THE WAISTING OF TIME
by
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THE WAISTING OF TIME A NOVEL BY: DEREK BERRY THORPE CHAPTER ONE Like a hungry child, the fire consumed the structure with voracious abandon. The flames licked the outside walls through the windows as if to taste the limestone. He looked back in anguish for only a brief second, as it was unwise to invest anymore emotion about the conflagration at that time. The sun had already set in the west, but she left a blazing reminder of her recent passage by the wretched shadows cast in the October night. He could feel the madness within begin to effervesce again causing him to strain taught against the chains that bound him to reason. He was exhausted to the point of collapse as he felt his chest heave above his seared lungs. He limped on through the coarse grass, ignoring the undiluted shards of pain, towards his adversary in the distance. He was afraid. Unmistakably petrified at the recent events and also, distinctly afraid of himself and the sheer lunacy of his actions. He hit the water with a bone jarring shudder and sank into the churning bosom of the ocean. He resisted the sweet urge to inhale in an attempt to reclaim some of the air that was knocked out of him. He somehow managed an uncoordinated flailing of his limbs in his quest to reach the surface and claim the object floating on the waves. But with his eyes closed in the terror, his epileptic swim only carried him deeper into the frothy waters….. Farther away from the reason for his insanity. He finally opened his eyes and found that his world was nearly as featureless as with his lids closed. Almost as dark, except for the glowing image of the fire above. He made out the jaundiced flames snarling at the structure above and generally moved in its direction like some aquatic moth. His muscles screamed for oxygen and felt as if they were swimming in thick syrup. He tried his best to keep going but after a few seconds of eternity he realized that he would not reach the surface. He was far too tired to carry on. He stopped moving his limbs and allowed himself to feel the currents tug on his person. It was not an entirely unpleasant sensation, he thought to himself. Realizing he was going to die alone in that watery cemetery, he tried to erase from his mind the secret that was bobbing on the surface above. It would be lost forever from his greed. Lost, thankfully, from everyone's greed. He inhaled.
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About the Book
Dr. William Sarsfield has impressed a world renowned professor during his lecture in London. The older professor, John Arthur Cowdry, invites William to leave his position at the hospital and join him in the tropical paradise of Barbados to complete the final stages of his research. The professor has invented a device that slows cell aging dramatically and many are eager to steal this secret of near eternal youth. But what’s the real reason behind this sudden move to the island with all of his equipment and his many cats. Why are they being pursued by a spy from the defeated German army? He has many secrets that he’s kept from William. But then one of the doctors is murdered and the corrupt Inspector James Templeton spitefully arrests the other for the crime. An ingenious plot to escape from prison is executed and a race to clear his name and secure the valuable anti aging secret takes the suspense all the way to the final page.
About the Author
Derek Berry Thorpe currently resides in Florida but he was born and grew up on the tiny island of Barbados where the majority of the novel takes place. He is a physician by profession with a sub-specialty in nuclear cardiology. He is a first time novelist but he has written a few screenplays for short films and he is a published cartoonist with a strip called ‘The Bradshaws’. His second work of fiction entitled ‘The Finger Prince’ is currently being penned. Dr. Thorpe is also an inventor. He has a US patent for a modification of the wrist watch.