The thieving magpie

Prologue - Caught Red-Handed

Introduction

Before you begin your reading, I want to thank you for your support.

Having readers is certainly my greatest pride. And I am absolutely delighted that you are among the first.

I hope you will enjoy Anna's adventures as much as I do.

As you know, or maybe not yet, this is a literary adventure, written, but not only. So, as promised... A little further down, you will discover some surprises associated with this chapter. And at the end of it as well.

I take this opportunity to warn you.

This is a work of fiction, the characters are products of my imagination as well as the entire universe of the story you are about to dive into.

Some passages may seem shocking to you because they highlight physically and psychologically violent behaviors, sometimes in a very vivid and explicit manner. More precisely, here is the list of warnings concerning the prologue: Physical assault, emotional abuse, alcohol, addiction, depression. If you are a minor, vulnerable, or think that any of these warnings may affect your state of mind, I kindly ask you to stop reading for now.

~

This is probably what you were waiting to read...

Anna is not a fragile little thing, but her life is not always easy and her nerves are regularly put to the test. Perhaps yours are too, I hope not, of course. In any case, Anna being rather dainty, she doesn't wipe her tears on her sleeves and she doesn't blow her nose into the crook of her elbow either. I hope you don't either, but of course, you do as you please.

However, if you want to wipe your sorrow or your tears of joy with the same class as my dear Anna, that is entirely possible.

Lalie and Laly, a haberdashery located in Anjou, in France, have faithfully reproduced Anna's handkerchiefs. You can get them by visiting the Etsy website, at the LalieetLaly shop and searching for "Les Mouchoirs d'Anna".

You can also follow the haberdashery's Instagram account @Lalieetlaly_mercerie

If you have been paying attention, you may have already seen them somewhere...

Another thing, when I write, I always listen to music. For the simple reason that I write my stories as if they were made of musical notes. So, here are a few for you to immerse yourself in my universe. They go perfectly with the prologue in my opinion, this is just my humble opinion.

"Nuvole Bianche" by Ludovico Einaudi; "Casanova's Lullaby" by Vallierre; "J'écris ton nom" by Antoine Descrop; "Everyday Heart" by Ariane Sailer.

You can find this selection on the "Dernier conte" playlist directly on Spotify.

That's about it, I wish you an excellent reading.

~

Prologue

Caught Red-Handed

Her burning forehead and the pink of her feverish cheeks pressed against the damp glass of the small window in the conjugal bedroom, Anna cried.

The night before, her alcoholic husband had caught her red-handed, in gallant company, and he hadn't been gentle with her. After punishing her in his way, with slaps, unable to calm down and completely drunk—as usual—he decided to lock her up in their bedroom without anything to eat or drink. He then immediately stormed out of the apartment, furious, a half-full bottle of red wine in each hand, not forgetting to threaten her with the worst tortures and to kill her in every atrocious way he could think of in his deplorable state.