Dog Days of Summer (Charioteer story by trueriver)

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Fanfiction
Title: Dog Days of Summer
Author(s): trueriver
Date(s): 27 August 2007
Length: 528 words
Genre(s): domestic
Fandom(s): Mary Renault
Relationship(s):
External Links: archived on MRF

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This is an untitled ficlet by trueriver based on Mary Renault's 1953 novel The Charioteer. It is set some time after the end of the novel, during the war.

Synopsis

It is the last day of a long hot summer weekend for which Laurie and Ralph have rented a Welsh cottage. Laurie is feeling a bit melancholy, even with their dog Patch to distract him.

Background

The story was written for a one-hour Sunday tea challenge to the prompt "dog days of summer". The author prefaced it with an excerpt from Brady’s Clavis Calendarium (1813) defining the term and describing superstitions associated with the period.

Comments

The story elicited a several comments, including the following:

  • "see - you tell me you have nothing, and you're wrestling with it all and then you come and post this, and I have to wonder just how you define nothing ...already told you all the reasons I love this, and I still do...mebbe more!"—comment by my_cnnr
  • "Lovely and poignant. You've captured their voices."—comment by jgraeme2007
  • "oh, i love this. you really have the ability to capture MR's style! this story like a slice of life in Laurie and Ralph's future and i love being a fly on their wall. thank you for sharing!"—comment by bijoux_box