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    The Blue Serpent & Other Tales
    The Blue Serpent & Other Tales
    The Blue Serpent & Other Tales
    Ebook63 pages49 minutes

    The Blue Serpent & Other Tales

    By Claire Buss

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    About this ebook

    A collection of flash fiction, or very short short-stories, from sci-fi, fantasy & contemporary author Claire Buss that will delight, amuse and intrigue.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherClaire Buss
    Release dateMar 24, 2018
    ISBN9781370591121
    The Blue Serpent & Other Tales
    Author

    Claire Buss

    Claire Buss is a science fiction, fantasy & contemporary writer based in the UK. She wanted to be Lois Lane when she grew up but work experience at her local paper was eye-opening. Instead Claire went on to work in a variety of admin roles for over a decade but never felt quite at home. An avid reader, baker and pinterest addict Claire won second place in the Barking and Dagenham Pen to Print writing competition in 2015 setting her writing career in motion. The Gaia Effect was published in 2016 and Tales from Suburbia in 2017.

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      Book preview

      The Blue Serpent & Other Tales - Claire Buss

      The Blue Serpent

      & other tales

      By Claire Buss

      Published by CB Visions, 2018

      Copyright © Claire Buss 2018

      First Edition

      The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchase.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

      For more information about the author, visit her website www.cbvisions.weebly.com.

      Other works by Claire Buss:

      The Gaia Effect

      Tales From Suburbia

      The Rose Thief

      Underground Scratchings, Tales from the Underground Anthology

      Patient Data, The Quantum Soul Anthology

      The Blue Serpent

      The blue serpent wound it's way around her leg, across a buttock, slithered across her spine and tightened its grip on her shoulder and upper arm. It looked absolutely fantastic. Just like the one she'd seen in her dream. Her skin rippled with goosebumps as she turned this way and that, admiring the body paint. This was the bravest thing she'd ever done and it felt fantastic. Her modesty was covered with nude underwear and an undercoat of paint. The body artist said it helped to blend her clothing and smooth the tones of her skin.

      'You ready love?' The other girl who'd been painted stuck her head round the curtain that separated them.

      'I think so.' She checked out the other artwork. A koi carp splashed across the girl's torso with Japanese lotus flowers and stylised waves spreading across her limbs. 'You look amazing by the way.'

      'Thanks, you too. You ready for this?'

      The girl nodded. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might fall out of her chest but she felt exhilarated. She took one last look at the blue serpent that slinked over her skin in the mirror then stepped away, ready to face the crowds.

      The two girls began to circulate the convention. It was amazing. No-one leered at them or made rude comments, in fact, practically everyone just wanted to take photos or selfies with them. After a couple of hours, her skin began to feel tight and a little itchy but she just tried to ignore the sensation and focus on how great she was feeling.

      The evening entertainment began and the two painted girls continued to circulate through the thick crowd, enjoying the camaraderie and the sense of belonging. The lights were dim, the music loud and the atmosphere infectious. Finally at two am the DJ spun his last disc and the remaining revellers hooted happily before staggering back to their rooms.

      Koi Carp gasped as the lights came on. 'What happened?'

      'What do you mean?'

      'Your paint, it's gone!'

      The girl looked down. All that was left on her skin were a few shiny blue scales. The serpent had gone. 'Oh my god! Did it just... wear away?' She looked over at the other girl. Her fish was still front and centre, splashing proudly with all its lotus flowers and waves intact. 'Something wrong with the paint maybe?'

      'I don't know. I've never seen an entire artwork disappear before. Smudges yeah but...' Koi girl walked around the other. 'It's like the snake slithered away.'

      The girl laughed nervously and the two of them returned to their dressing room. One to remove her paint, the other to get dressed and fall into bed. The adrenaline rush that had powered the girl through the night was fading fast.

      The next morning all the convention participants woke up to discover tiny blue serpent tattoos on their

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