The moon was high in the sky, shrouded by misty clouds. Darkness had earlier descended like a big blanket. The night air was laden with the imminent hatching of something ominous. The swirling wind picked up some loose dirt and scattered it all over the street.
Under a street lamp, stood a mysterious man clad in a black tuxedo with a suitcase in one hand, a cigarette in another. The overall body colour blended exceptionally well with the gloomy surrounding.
Minutes and seconds ticked by, and there were still no sign of any changes. Only the rhythmic chirping of crickets and the rustling of the leaves could be heard.
"Dang! Dang!" the town clock chimed. It was already two in the morning. Obviously, the man was there for an unusual purpose.
From the distance, faintly but surely, the tapping sound of footstep were increasingly audible and a pale silhouette of a figure could be seen walking closer every moment.
The man seemed to aware of the figure's presence even without even surveying the surrounding, apparently expecting his arrival. The figure stopped. He kneeled down, paying respect to his superior.
"You are late,"
"Sorry, boss,"
" Is the job done?"
" Boss, we chased him through the alley and cornered him. We almost got him, but he..."
"Don't beat around the bush. Did you get him?"
" No boss, but..."
A gunshot shattered the silence of the night. The figure in never did manage to finish his sentence.
Raold Dahl in the making.
This is an exemplary contemporary prose, but too short for the making.
I like the descriptions such as "The overall body colour blended exceptionally well with the gloomy surrounding" and "The figure stopped. He kneeled down, paying respect to his superior."
This reflects reality in life a few decades ago. The rich who wore "tuxedos" had were superior as seen from the kneeling of his supposed hitman.
The prose also reflects that life back then was sometimes taken for granted. It also reflects that the law was unjustified.
We also speculate what happened eventually. Was the gunshot from the man being chased? If it was, would the man in tuxedo die? The use of techniques, which Roald Dahl uses as well, reflects that this writer has great potential.
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