This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’. Which can be found by following the link below..
PROMPT ~ You have a billion dollars in your bank account. How did you make it?
GRANDAD’S STAMPS
by John Yeo
I was fourteen years old when the seeds were sown for my fortunes beginning to arrive by the lorry load. My name is Sebastian Large, I am a self made billionaire and I put all my large fortune down to a combination of luck and hard work.
It was shortly after my fourteenth birthday when my Grandfather Albert died. This made me feel terrible and I remember crying myself to sleep, every night for a whole week.
Grandad was always a good friend to me and we used to laugh with each other whenever Mum and Dad took me to his house for a visit, which was usually about twice a week. Grandad was a tall man, slightly stooped in his shoulders with a shock of grey hair that was always unruly and usually in need of a visit to the barbers. He had bushy eyebrows and pale blue eyes that seemed to pierce through you to your heart. He was an ex-naval man, having spent over twenty years in the merchant navy on cargo ships. Grandad had been around the world many times over and he had a fund of tales and stories that he would relate to me almost from the day I was born. I loved hearing these wonderful tales of life onboard the trade vessels and the descriptions of the crews and sailors he had worked alongside.
Grandad was also a keen stamp collector and he had a roomful of stamp albums and stamped envelopes that he’d picked up during his travels. I remember looking through them with him many times, admiring the colourful square pictorial stamps from all around the world. Grandad would tell me many tales of the countries where these stamps originated from and how they came into his possession.
One day we were going through an album of old English stamps when Grandad suddenly turned to me and said,
‘Seb. When I take my leave of this world, I intend to make sure you receive my entire stamp collection. Take real good care of them and they will someday take good care of you.’
I laughed nervously and replied.
‘Grandad you will never die, I would miss you too much if you ever left us.’
Sadly a year later, Grandad died and I inherited thousands of stamps all neatly pasted into stamp albums and on many different sized envelopes. I kept them in one of the rooms in the house where they simply began to gather dust and spiders webs.
I left university with huge debts and a degree in creative writing and I soon discovered that budding writers weren’t paid much money. I suddenly had the bright idea to have my inherited stamp collection valued and perhaps they would raise enough money to pay my debts and start me off in business.
The day of the valuation arrived and I asked a couple of auctioneers to value the collection. Imagine my surprise when I was informed, Grandads stamps were worth hundreds of thousands of pounds at a conservative estimate. I was delighted when they were finally sold for close to a million pounds as there were some rare oriental stamps among the collection printed in gold leaf paint and some extremely early valuable English stamps.
This was my springboard to making me a billionaire. I invested much of this money in technology and oil shares and soon my fortunes rapidly increased.
However this wasn’t anything to do with the main income that led me to amassing my billion pounds.
No! I wrote down many of my Grandads stories and sold millions of books, some became films and plays and then several television series.
I became a considerably wealthy famous author and I bought and sold many mansions and even two private Carribean islands.
Yes I have a billion dollars in the bank, thanks in many, many ways to my hard working, seafaring Grandad.
(I picked up this prompt from a site on the internet called freewrite.com I was at a loss as to where to find my subject for the day. I think this response turned out pretty well and I wrote the above piece in about an hour. The words just seemed to flow once I got started and I’m extremely pleased with the result.I intend to publish it on my WordPress site and expand the story later.)
This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’. Which can be found by following the link below..
PROMPT ~ You and your ghost best friend are an infamous crime-solving team.
Image courtesy of the internet
DEAD AND ALIVE
by John Yeo
It was 3 o’clock in the morning when my mobile phone shrilled into life by my bedside. I came to consciousness rapidly, still in the throes of a wild dream, where we had solved a huge case for a fantastic reward.
I’m Case Cassidy, a private investigator attached to the Mutual London Insurance Company. I have been called in to privately investigate some large life insurance claims where murder has been suspected.
Little does anyone know that I have a partner, I like to think of him as a sleeping partner. He doesn’t answer to a first name, just his well known name when he was alive which began with the letter ‘C’. He was a famous detective during his lifetime and I must say I’m glad to have him around.
‘You’d better get that.’ came the familiar Italian/American voice clearly in my mind.
‘O.K! O.K!’ I replied, ‘Keep your mackintosh on!’
I punched the button on the mobile ‘Hello! Yeah!’
‘Hey Case! This is the Insurance fraud controller. There’s been some new evidence on the Johnson case that we paid out on last week. We’ve had a tipoff that the beneficiary is at the airport now fleeing the country with some ill gotten gains. Try to get to the airport before he leaves and tail him until the police arrive to arrest him.’
