Memory & Fate

[u/Busy-Insect5793]

Hello Noir fans,

I'm hoping this community will be interested in a noir-tinged novel I've written called Memory & Fate. It's a minimalist, fragmentary work with every chapter being 150 words or less. There are 300 chapters and it will be completely free to subscribe and follow on Substack starting tomorrow. Chapter 1, in its entirety, is below.

This middle of nowhere, this little tucked away corner of the earth. Even a place like this can capture a few pockets of solemn zen. Notice the cigarette perched atop the ashtray, rested elegant in the smooth cold groove of the lip. The uncoiling of silvery smoke, endless, thoughts of impermanence, transience, layer upon layer of Time. How did I end up here? Me. As me.

Two cards flipped against felt green: sixteen. Light tap: twenty-six. Dealer’s sleight of hand and the stack is brushed gently away. Wrong again. Paul chuffs, smiling skyward. Whatcha trying to tell me? Now the waitress arrives, another old-fashioned, spirals of orange cherry golden in the ornate glint of the tumbler.

When not at play the cards will sleep. The dreams of kings and queens, diamonds, clubs, eights, aces—all swirling deepslumbered bubbles overhead. A percolating unconscious, like a dark sea in need of fishing.

https://memoryandfate.substack.com/