"I'm just heading out to meet up with Noah and a few others, see you later."
"Okay, Sam my lad, but before yer go, how 'bout a little story?"
Sam rolled his eyes, "No Grandpa, sorry but I'll be late for my friends."
"You won't be late for yer friends, I promise, I'll make it quick."
"Alright, as long as it's quick."
"Tonight there is a Thunder Moon," his Grandpa began, speaking slow and quietly, making his words long and full of expression as he told the tale, "The legend says that on every Thunder Moon a curse is placed upon the old Cley windmill. The misfortune brought upon passers by gets worse and worse as the moon rises until the culmination of its ascension wreaks disaster upon the condemned! The marshes come alive and the sea churns with rage; the wind whistles shrilly under the orange glow of the Thunder Moon. Be careful wandering these parts after the sun's set, I tell yer, for a dangerous force awakens on a night like this."
"Okay Grandpa, but I'll be fine." Sam said with an eyebrow raised.
His Grandpa smiled knowingly, "I'm sure you will."
***
Sam shut the creaky wooden door and hauled his backpack over his shoulder, glancing back at the little cottage with cobbled walls and small, wooden-framed windows. The sky was smoky-grey and the clouds were like shadows of the growing night.
Sam jogged along the overgrown path alongside the marsh; he could see the calm sea ahead, and hear the quiet sound of the waves washing away the silence on the shingle beach. He heard voices in the distance and smelled the salty sea air.
"Hey Sam! Where have you been?" a boy with chocolate brown hair and big green eyes hopped across the shingles to meet Sam on the path.
"Hi Noah, my Grandpa was just telling me some fairy tale about Cley," Noah nodded like he was interested then dragged Sam onto the beach where a group of teens were huddled together chatting and laughing.
"Look who I found!" Noah shouted to them. A small girl with frizzy ginger hair tide up in a ponytail with a vibrant scarf bounded up towards them, "Sam! Amber dared Jay to swim in the sea with his clothes on!" she squealed.
"Well, at least he'll be warm... for the first few seconds!" Sam replied, grinning at Jay's horrified face. "I'm joking!" he said, "We can't have childish dares like that, can we?!" Amber scowled at him, she'd thought it was quite a good dare, thank you very much! "We have to have real dares!" Sam continued, "Dares that make your hair stand on one end when you hear them, dares that make you shiver at the thought of doing them," Sam paused for dramatic effect, "Dares that haunt you whenever you even THINK about them!"
The others stared at him with horror on their faces, all except Amber, "Go on then. If you think your dares are so terrifying, then give us one, and we'll be the judge of that." she said smugly.
Sam stared at the triumphant look on her face and he knew she thought she had won that battle, "Alright then." he replied, equaling her smug expression, "I have a good one in mind."
Amber frowned, brushing her golden locks out of her face; the battle was NOT over yet.
Hello there people! This is the first (very short) chapter in my short story Thunder Moon. The story was inspired by Cley-next-the-sea, a small village in Norfolk, England where I went to stay for the holidays. It's a lovely little place and we just so happened to be staying there during the Thunder Moon!
Side note: Cley is pronounced Clye as in bye/hi/fly/pie
YOU ARE READING
Thunder Moon
Mystery / Thriller'Tonight there is a Thunder Moon," his Grandpa began, speaking slow and quietly, making his words long and full of expression as he told the tale, "The legend says that on every Thunder Moon a curse is placed upon the old Cley windmill. The misfortu...
