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Saturday, February 22, 2020

WEP: CAFE TERRACE IN 1895 CAIRO



(340 WORDS)

I sat on the terrace of Shepherd's. Shepherd's you ask?

Long before London’s Savoy or the Paris Ritz, Shepheard’s of Cairo was the epitome of glamour. 

I worked hard to keep it that way. 

It made Meilori, my wife, happy.

 It was a hotel from which explorers set off for Africa, where kings entertained mistresses, 

where socialites rubbed shoulders with officers on leave from the desert war, their uniforms still dusty with the sands of the Sudan— 

and spies hovered in the hope of minds being softened by the congenial atmosphere. 

Here daily thronged together some two to three hundred persons of all ranks, nationalities and pursuits – some legal, mostly illegal.


 Here were invalids in search of health; artists in search of subjects; sportsmen keen upon crocodiles; statesmen out for a holiday;

 special correspondents alert for gossip; collectors on the scent of papyri and mummies; men of science with only scientific ends in view.

Then, there was my "adopted" son, Samuel Clemens who hadn't noticed my mind wandering.


“Why I tell you, Captain Sam, we are on the verge of as grand and adventure as we enjoyed in the House of Life!” 



Oscar Wilde, our fellow fugitive from Egyptian law, sighed, 

“To quote Euripides: Sweet is the remembrance of troubles when you are in safety.”

 “Posh, Ostrich! We aren’t after buried alien star vessels this time but after the forgotten treasures of Pharaoh Two Tons of Almonds!” 

Oscar rolled his eyes. “That is Tutankhamun!” 

Sammy muttered, “My way of saying his name is easier.” 

Oscar scowled, 

“If that treasure map you bought from that ‘honest’ snake charmer is as accurate as your mangling of the Pharaoh’s name this expedition is doomed before it begins.”

Sammy chuckled, “My expedition will go down in history, Ostrich.”

I drawled, "The last time you said we would make history, we had to make bail instead."

Wilde shook his head“You Americans think that a cheque-book can solve every problem in life.” 

Sammy snorted, “Well, money may not buy happiness, but try being sick without it!”

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N758R96
Read the rest in THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT 
if you are curious.



Denise asked me to say a bit of what I've been doing all through my submitting to WEP.  

Besides hurricanes, being a rare blood courier, and assorted cancer surgeries ...

my sidebar says it all.

I never win these things, seldom get mentioned but as Sandra my best friend told me: 

"Roland, you write like Ray Bradbury ... but it is a Jacqueline Susann world. Don't expect to get far in it."

I reminded myself.  
'Ah, the wounds of a friend are faithful.'

 "Hello to all my friends, both new and old.  

Run for the thrill of the race not the prize and you'll have more fun."

40 comments:

  1. I hope your cancer surgeries are done and dusted.
    And glad that Meilori, Samuel Clemens and Oscar Wilde still find havens in your fertile mind.

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    1. Inside my mind, I am never bored! :-) Amen to the cancer surgeries!

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  2. Vivid & intriguing descriptions throughout! Love the humour in the dialogue :)
    I agree with EC - hope you are well!

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    1. It was fun to write the dialogue for Twain and Wilde. I had almost as much fun writing the dialogue for the roguish Orson Welles in my latest, FRENCH QUARTER REQUIEM. :-)

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  3. Your story is a snippet of another era: a bit nostalgic, a bit mysterious, but thoroughly entertaining.
    Hope your health improves soon.

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    1. I hope my health improves soon too! So does Midnight. He hates when I am grouchy!

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  4. I hope you have good health ahead of you.

    This story entertained me greatly! I loved the mispronunciation of the pharoah's name, and I also loved this line in particular: "The last time you said we would make history, we had to make bail instead."

    Great setting, great characterization. Well done!

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    1. A troublesome hernia is making my life more interesting than I want it!! I am glad you liked that "bail" line, L. G. :-)

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  5. Hi Roland! Thanks so much for posting. You've made my day with your cast of mysterious characters and their philosophies! And thanks for your words. Yolanda will post them in April.
    Like everyone, I hope you're done with the cancer surgeries once and for all. Melanomas are my bugbear.
    As always, I enjoyed your intriguing story. I'm still sniggering at the line Laura picked up about making bail instead of history.

    And WEP isn't exactly Jacqueline Susann. There are so many different styles of writing, not all popular. Every writer must embrace his/her voice.

    Thanks again Roland. Have a great day!

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    1. Sandra didn't know about WEP when she said that Jacqueline Susann line. When she did know about my participation in WEP, she mentioned the perils of a male trying to elbow into a girls' club! But she always liked to rattle my cage. :-)

      I hope melanomas are done with the both of us. However, I fear the Covid - 19 may make life challenging for all of us in the coming months.

      My job as blood courier will take me into emergencies rooms filled with coughing and germs. But someone must take needed blood to the ill.

      Midnight is having me scour Amazon for a surgical mask that will fit him! :-)

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  6. I hope you find that mask, we may all be wearing one soon!
    I too wish you good health, but I've noticed that as the years fall away the health takes the biggest hit. One of those tests we're given with no explanation as to the why.
    Love your writing, and the way you incorporate humor in whatever you write. A much more refreshing take on history.
    Stay well! I look forward to reading your words about the WEP and your 10 year journey.

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    1. I may just have to jury-rig a mask to fit Midnight -- the true challenge will be to put it on him! :-)

      The Covid-19 problem is not going to go away easily I fear.

