Watercolour Story Illustrations

Mon Admiral

"It was close to midnight on the fourth night of our sea trials when I finished my watch in the stokehold... I was walking on deck to clear the foul air out of my lungs... when I saw him.

...He looked as if he had just stepped out of a painting by Rembrandt! He was dressed in a sea coat of dark blue with a frill of lace at each cuff, a lace-edged neckcloth around his neck and a broad brimmed hat topped with a large plume.

Around his shoulders a long boat cloak was blowing in the wind, under which one could see an ornate sash hanging from his right shoulder. A sash finely embroidered in gold and crimson, supporting a beautifully made sword hanging on his left hip. His legs were encased in a pair of long, leather seaboots which had surely not trod the deck of any French man-of-war for over 200 years. Merveilleux!"

Good Morning, Tovarisch

"A cold wind was blowing off the steppes and the light was fading fast from the December sky. The wind only accentuated the bitter cold of the Russian winter and made one long for a warm fire and a good meal...

Politruk Bossov looked at the sergeant's disappearing back and then the bottle in his hand. He looked longer at the bottle than the sergeant and the bottle won.

Quietly he pulled out the cork with his teeth and tossed off the remains of the bottle with the air of a man who was used to the searing rawness of the vodka.

He grinned happily to himself as he tossed the bottle away. Sometimes being a politruk had its rewards."-

Illustrations for, and excerpt from the Short Story: Good Morning, Tovarisch,
© 1988 by E.K. Barratt

Orion's Eye

"This was something that she didn't want to lose.

Paul was still standing in the departure lounge when Carol found him. He was standing there, staring out the window. Gently, Carol slid her arm through his and give it a squeeze: 'Come,' she said softly. 'Let's go home...'

**************************************

"Slowly she climbed out of the car and groped in the dark, for the back steps.

'Carol, Carol, wait! Look at the sky!' Carol turned and looked up at the sky. The wind whistled under her coat and Carol shivered.

Silently she stood and stared. The stars in all their millions, appeared close enough to touch. And the constellations, with all their ancient shapes and forms, stretched as far as she could see..."

Charting a Course

"Maybe many of us overlook the important reality: This is the only trip we take; this is the only chance we get...

How is it that one person will boldly, or eevn timidly, take a step to change the course of their life while another shrinks, maybe forever, from taking the step that matters to them? I know there is no easy answrr. Change, as Billy Crystal said,'is such hard work.' And besides the hard work, it usually takes a large measure of courage...

This year, when we're tempted to drift along with the lazy current of life, think again. Good resolutions acheived, will change the course of our lives."

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