I found a bit of time over the weekend to work on my next #fridayflash story. I'm hoping that it will be done for this week as it takes place, partially, in a cemetery and would make a good pre-Halloween story.I also found time to tour through a couple of cemeteries on Saturday for a bit of background research on this story. They were dead quiet with not a soul in either location. I know, I should be scolded by the church lady for that remark.
I have another WIP that is requiring a bit of online viewing of Catholic masses for a bit of background information. I know what ya'll are sayin'...why the hell heck doesn't Alan just attend a service or two for research purposes.
The fear of spontaneous human combustion, my friends.
My mother has a story she's fond of telling about me as a boy of about 6 or 7 years old...
My parents had me in mass, with my little suit on and the whole nine yards, and mum was getting tired of my fidgeting about and asked my dad to take me outside for the remainder of the service. We had just started walking up the aisle, my wee hand clasped in his, when I blurted out, "Please don't belt me daddy!" Needless to say I was hustled outside fairly quickly...and my memory is a bit fuzzy about what happened after that! Kids say the darnedest things...and just to clarify...the use of the word 'belt' is a British expression meaning 'to smack' as opposed to the actual use of a belt.
Anyhoo...while researching, I came across a funny video entitled Liturgical Abuses which is a bit of a misconception. It's not so much abuses as a series of faux pas during religious services. Click on that for a bit of a chuckle and try to ignore the annoying laugh track that goes with it. You can link to that here.