‘I’m on my way!’ I replied and slammed my finger hard on the disconnect button.
C’s voice came into my head instantly. ‘I remember we met the suspect a month ago, I remember him vividly. A smarmy sort of a guy who spoke with a cut glass public school accent. I’ll fly over to the airport now and keep tabs on him while you jump in your beat up Peugeot car and negotiate the traffic.’
‘O.K, but haunt him with all manner of three dimensional interventions until I get there.’ I found then; I was talking to thin air.
The six mile journey to the airport was fast and smooth at that time of the morning. I was lucky not to encounter any police patrol cars on the way. I got through to a noisy, crowded terminal one when C’s voice came clearly into my head,
‘He’s in the first class lounge on terminal three. He is drinking champagne and looks quite pleased with himself,’
I headed straight over there and produced my ID card to the airport security man and approached the suspect.
‘Hi Mr Johnson! Fancy meeting you here, I remember you from a few days ago when you were in our office in Holborn. How are you? Are you off on a trip?’
C’s voice broke into my mind and said, ‘Tell him he’s under arrest for grand larceny and fraud.’
Johnson looked somewhat shaken as he replied, ‘No, I’m off to visit family in Spain.’
Meantime in my mind C was growling, ‘Cuff him until the police arrive.’
I replied to C in my head, ‘Look you know I’m not a policeman!’
I replied to Mr Johnson. ‘Nice, what part of Spain?’
C was aggravating my composure with his comments when I suddenly said to Johnson.
‘Oh one more thing! I’m making a citizen’s arrest and you are under my custody until the police arrive.’
Johnson tried to run but the airport security guard stopped him at the door.
The police arrived and took him away. C and I were arguing for ages over the way this case turned out.
I woke up in a haystack at the side of a large field near the village of Sparkwell. I’d run away from our home near Dartmoor after a pedlar had visited our village with the news that the Spanish were on their way to Plymouth with a huge armada.
My name is Jim Wilson, I’m 15 years old and I can hardly wait to get there and join the navy. My Dad and Mum wouldn’t let me volunteer so I’ve run away to join up. Oh! I think I may be in luck, here comes a hay wagon.
‘Hey stop! I need a lift. Stop!’
The driver slowed and turned his weather-beaten face towards me. He was wearing a worn black outfit that most farmers and their vassals who followed the Puritan religion wore.
‘Hop on the cart son; I’m only going about two miles along this road. Where are you headed?’
I started to climb onto the back of the cart but the driver signalled to me to sit beside him on the front. I answered his question with the single word Plymouth.
‘Plymouth! that’s about ten miles from here. Why are you heading that way?
‘Have you heard the latest news? The Spanish are on the way and I want to join the navy to help with the fight.’ I responded.
‘No! I didn’t know they were nearly here. I had heard they were on the way to invade England and King Philip wanted to inflict the Catholic religion on us. I’m sure the Queen has organised a fleet to meet them, but I know we’re heavily outnumbered by the Spaniards.’
I introduced myself and explained that I had left home and had spent the night in a haystack.’
‘Probably the one in the field where I stopped to give you a lift. I’m Farmer Frank, Have you eaten anything today? No, I didn’t think so. Why don’t you come to our farmhouse and share breakfast with my family. My wife will look after you and we can see if we can find someone who is heading towards Plymouth Hoe. That’s where you are certain to find the English fleet. I believe Sir Francis Drake is in command of the fleet.’
I was so grateful for his help, I couldn’t help smiling broadly, I thanked him by offering to do some jobs around the farm for him. He readily agreed to this and we were soon pulling up outside some ramshackle barns and outhouses where Farmer Frank unhitched the horses and I was shown where the fresh hay was. I filled the feeding trough and poured some buckets of water into the water trough. I enjoyed a substantial breakfast and met the Farmer’s wife Sarah and their two strapping sons Terry and Robin. I was then asked to clean out the pig sty and the stables to pass the time while Farmer Frank went to make some enquiries among his neighbours.
I set to work willingly and cleaning and clearing up after the animals while Terry and Robin went off to work in the fields. Farmer Frank was visiting several people in the neighbouring farms and didn’t return until late. I must admit I was feeling dead tired when it was time for our evening meal. Sarah the farmer’s wife had fed me a lunch of cheese and apple with a huge chunk of rough bread earlier in the day.
