Sunday Serial: 280 x 70, 33 Yellow Sky, by Gill James, a pint of bitter

 Introduction

This collection is a collection of seventy stories, each 280 words. They were inspired by the first picture seen on my Twitter feed on a given day. 

33. Yellow Sky

 Tom had read about yellow sky and he'd seen it on book covers. He didn't think he'd even seen it in a movie. And here it was now.   Was it the effect of the setting sun?

The normally browny-grey stone of the walls on the promenade was scarlet against the yellow background. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Didn’t the sun set over the mountains and not the sea? 

He shivered. It was bitterly cold  out here. No wonder he was alone.

Should he quit? Couldn't he do an on-line course from the comfort of his own home? Wouldn't that be cheaper as well? Even if it meant he couldn't have Professor Rob Travis as his mentor? A Masters was a Masters, after all.

Maybe he should sleep on it. And he should eat. The cold air was giving him an appetite.

He turned his back to the sea. He heard running footsteps.

"Hey there," a voice called.

He turned and saw another student from the short story class he'd attended earlier, about the same age as himself, he guessed." How's it going? I'm Ralf. Ralf Anderson, by the way."

Tom took the extended hand and shook it.

"I was an undergrad here," said Ralf, “so I'm used to it. It's a bit bleak isn't it? But it's cosy. We're all eating at the Silver Duck tonight. Join us."

The Silver Duck was lively. Tom soon spotted some of his other classmates and sitting in the middle of them was Professor Rob Travis. Cosy.

He glanced back at the window. The stones on the promenade had returned to their normal grey and the sky was now dark blue.      

 

About the author 

Gill James is published by The Red Telephone, Butterfly and Chapeltown. She edits CafeLit and writes for the online community news magazine: Talking About My Generation. She teaches Creative Writing and has an MA in Writing for Children and PhD in Creative and Critical Writing. 

http://www.gilljameswriter.com 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B001KMQRKE 

https://twitter.com/GillJames 

Did you enjoy the story? Would you like to shout us a coffee? Half of what you pay goes to the writers and half towards supporting the project (web site maintenance, preparing the next Best of book etc.)