Welcome all readers and authors to the

'First Pages Story Ring' home page.

The aim of this ring is to link as many quality intriguing 1st pages of original free fully online stories as possible to form a free online library of fiction that is easily accessible directly from the author's own web sites to the reader and which acts as a genuine advertisement for authors as examples of their excellent work.

Each story's first page is accessed through a simple navigation menu as below which is placed with the story on the author's own web site and which gives options such as a complete list of the stories in the library, a random story or the next few stories. Placing this navigation bar on the first page of each story makes it really easy for readers to find the story they want to read.

Fiction may be in the form of ebooks (e-books), short stories, novels, novellas at member sites, all are welcome. Themes for the stories may be romance, science fiction (sci-fi), adventure, crime, mystery, love, ghost stories, horror, humor (humour), comedy, legend and more.

Readers:

My aim is to provide a constant flow of high quality stories for you to enjoy so please do book mark this page and come back often. The title should include an idea of the content so you can pick the genre you like or perhaps just select a random story and experiment.

Authors:

All family friendly authors are welcome and inclusion in the ring is FREE but your web ring code must be placed on the 1st page of your story on your web site preferably just before your story (eg. see below) or, otherwise, just after - no exceptions.

Your title must be the title of your story, genre and your author name and your description must be the 1st exciting, intriguing sentences.

Acceptance into the ring is on a story by story basis and I must be tempted to read on for your story to qualify for inclusion in the ring. Call me a megolomaniac but my decision on inclusion is final, however misguided. The usual constraints apply for family friendly content, no hate stories etc.

Perhaps the greatest challenge today on the Internet is for talented artists to be able make an impact in what is rapidly becoming a world dominated by massive search corporations driven by the mighty dollar

I hope that this small corner of the Internet will become a place to which people can return to share and freely enjoy creative writing skills unfettered by the vagaries and constraints of the mechanistic search monsters.

Bye for now!

Rob

Kingfisher Blue
by Rob Hopcott

Chapter 1

She walked into Smokey's Bar like the breeze that sometimes caresses your face on a gray day. Her fair, nearly blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail with two wisps hanging down by each eye. The bustle of the bar absorbed her into its midst and I lost track of her until she surfaced by the gamblers.

They were a group of men who visited lunchtimes who liked telling tales of their successes and forgetting their losses in the beer. Their appreciation of local female talent was shared and bonded with approving winks. She got the treatment in spades. Her denim jeans, slightly frayed at the ankle, rose forever to meet smoothly curved hips and her red tightly stretched cotton shirt hugged her body like they wanted to.

A wave of drinks orders distracted me and by the time I saw her again she was seated at a table by the window. The man she was with wasn't a regular and he was nothing special. Smokey's attracted every element of Central London's low and high life. But this suit looked like a no-lifer. He wore middle age with oozing confidence, bending his baldness towards her with a ravenous smile. She was his lunch for today. His opportunity for courtship was timed to the minute and his body language was in the fast lane.

"Come on Barry. Are you the waking dead or what?"

It was Ron, the gaffer and skinny owner of Smokey's. He was rapidly going under from machine-gun fire orders from erstwhile drinkers who couldn't reach my planet. Smokey's was always busy and he could have kept half a dozen barmen on survival rations like me if that hadn't been against his moral code. He liked lean and mean. He aspired avidly to the status of skinflint.   

I grunted meaningfully by way of reply, flicked back my wavy fair hair from my face and squared up to the rush of orders like the condemned. My slender body, honed to perfection by endless contemplation of exercise, whipped backwards and forwards like a medieval ballista hurling alcoholic drinks at the hordes like lead shot. The charges I delivered seemed less lethal but I knew they would get them in the end.

Moments later, the bar was clear and she was standing in front of me. Her large blue eyes fixed on me like twin sparkling lasers in the night. I stood transfixed.

"A pint of bitter and a tomato juice with ice please." She had repeated herself. This time more insistently.

I pushed the cogs of my mind into gear and with as much aplomb as I could muster, dropped the freshly opened tomato juice onto the floor trying to do too many things at once. It mingled noisily with the quagmire of beer and spirits already there. I saw Ron snarl with exasperation but I was in heaven.

"Do you normally have this affect on all men that serve you?" It was a low quip but the best I had to cover my embarrassment as I cleaned up.

"Only on a really good day and when the men are young and red bloodied," she laughed. Her voice was soft like a thousand wind chimes in the night.

"Young men must have some advantages!"  I let my eyes drift in the direction of the window seat she would soon desert me for. It was an even lower cut made with the bravado of an adrenaline rush.

"You sound as if you've something to sell! What are you offering?" I noticed that there were flecks of gray drifting in the perfect blue of her teasing streetwise eyes.

"Me? I'm a humble barman ... I just watch and enjoy!"

The drinks were now on the bar. She handed over a five-pound note and collected the drinks with finely tapered fingers.

"You can have the change," she said, batting her eyes at me from behind her wisps.

"You're a friend," I said.

"We all need friends." She tossed her ponytail. "And, anyway, it's not my money."

"I wouldn't have thought a good looking girl like you had any shortage of friends ... or money."

I saw the pain in her eyes as my words registered and mentally kicked myself hard. She knew I was wondering why she was with the old guy. Our eyes locked, hers cool and appraising, mine telling her I was sorry for being an idiot. She seemed to make a decision.

"You can be my friend if you really want to. Three thirty in the center of the park outside. Be there! I'm relying on you!"

Five minutes later, I remembered to close my mouth to stop the barflies making a permanent home.

Fifteen minutes later, she delicately threaded her way through the crush with her man in tow and was gone.

Copyright of this site is Rob Hopcott's, 1999 - 2006, all rights reserved. Web site owners and other publishers may quote extracts from this story to add content to their site or publication provided the site or publication is lawful and the story is attributed to Rob Hopcott with copyright retained and a prominent link is provided to the story on this site. All characters in this story are fictitious and no reference is intended to any person living or otherwise.
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