The first draft of THE ADVENTURES OF PERIWINKLE BLISS is a fantasy story I'm currently writing and serializing on Twitter, inspired by daily prompts -- mostly #vss365 #vssnature #vssmagic and #vssmystery. This is a transcript of Part 2 (17 tweets). READ THIS STORY ON TWITTER.
THE ADVENTURES OF PERIWINKLE BLISS - PART 2
#amwriting #vssserial #serializedfiction
THE [ONGOING] ADVENTURES OF PERIWINKLE BLISS
PART 1: available at tinyurl.com/peribliss
PART 2: follow this thread 👇
1/
OTHER-WORLDLY INTELLIGENCE AGENCY—OWIA—HQ
"Commander #Featherlight? Miss #Jewel said you wanted to see me, sir."
"Of course. Come in, Bliss. Have a seat. Want some tea? Read your report this morning. Well—How shall I put it? That was quite a stunt!"
#vss365 #vssmystery
2/
Periwinkle Bliss tried to explain, "I can assure you that everything I did was—"
The massive toad of a man raised a puffy hand. "I'm not criticizing! You got the mole, made everyone happy, and that's the important bit."
"Thank you, sir."
"But you could've been killed as well."
3/
Bliss grinned. "I believe that possibility is in the job description, sir."
Commander #Featherlight shook his head. "Those whirligigs are as unpredictable as their maker. " His dark gaze drifted for a moment. "Poor Perseus. May he rest in peace, wherever he is."
#vss365
4/
"It wasn't the whirligig that killed the mole, sir."
#Featherlight nodded. "Yes, of course. He had some poison on him—#Henbane? #Arsenic?"
"We're not sure. Not yet. Hopefully, Dr Jekyll will be able to—"
"Jekyll?"
"Leo, sir. Not Henry."
"Quite."
#vss365 #vssmagic #vssnature
5/
"Have you seen the body, sir?" asked Periwinkle Bliss.
"No," said Commander Featherlight. "Should I?"
"Looks exactly like Limpet."
"A doppelganger then?"
"I don't think so. Not in that sense. But an almost perfect copy? Yes."
"What are you trying to say, Bliss? Surely not—"
6/
"The mole was not expecting to see me there, sir."
"What do you mean?"
"Fake Limpet believed he was meeting Judge."
Commander Featherlight—his brow knitted—muttered, "That must have been awkward for you."
Bliss half-smiled and nodded. "It was—odd. But it makes sense. Sort of."
7/
"It doesn't make sense at all," said Featherlight. "Unless you mean whoever was behind this operation had insufficient intelligence about our agents. If that's the case, then I fully support your view." He paused and looked Bliss in the eye. "But that's not your point, is it?"
8/
"My point, sir, is that—"
Commander Featherlight got up. "Before you go down that road, let me remind you that the book was destroyed. It's gone. Gone, Bliss. Do you understand? Don't get #tangled in all that again."
"Yes, sir," said Periwinkle, getting up as well.
#vss365tbt
9/
Commander Featherlight frowned.
"I meant, 'No,sir, I won't get #tangled in all that again'," said Periwinkle.
"I do hope you mean that. Not sure I'll be able to untangle everything next time."
"I know."
"Do you? I wonder—Anyway, congratulations on a job well done."
#vss365tbt
10/
Periwinkle Bliss noticed Miss #Jewel waiting outside the commander's office.
"I've a packet here for you. It came while you were away. Special delivery. I had it scanned—hope you don't mind."
"Of course not! Thank you," said Bliss. "Feels like a small box."
#vssmystery
11/
"#Onyx," said Miss #Jewel. "Inside the box, there's something made of onyx. That's what the scanner boys said."
Bliss considered the packet. "No sender? That's odd."
"A secret admirer, perhaps?" ventured Miss Jewel, eyes sparkling with excitement.
#vssnature #vssmystery
12/
"Let's hope not," said Periwinkle, dropping the parcel into a pocket.
"Why not? There's nothing more exhilarating than a bit of #unforeseen romance. Trust me."
"Miss #Jewel," cried Periwinkle, mocking shock.
"I'm a hopeless romantic—and I worry about you."
#vss365 #vssmystery
13/
"#Unforeseen," echoed Bliss, with a sad smile. "Can't afford that. Besides, you once told me I was a tough little cookie, remember?"
"I do! And you are," said Miss #Jewel warmly. "You're the toughest little cookie I've ever met."
"See? No need to worry."
#vss365 #vssmystery
14/
"Oh, I do worry," said Miss #Jewel. Then nodding at the closed office door, she added: "And so does the commander. How could he not? You're his #wunderkind."
"I'm no one's wunderkind," stated Periwinkle Bliss.
"I know—but who's going to tell him that?"
#vssmystery #vss365
15/
Before Bliss could answer, the candlestick telephone on Miss #Jewel's desk started to ring.
"Dr Jekyll and his assistant have arrived," informed the commander's secretary, placing the receiver back on the hook.
"Wonderful! I'll go down and take them to the lab."
#vssmystery
16/
"I don't like your Miss #Jewel," muttered a young voice.
Periwinkle Bliss, who had just reached the staircase, stopped, looked at a seemingly empty space on the landing, and whispered:
"You know, invisibility doesn't work properly if a person can't keep quiet."
#vssmystery
17/
"Don't worry, Peri," said the voice. "There's no one around right now. So what's a #wunderkind? And what's that thing you've put in your pocket—Do you truly have a secret admirer? Miss #Jewel, eh? She really gets under one's #skin—doesn't she?"
#vss365 #vssmystery #vssnature