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So here's "story 1" I talked about in the previous post! It's a day at the beach, uncle and nephew, and I put a lot of personal stuff into it as I always do when I'm writing about uncle/aunt & nephew/niece interaction 🥰
Title: Beside the Side of the Silvery Sea
Fandom: The Mummy films
Genre: humour, family, a little bit of m/m romance
Rating: PG
Summary: Salt, sandcastles, and sunburns: a well-established recipe for a good day at the beach. Tastes even better with the addition of sharks, skipping stones, and (with a lot of luck) secret flirting with good-looking strangers.
Brighton, July 1933
There was something about the proximity of the sea, Jonathan decided, that turned even perfectly well-behaved children into tightly-wound human springs. Or jumping beans. Even Evy hadn’t been immune when they were kids. Naturally Alex, who had inherited her giant heart and passion for learning but also had an occasional mischievous streak a mile wide, was so excited he could hardly sit still on his seat.
“I can see the sea, Uncle Jon!”
“Oh can you?”
“Sure, it’s just behind that hill!”
Unlike his nephew Jonathan knew perfectly well that the English Channel did not, in fact, lie just behind the hill Alex was pointing at. Nevertheless he nodded with the acquired wisdom of the seasoned uncle who had learned by now some humouring was sometimes better than arguing. Especially when at the wheel of a car.
At least looking for glimpses of blue in the distance kept Alex from counting the minutes till they arrived. At six years old, the boy was quick and bright, though easily bored – but, fortunately, equally easily distracted. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge and was always eager to share it. Knowing this, all Jonathan had to do to avoid the dreaded “Are we there yet” was to ask a random question to get an enthusiastic conversation going.
( Uncle and nephew interactions FTW ^^ ) ____________________
This story came from a prompt on Tumblr with only three words: “Jonathan”, “Alex”, and “seaside”. I set out to write a cute snapshot, probably shorter than a thousand words, with cute uncle and nephew shenanigans; my brain had a different idea. Hope you’ll like it. There’s still plenty of cute uncle and nephew shenanigans, at least.
The title is from the 1907 music hall song “I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside”, which even in the time this story is set would have been very old-fashioned :D
Fun fact! In the words of a friend who lives there and is settled pretty comfortably in the “queer” spectrum, Brighton is and has long been “very gay” too. Having same-sex relationships in the 1930s was just as forbidden as in the 1910s, but you still could use codes to signal your sexuality to like-minded people who might be interested. Plus it was a place where a lot of art people lived (authors, actors, artists), which is still the case today. Also, even though it’s sadly hit by things like drugs and homelessness as badly as other places in the UK, it’s one of its most gay-friendly towns :o) (Also sadly, the West Pier doesn’t exist today; it fell into disrepair in the 1970s, and after storms and arsons it’s mostly a skeletal structure. The Palace Pier, however, is still thriving in the 2020s. There’s an arcade, roller coasters and children’s rides.)
Title: Beside the Side of the Silvery Sea
Fandom: The Mummy films
Genre: humour, family, a little bit of m/m romance
Rating: PG
Summary: Salt, sandcastles, and sunburns: a well-established recipe for a good day at the beach. Tastes even better with the addition of sharks, skipping stones, and (with a lot of luck) secret flirting with good-looking strangers.
Brighton, July 1933
There was something about the proximity of the sea, Jonathan decided, that turned even perfectly well-behaved children into tightly-wound human springs. Or jumping beans. Even Evy hadn’t been immune when they were kids. Naturally Alex, who had inherited her giant heart and passion for learning but also had an occasional mischievous streak a mile wide, was so excited he could hardly sit still on his seat.
“I can see the sea, Uncle Jon!”
“Oh can you?”
“Sure, it’s just behind that hill!”
Unlike his nephew Jonathan knew perfectly well that the English Channel did not, in fact, lie just behind the hill Alex was pointing at. Nevertheless he nodded with the acquired wisdom of the seasoned uncle who had learned by now some humouring was sometimes better than arguing. Especially when at the wheel of a car.
At least looking for glimpses of blue in the distance kept Alex from counting the minutes till they arrived. At six years old, the boy was quick and bright, though easily bored – but, fortunately, equally easily distracted. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge and was always eager to share it. Knowing this, all Jonathan had to do to avoid the dreaded “Are we there yet” was to ask a random question to get an enthusiastic conversation going.
( Uncle and nephew interactions FTW ^^ )
This story came from a prompt on Tumblr with only three words: “Jonathan”, “Alex”, and “seaside”. I set out to write a cute snapshot, probably shorter than a thousand words, with cute uncle and nephew shenanigans; my brain had a different idea. Hope you’ll like it. There’s still plenty of cute uncle and nephew shenanigans, at least.
The title is from the 1907 music hall song “I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside”, which even in the time this story is set would have been very old-fashioned :D
Fun fact! In the words of a friend who lives there and is settled pretty comfortably in the “queer” spectrum, Brighton is and has long been “very gay” too. Having same-sex relationships in the 1930s was just as forbidden as in the 1910s, but you still could use codes to signal your sexuality to like-minded people who might be interested. Plus it was a place where a lot of art people lived (authors, actors, artists), which is still the case today. Also, even though it’s sadly hit by things like drugs and homelessness as badly as other places in the UK, it’s one of its most gay-friendly towns :o) (Also sadly, the West Pier doesn’t exist today; it fell into disrepair in the 1970s, and after storms and arsons it’s mostly a skeletal structure. The Palace Pier, however, is still thriving in the 2020s. There’s an arcade, roller coasters and children’s rides.)
