PO’B Mornington Crescent

Multi-author, often surreal stories, written in attempts at the style and settings of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels. With apologies to the memory of a great man.

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BG Fone Home

"I could not resist — so fine a figure — almost human. His squawks — for all the world as though he says: 'Board 'em — smoke.'" more>>

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The Case of the Ashgrove Elephant

"Where is Mr Trinque? Whose blood is on the carpet? Why is there a five day old dead pirate in the drawing room?" more>>

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Endgame

Recently, an American PhD student turned up a previously unopened chest of papers in the Aubrey Bequest. more>>

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Les Enfants Terribles

"The Sixth Form have some notion of gunnery — three broadsides in two minutes!" more>>

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Four Weddings and a Sort of Funeral

Mr Hugo Babbington had noticed the nieces. He had the Babbington eye. more>>

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Frigate of the Apes

"I had always thought the Captain was making game of me when he commented upon the uncanny resemblance between our midshipmen and baboons." more>>

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The Good, the Bad and the Pretty Ugly

High in the mizzen shrouds of the Jolie Laide, Linois was puzzled. more>>

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Ill Met by Moonlight

The coach entered the dark forest and Jack returned to the world of the everyday, "Would you be so kind, old Stephen, as to continue telling me of your ancestor, Vlad the Impala?" more>>

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Th'Impervious Horrors of a Lear Shore

"Perhaps you had better look into Buchan's Domestic Medicine, Matthew Dong," replied Killick darkly, "for them ain't natural urges." more>>

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Mostly D*ck, a Tale of Revenge

"Bigger zan a Budgie! Bigger zan a Shparrow!! Truly, a bird of ze Gods." more>>

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Opera Can Be Such a Drag

With a final heave he pulled himself over the top, stood up and brushed down his skirts. Then, turning his back on the Reichenbach Falls, Bonden set off for the coast. more>>

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The Rime of the Infant Mariner

His pleasure was only slightly diluted by the consideration that one quarter of his crew was an albatross. more>>

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Scötterdämmerung

An eery, high-pitched reply wafted over the uneasy waters: "Away an' bile yer heid!" more>>

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The Spy Who Came In From the Cold

"The Q is five letters away from the U," said Jack. "Now what sense does that make?" more>>