GORODSKOY PARK

Gorodskoy Park in the sunshine. Not the most beautiful park. More concrete than greenery, but well-maintained. A series of paths connected by roundabouts. Along the wider walkways, freshly painted green benches, shaded by overhanging wispy branches.

So what was I doing in this nondescript park in the middle of Minsk? Well, that is a longer story than can be told here. Suffice to say I was waiting for a woman, and it was a life or death situation. Hers, not mine. Isn’t it always?

Surveillance cameras – theirs and ours – were focused on me. Directional mics waited with baited breath. My only hope was that she changed her mind and decided not to show.

Ten past. She was late. Maybe I had got away with it. Then the heel clicks approach. I sigh inwardly. Oh well, another lamb to the slaughter.

I put on my best welcoming Western smile.


Linking up with the prompt at What Pegman Saw. The task is to write a story in 150 words or less based on the destination that Pegman is visiting. This week’s destination is Minsk in Belarus. Flicking through images around the prompt on Google maps, I couldn’t resist when I noticed a lone person sitting in an empty park in the sunshine.

You can read other stories based on the prompt HERE.


cropped-trilogy-banner-1.jpg
To find out more about my novels and buy the books, follow the links below:
A JUSTIFIED STATE:  U.S.A. – AMAZON.COM      UNITED KINGDOM     AUSTRALIA    CANADA    INDIA
STATE OF DENIAL:  U.S.A. – AMAZON.COM      UNITED KINGDOM     AUSTRALIA      CANADA   INDIA

17 responses to “GORODSKOY PARK”

  1. Cracking opening to a Cold War thriller, Iain. Though I can’t help wondering – I’m sure your intention – if there hasn’t been something between your operative and the lady he’s waiting for? Or perhaps he’s just George Smiley-jaded? Great atmosphere whichever.
    And btw I love your cover art on State of War – all your covers have been very professional looking. Did you get help with the design?

    Like

    1. Isn’t there always something between the agent and the femme fatale? 😉 Thanks for praising the book cover. The designs are all my own work, with free to use images from Google. I usually do them on the days when the writing creative juices aren’t there, a nice distraction. This last one I finished before the actual first draft of the novel, but I’m getting there now!

      Like

      1. That’s what femme fatales are for, of course 😀. You did a very impressive job on the covers – showed my other half (arty/media sort) and he was very impressed too. Good luck with the last book and with them all

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thanks Lynn – stay tuned for news on the last one, I hope to have it done before summer arrives!

        Like

      3. I saw that was your plan – brilliant news, Iain. Hope sales are going well

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Sounds like the beginning of a great spy novel!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, I do love the spy story genre.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Cool LeCarre type of opening. I like the breezy style.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Just finished his latest book, he still has it at 88. One of the very best writers in any genre.

      Like

  4. O.K.!!! I want to more. Very well done. Love (?), espionage, perhaps murder? Thank you! very well done.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you Alicia – one day I’m going to write that spy novel…

      Like

  5. I hope the woman he’s waiting for turns the tables on him. He’s complacent. He deserves to get taken down!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Harsh Penny, you’re taking no prisoners! 😉

      Liked by 1 person

    1. What will happen next?

      Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: