THE LECTURER

It had been another dull lecture, the hotel conference room hot and stuffy despite the air conditioning. Twenty minutes from the end and a number of her colleagues had already discreetly left for the bar or one of the fashionable cafes on the square. She didn’t quite know why she’d stayed, sorry for the poor young speaker probably, she’d always had a thing for strays and lame dogs and besides, he looked rather sweet in his ill-fitting suit and off-centre tie.  Twice her heart had leapt in sympathy as he knocked his sheaf of notes to the floor and almost lost his glasses bending to pick them up.

Next to her Rob was having the greatest difficulty not snorting with laughter and made faces at her when he caught her eye. “The eminent Professor McAndrew!” he whispered “What a total nerd! Suppose he must have a doting mother somewhere to knit that top for him?”

“Stop it!” she whispered, suppressing a giggle of her own.

At last it was over and after a tiny ripple of polite applause they made their way to the exit and arranged where to meet for dinner.

She’d wanted to take a walk along the old city ramparts since they’d arrived yesterday and decided she had plenty of time before dinner to take some gentle exercise.

The warmth of the early summer night was tempered now as the sun began to sink and she clutched her jacket around her as she sat on one of the benches which punctuated the tree-lined boulevard along the city wall.  The view was magnificent, a little ugly where the typical modern outskirts met the old city centre but here at the very top of the hill it was breathtaking.

She was totally lost in her daydreams when a youth on skates suddenly appeared from nowhere and grabbed her bag from the seat beside her. She stood and yelled in shock and indignation and began, to run after him.  Before she had covered even a few yards another figure appeared and began to give chase. Dressed in running gear and sporting a physique to give any Superman a run for his money, the hero somehow gained on his quarry and wrenched the bag from his grasp.

He jogged back to where she was standing in stunned amazement and handed her the bag.  “At your service Madam!” he said with a mock salute and a broad grin, before winking at her and turning away to continue his run.

“Why thank you, Professor McAndrew!” she mumbled staring after him…….

The rules of the challenge are to post 5 posts over consecutive days, attaching a story to the photo, fiction, non fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day inviting a fellow blogger to join the challenge, I’m going to invite the splendid Sarah Vernon from First Night Design to join the fun today but there’s no obligation!

ALL PHOTOS © JANE MORLEY