Farmer Frank said, ‘Jim, not good news I’m afraid; nobody is going towards Plymouth for a while, but you’re welcome to stay for a few days and earn some money working on the farm. You can sleep in the small barn’
I reluctantly agreed to this and I made my way there and settled in the corner on some warm hay. I was so tired, but you can imagine how much sleep I got when I heard the sound of bolts on the outside of the door getting drawn and I realised I was locked in and a prisoner.
I tried the doors but they were firmly shut and I desperately searched for an exit to enable me to escape. I found a boarded up window high in the barn and began to physically break the rotten wood that comprised the window frame. A barn owl had made a hole and I smashed my way out through this, to the consternation of the owls that were screeching loudly as I broke out. As I jumped through the hole and landed on a pile of straw ten feet below, the farmyard dogs began barking loudly. A lantern was alight inside the farmhouse as I hobbled away, having twisted my ankle when I landed. I hid in a huge water-filled wooden barrel and escaped across the fields before dawn.
I was fortunate to be picked up along the road by a pedlar who was heading into Plymouth. This man was a tinker who made a living selling and repairing pots and pans. A large red-faced friendly travelling man who was jovial and glad of my company. He introduced himself as Peter Potter. He was shocked when I described my recent experience with Farmer Frank and said he would spread the word everywhere he went for people to be on their guard.
We were both surprised to find Sir Francis Drake calmly playing bowls when we arrived. Apparently the Spanish were defeated by the weather. I joined up anyway and soon became a cabin boy on the good ship, VIctory.
This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’. Which can be found by following the link below..
This will certainly be the final part of this series of blog posts. I decided to focus on an incredibly memorable section of our holiday in Thailand. Earlier we had visited a cultural show in Phuket where we photographed a couple of captive elephants in a procession. We were unaware of the controversy surrounding the use of elephants for entertainment at the time.
We had the opportunity to visit the Green Elephant Sanctuary in Phuket. This is an ethically run sanctuary that operates as a retirement home for elephants. Mainly elephants rescued from cruelty and for retired working elephants. The sanctuary doesn’t promote elephant riding or performances and is famous for it’s treatment of these beautiful creatures.
We booked a half day visit and we were incredibly impressed with the spacious layout of the sanctuary which is situated in a large jungle area with large spaces that enable these impressive creatures to freely roam around.
First we were welcomed by one of the keepers who gathered everyone together and delivered an interesting, informative talk on the sanctuary and some safety tips for when we got close up to the elephants.
Firstly we were provided with baskets of bananas. We then met and hand-fed some of the residents. This was done from a distance as we were taught to hold the banana towards the elephant who grasped it with his trunk. There were always keepers hovering as the visitors slowly became more confident of interacting with the elephants.
There was a cute baby calf elephant who captured the hearts of everyone on the site. The mother was pregnant when she was rescued and actually gave birth to her calf in the sanctuary.
An onsite photographer was taking photographs of the visitors interacting with the elephants and these were later to be downloaded onto Facebook and freely available.
We were led to an area where the elephants and an onsite night keeper spend their nights. This was accompanied by an interesting lecture by a keeper with the opportunity to question her on the treatment and some of the stories of where these beautiful creatures had arrived from.
Next came a highlight of our visit, when we had a mud bath with the elephants. After we had thoroughly coated them with a thick coating of mud; which they enjoyed immensely; we then shared a large elephant shower where we proceeded to clean off the mud. Wonderful fun for everyone concerned, both the pachyderms and the humans. Good thing we remembered to bring our swimsuits!
Finally we showered in some conventional showers and we enjoyed a tasty meal of Thai curry and rice accompanied by fresh fruit.
Prompt ~ Explore what your travels in Asia have been like.
THAILAND (4)
by John Yeo
We were absolutely delighted with our visit to Tiger World and we thought this would be an unmatchable memory of our visit to Phuket. However, our visit to Thailand was not over yet.
The above photograph is of a trio that entertained the resort guests in two of the dining areas most nights of the week during our stay. They were incredibly good and we enjoyed their music, which was mostly hits made famous by British and USA pop stars. I made enquiries trying to ascertain what name they were known by. Apparently they didn’t have a name, they were just happy to play together in the resort, entertaining the guests for a living. I guess they were paid a wage by the management.
Both Margaret and I are gardeners and grow-your-own enthusiasts and we decided to hire a taxi for the day,with a view to exploring the agricultural areas on the island. This proved to be a disappointment as far as the agricultural areas were concerned but the driver did provide an interesting tour of the island’s tourist areas and a couple of blatant tourist traps.
We passed many small roadside, beachside thriving businesses along the route and I opened the taxi window and began snapping off photographs along our way.
I would have loved to have stopped along the way to photograph some of these entrepreneurs and their shacks.
We were taken on a hair-raising ride along a narrow road through a large, select, private beach, fronted with busy small businesses.
I think the driver was taking a shortcut to our first stop, an impressive viewpoint high on some cliffs overlooking a bay containing an island with many small craft on the blue sea.
This was known as the windmill viewpoint in respect of a huge wind turbine that was nearby. We took many photographs here as the scenery was particularly beautiful.
I asked the driver to take us to an agricultural area and he asked if we would like to visit a museum first. We agreed to this thinking it would be a museum of Thai life. This was the first tourist trap, the museum was a large warehouse containing thousands of seashells of various shapes and sizes. We were charged an entrance fee and we declined to purchase any of the shell souvenirs in the gift shop.
Again I requested a trip to the agricultural areas, but he responded with a blank reply and asked if we would visit another museum area first. We agreed to this and we were taken to a huge oriental diamond and precious stones business, where we wandered around accompanied by an oriental salesperson.
The displays of precious gems were amazing and we were somewhat puzzled and entranced. This was obviously another tourist trap and we declined to purchase anything during our visit. Photographs were strictly prohibited here.
I display a couple of beach side seashore photos I took through the car window along the way back to our resort.
I then began to get quite annoyed as our day was coming to an end and we were unlikely to have time to drive out to a rural area.
Our driver stopped in the car park of a large hotel that contained a large hothouse full of salad plants growing with aquaculture.
Not quite what we had in mind at the beginning of the trip. We paid 1500 baht for the day. Our lesson for future reference would be to be absolutely sure of where you want to go before you engage a taxi for a day of sightseeing in Thailand.
Prompt ~ Explore what your travels in Asia have been like.
THAILAND (3)
by John Yeo
During our visit to the Thai Hua museum, which is housed in an old school building, built in the Portuguese style, we were impressed at the huge influence the Chinese community had on Phuket. We were able to examine many photographs and artefacts relating to the early Chinese immigrants here. This was a great informative cultural episode in our visit to Thailand.
We were enormously impressed with the sunsets and the wild life in Thailand and I couldn’t resist snapping a few photographs during our visit.
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Then came one of the huge highlights of our visit to Phuket island in Thailand when we visited a facility called the Tiger Kingdom.
This tourist attraction is laid out in three areas where the visitors can interact with their choice of Tiger by size, ranging from cub to full grown.The most popular area was the cage containing the tiger cubs. The areas were individually priced or there is a ticket available for all three areas.
We chose to visit a cage containing fully grown adult tigers. We waited quite a while for our turn in a long queue and we had to sign a form that effectively stated we knew the dangers and would follow the printed rules.
We entered a cage containing two full grown tigers accompanied by a keeper, armed with a bamboo pole and a professional photographer. Apparently the bamboo pole is used as a form of control by the keeper. If the tiger shows any sign of aggression, the keeper administers a sharp rap on the tiger’s nose. This is a form of control that apparently works.
We were then able to experience some extremely close contact with the tigers which involved stroking and petting them while the photographer took photographs. We had been advised to always sit and stand behind the tiger when we were stroking them and not to make any sudden moves.
This was an incredible feeling of our vulnerability in the scheme of things and we were both overwhelmed with the experience. We were able to take many photographs on our mobile phone cameras.
I was somewhat wary before we made this visit as I had read and heard many horror stories of cruelty to caged animals in the guise of conservation. I enquired on the net and I questioned the keeper who was in the cage with us during our visit. I had heard these magnificent cats were drugged to make them docile. I was assured they weren’t drugged and the reason they were compliant was because this was normally their sleeping period and they were ready for sleep. These tigers are bred and raised in captivity and their way of life in captivity, with food and shelter provided, makes them totally dependent on their keepers. So much so that if it was necessary; these tigers would never survive in the wild, making it highly questionable if there was any conservation going on here at all.
We did enjoy this memorable experience of getting up close to one of these huge, magnificent big cats. At least we can assume that our entrance fee goes some way to keeping them alive, even if it’s a captive life.
GRANDAD’S STAMPS
THE RUNAWAY 
MONDAY 5th OCTOBER 2020 ~ BLOG POST
I would have loved to have stopped along the way to photograph some of these entrepreneurs and their shacks. 
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johnandmargaret1607 