Iain Kelly

Standing on the room balcony, Archie took a long puff on his pipe.

It was a quiet place of solitude after three weeks at sea with Agnes. She couldn’t stand the smell of his pipe.

He had gone through a lot of tobacco.

Another fine morning. Somewhere off the starboard side were the Indonesian islands.

‘Archie!’ Agnes screeched. He could make out the top of her head sticking out, down and to the right, where the restaurant was located. ‘Bring down my reading glasses, will you?’

He didn’t acknowledge her. He would say he didn’t hear her.

A moment later, he heard her scream. What now, he thought.

By the time he had ambled down, Agnes was cowering in the corner, wafting a pole about, fending off an angry-looking snake. A small crowd had gathered.

‘Where have you been?!’ Agnes glowered at him. ‘This snake dropped out the sky onto my plate. They say it’s a taipan. Deadly poisonous.’

Above the restaurant the small tender boat used to transport passengers to shore was suspended. It had picked up an unwanted guest while in port.

‘Sorry dear,’ Archie called, as the snake reared up. ‘I was looking for your reading glasses.’

Written as part of Sunday Photo Fiction. Write a story of around 200 words based on the photo prompt given (above). Hosted by Al Forbes. For more details visit HERE.

To read more stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

More adventures featuring Agnes and Archie can be found here: THE AGNES AND ARCHIE STORIES.