The Beard (40 page)
Authors: Mark Sinclair
Derek smiled. “I’d like that. I really would.” He slid his hand over the table and rested it on top of Tom’s. Tom was taken aback and patted Derek’s hand manfully, so that neither his boss nor anyone else in the bar would get the wrong idea.
Derek took Tom’s hand and held it gently. “I’m so glad you understand. I know everything about living a lie. It’s nice to be free of that, isn’t it?”
Tom stared at Derek in total shock, his eyes fixed, his hand frozen. “What are you saying, Derek?” he asked.
“I’m saying that you’re not alone. You never were.” And with that, he withdrew his hand, stood up and walked out of the bar, saying, “See you tomorrow.”
Tom sat rigidly still and stared out of the window in petrified disbelief. “Well, bugger me,” he said to himself as the jukebox kicked into life and the silence was finally broken.
TO BE CONTINUED…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark’s first play,
Just Another Park Bench
, debuted with two performances – one matinee and one evening. It was 30 minutes long and featured a rather cumbersome curtain call between scenes.
Mark was so unhappy with the first performance that he wrote another 20 minutes-worth of material for the evening show and created an entirely new character. His ‘actors’ weren’t happy.
He was nine.
On stage that day, Mark studied what worked and what didn’t, then set about adapting things in response. What could be funnier? What could be cut? He stared at the words, trying to work out how he could get more from each one. He was fascinated by each of them; their order, their influence and their importance. It’s a fascination that remains to this day. In truth, he can sometimes be clumsy with words, ignorant of their rules and even irresponsible with them, but he never lacks appreciation of their impact.
So… 30-odd years after that play was performed, Mark's debut novel,
I'd Sooner Starve!
(Wild Wolf Publishing) was published. Following its success, he set about making words entertain once again.
The Beard
is the result.
December 2012