      Health get precarious as the years roll by, doesn't it? Ouch

      Yolanda, I'm happy you like my writing. I hate so much of what transpired in history, I delight in twisting things up a bit. In my DARK HOLLYWOOD cycle of latest books, I get to spotlight Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, Cesar Romero, even Perry Como! All in 1946 Hollywood and New Orleans. Great fun.

      Here's hoping we both get 10 more years of fun and excitement. :-)

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  7. Always brilliant as usual, Roland. And I can't imagine doing this and managing all that you're dealing with. If it helps, I've never read anything by Jacqueline Susann, but everything by Ray Bradbury.

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    1. Thanks, Lee. Work, illness, and trying to find enough time to write can certainly be a challenge! I took it as quite the compliment when Sandra told me she thought I wrote like Ray Bradbury. :-) May your own sales be high! :-)

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  8. YOu have been busy as ever writing books. Nice to see you still around, doing your thing Roland. So sorry about the cancer, and I hope you are cured and getting back to normal.

    Be well my friend.

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    1. What is normal, right? :-) Surgery looms but it is hernia this time. Ouch! May your own health be fine!

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  9. Hi Roland - loved this take of the Cafe Terrace in Egypt ... and your mispronunciation of 'Toot' ... which thank you reminded me about an exhibition in London that I think I must get to ...

    I do hope the hernia and your cancer things can be easily dealt with. Your mind certainly keeps you occupied and I'm glad the books roll out - but Midnight sounds delightful ... keeping you on track.

    Take care and cheers Hilary

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    1. Midnight reminds me to stay healthy so that I can feed him! :-) May the Covid-19 leave us all alone!!

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  10. What a clever piece of writing! I cannot imagine doing this at all. I loved the humorous tone. This was something very different for me. I learnt something new!
    Wish you good health!

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    1. Thank you for the kind words, Sonia. :-) I try to make myself laugh, and the former teacher in me tries to inform as well as amuse! :-)

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  11. Hi,

    A honest piece of wisdom gained from experience. I always say it is the journey that counts. You say run for the thrill of the race and not the prize. However, I believe that whether one says journey or run for the thrill of the race, these are the people who get the prize, because they haven't numbed ourselves to the majority opinion and have learned to face their true selves on the journey.

    Now to your submission_ I do like it. You're weaving in people whom I know from my own reading of their works or whatever they do and you've brought them alive. I like the way you did it and your play with words.

    Wishing you all the best for your health.
    Take care.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Pat G

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    1. Thanks so much, Pat. :-) Yes, live in the moment ... because due to Covid-19 we may not have very many.

      I have read so many of the personal letters of both Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde that they seem real to me. So much so that I had Mark Twain's ghost do a critique of 50 Shades of Grey on this blog ... which made me laugh as I wrote it! :-)

      May your own health be all you wish, Shalom aleichem

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  12. Thank you for allowing me to be a fly on the wall listening to this wonderful cast of rogues debating. I enjoyed it greatly!
    I wish you the best with your health issues. I'm not going to offer pithy platitudes because I know I hate that sort of thing. I have diabetes which was well-controlled for years but is now not behaving itself very well. The thing I fear most is damage to my blood vessels causing strokes and eventual vascular dementia.

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    1. I will pray that The Father balance your diabetes and spare you what you fear. I left a comment on your book blog by the way. :-)

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  13. I wish you good luck in your journey back to good health. The extract from the upcoming book seems fascinating. I really enjoyed this line "If that treasure map you bought from that ‘honest’ snake charmer is as accurate as your mangling of the Pharaoh’s name this expedition is doomed before it begins.”.well done.

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    1. I really had fun writing the dialogue between Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde, both favorites of mine, too. :-)

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  14. Health is way up there in the list of priorities and I wish you good health.

    I enjoyed your flash, as I always do, but this one felt extra enjoyable because of its setting - I have a huge soft spot for Egypt, both ancient and modern. :) And for Oscar Wilde as well.

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    1. The setting of the mummy movies was always a favorite of mine, too. Oscar Wilde's clashes with Mark Twain were fun to write, Nilanjana! :-)

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  15. Your writing always takes me to places I've never been, introducing people in history with real lives. Best wishes for your health and find that mask!

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    1. Sally, thanks for liking this. :-) Midnight says he will just hold his breath rather than be fitted with a mask!

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  16. I like the humor, history, and mystory mix of this story. Nicely done.
    Always look forward to your entries.
    I do hope healthier days are in your future.

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    1. I will have to deal with this surgery sooner or later but work is a harsh mistress. Thanks for the well wishes, Toi.

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  17. A hotel from which you have crafted scenes, Roland - scenes filled with diverse people, then Maestro Twain and fellow adventurers. I loved your interaction - your humorous deceit. Yes, I'm grinning. No, being sick without a cheque-book is tragic. (I can no longer afford the blood-work, but wish you fast recovery.) Clever as always, and entertaining. I've always preferred reading Ray Bradbury to Jacqueline Whoever - better movie adaptations too.

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    1. Other Roland, blood work is getting too expensive, isn't it? :-( And yes, Ray Bradbury's movie adaptions are much better than Jacqueline's!

      I am happy you enjoyed Mark's and Oscar's sniping at one another. :-)

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  18. I too hope that your health improves.
    So many of the lines are funny and memorable... but like many others, I love the „ Two Tons of Almonds!” = “That is Tutankhamun!” Brilliant. The illustrations fit so well to the Nostalgie!

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    1. Mark Twain was a hoot to write. I am so happy you enjoyed his banter with Oscar Wilde. :-)

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  19. I enjoyed your unique take on the prompt. I love Oscar Wilde and you did a great job at portraying his wit.

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    1. You're very kind, Anstice. :-) Oscar Wilde is fun to write.

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