And so, along with Eggnog, with Nigel and Celina fiercely dating, and with Gerald living with Nigel, the four became inseparable friends. Celina no longer wished to work for Majestic Technologies and had resigned, much to the disappointment of the company, which already had enough trouble as its owner had vanished into thin air, quite literally.
The problem of money, thanks to Gerald, was no longer a problem at all. Gerald had insisted on helping his new friends with any financial difficulty they were experiencing, or had experienced, or would ever experience. He asked only to be friends and that they go on another adventure much like the last one, but without the bomb at the end. After the enquiry over the explosion was laid to rest and any suspicion dropped, Nigel, Celina, Eggnog, and Gerald booked a flight to Europe with the intention of backpacking around for a while.
The Entity grew weary, many moons had passed, and it had traveled a great distance. The journey neared its end, and after swimming the English Channel, the Entity made its way toward London. It had crossed over so many miles, they were hard to count and only once, at the foothills of Tibet, had the Entity been spotted. This was no mean feat, as the Entity stood at least seven feet tall.
After much searching and sneaking around, the Entity came to find what it was looking for. It entered the building, ripping the front door off its hinges in the process, and proceeded to the fourth floor. Moments later the Entity removed the hood of its cloak and politely knocked on the door of apartment 3B.
The flight was set to leave at seven in the evening, and Celina and Eggnog had gone back to her apartment to pack a few things. Gerald ran out to buy some travel toothpaste as Nigel packed his suitcase. He tried to decide whether he would have any use for his slippers while backpacking around Europe when there was a loud knock at his apartment door.
Funny. I don't remember buzzing anyone up.
Nigel stuck a finger in Jeremiah's fish bowl and swished it around, much to the enjoyment of the little fish. Nigel had bought a good-sized jam jar, which would allow Jeremiah to come with them to Europe. Following Death's instructions, he planned to take good care of the fish. There was another knock on the door, a little less patient than the first.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," said Nigel and opened the door.
Whatever Nigel had expected to see when he opened his door, it was definitely nothing like the thing that stood before him. To call it a man would be a profound understatement, and thinking back to his high school mythology and history classes, Nigel could think of only one way to describe the thing standing in his doorway.
A Minotaur stood in his doorway. A seven-foot creature with a man's muscular upper body, the enormous legs and head of a bull, with a large gold ring through its nostrils, dark eyes, dressed in a dark cloak, with a golden chest plate, and two long horns stared down at Nigel with absolutely no readable expression.
The Minotaur snorted. It pulled a small slip of paper from somewhere withinits cloak and read in a deep gutturalvoice.
"Nigel Amadeus Reinhardt?"
"Umm, yes," managed Nigel.
"I'm here for the fish," said the Minotaur matter-of-factly.
The last thing Nigel remembered before becoming unconscious was being smashed in the head by a very large fist. Twenty minutes later, when Nigel awoke to a worried Gerald shaking him violently, the seven-foot creature was gone. And so was Jeremiah.
THE END . . .
for now . . .
Thank You for Reading.
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About the Author
Andrew Buckley has been writing steadily since he was six years old when he wrote a story about a big blue dinosaur and received a gold star from his elementary school teacher. He had the good fortune to grow up in England where the sense of humor is rather silly.
In 1997 he moved to Canada because the thought of a country run entirely by beavers was amusing. He attended the Vancouver Film School’s Writing for Film and Television program where he graduated with excellence. After pitching and developing several screenplay projects for film and television he worked in marketing and public relations for several years before venturing into a number of content writing contracts. During this time he abandoned screenwriting altogether and began writing his first novel.
Andrew now dwells happily in the Okanagan Valley, BC with 3 kids, 2 cats, 1 beautiful wife, and a multitude of voices that live comfortably in his head. His debut novel The Death, The Devil, and the Goldfish is published by Curiosity Quills Press.
A Division of Whampa, LLC
P.O. Box 2540
Dulles, VA 20101
Tel/Fax: 800-998-2509
http://curiosityquills.com
©2012 Andrew Buckley
http://www.planetkibi.com
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information about Subsidiary Rights, Bulk Purchases, Live Events, or any other questions - please contact Curiosity Quills Press at [email protected], or visit http://curiosityquills.com
Cover design by Ricky Gunawan
http://ricky-gunawan.daportfolio.com
ISBN: 978-1-62007-124-3 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-62007-125-0 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-62007-126-7 (hardcover)
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Table of Contents
Appetizer:
Book Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Main Course:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Epilogue
Dessert:
Closing
About the Author
Copyright & Publisher
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Death, the Devil, and the Goldfish Page 22