Fast Fiction: Mr Rouge And Tommy
Richard Mallinson set himself the challenge of writing short stories that fit onto a single A4 page. He has produced a rich harvest of polished, memorable tales.
We hope to feature all of them in Open Writing. The first story in the series is about a ventriloquist called Reg Rouge, and his puppet Tommy.
The ventriloquist was always billed as Reg Rouge but those of us in the younger set doing the south coast summer revues never called him Reg.
‘Yes Mr Rouge, no Mr Rouge,’ we said if he spoke to us.
‘All will be well, all will be well,’ he’d suavely reply, as if doing his routine.
‘No dart abart it,’ said Tommy, his puppet.
One night, having drunk too much after his show, Mr Rouge told us about his years as a circus clown and the high-wire girl he’d loved.
‘When she died my clown’s tears became real tears,’ he said.
Then he surprised us by trying to grab hold of Yvonne, one of our young dancers. She evaded him and he subsided onto the floor.
‘I am so sorry, dear girl,’ he said and Yvonne bent down and kissed him. Of course, we all applauded.
‘All will be well, all will be well,’’ said Tommy.
“No dart abart it,’ said Mr Rouge.
As I guided him to his lodgings, I said I preferred the new version.
He gently pushed me away. Clutching Tommy, he slid down onto the pavement and stared into the shadows.
A woman wearing a headscarf hurried out. Seeing us under the street light she stopped and leaned forward.
‘What are you doing down there, Reginald?’ she asked.
‘Getting up,’ said Tommy.
‘Well,’ said the woman, ‘don’t be too long about it, will you?’
Then she went on her way, and, after a few minutes, so did we.
