched them, he would feel the downy softness beneath his fingers. Angels were his forte. He had always been fascinated with them, even as a child, and when he discovered his talent for art, his fingers just naturally seemed to want to produce angels in all their beautiful forms. 
Joe dropped his backpack onto the grass and slipped off his jacket, spreading it on the ground, before sitting down on it and toeing off his trainers. He picked up his sketch pad and rested it on his bent knees, curling his bare toes into the cool grass, sighing as the blades tickled his skin. The sun was warm on the back of his neck and he lifted his red-brown hair from his nape, feeling the slight summer breeze waft against his flesh. Then he picked up his pencil and put it to the paper.
He had no idea how long he had been sketching when a shadow fell across his pad and a deep voice said: “Wow.” Looking up, Joe’s breath hitched in his throat for the second time that morning. The blue eyes that met his were the same colour as the sky above him. Blue eyes that were surrounded by long pale lashes in a face so breathtakingly beautiful that, for a moment, he wasn’t sure if he’d been sitting in the sun for too long and was hallucinating.
“Um...thanks,” he said staring like a complete knob, when the vision shook his shoulder length blond hair and smiled brightly, revealing slightly crooked white teeth. Not that the slight imperfection made him any less of a vision. In Joe’s opinion they only amped up this man’s undeniable hotness.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to make you jump,” the man said, holding his hand out palm up in a placating gesture. “I’ve been watching you for about half an hour. You were miles away.” At the widening of Joe’s green eyes, he shook his head quickly. “Shit! No, no, I didn’t mean it in a stalkery, axe murdery kind of way. I just like to watch – oh bollocks,” he huffed out a laugh when Joe’s lips twitched. “I’m not doing a very good job of convincing you I’m not a serial killer, am I?”
“Not really,” Joe said, unable to prevent his mouth from curving into a full smile. “Keep going though. I’m enjoying watching you put your foot in your mouth.” Taking a deep breath and in a move much bolder than he was used to making, he held out his hand. “I’m Joe Roberts.”
“Ryan,” Blue Eyes replied, shaking Joe’s hand firmly. 

Tea and Crumpet is available at JMS Books

 

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