The Challenge That Is Tony : Story List
These whimsical, linked tales were written in response to writing challenges on another site. In theory, they are stand alone stories and can be read in any order. However, just to confuse matters, there is an internal timeline for the tales based on UK school years, which can also be used as a reading order. The author suggests they be considered as random dippings into the narrator's journal and read in the order they were written as shown below. If you start with the first, 'Revenge', the next/previous chapter links will follow this suggested order.
At the end of each chapter there is a link to the challenge picture that inspired the story.
The UK School year runs from 1st September and Year 1 admissions are based on the child reaching the age of five before the following 31st August. The School year is divided into three terms: Winter; September to Christmas, Spring or Easter; January to Easter, Summer; Easter to July.
Although nowhere specific is mentioned in the tales, the characters can be said to live in a small-to-medium town in one the undiscovered rural parts of the English Midlands in the area to the North and East of Birmingham, bordering on the Derbyshire Peak District.
A list of the major characters appearing in the stories can be found here.
Glossary.
Avid U.S. readers will have discovered that some words have different or additional meanings in British English compared to American English and vice versa. The meaning of most terms can usually be inferred from the context, but the following are examples that appear in these stories:
biscuits = cookies
bristols = breasts (slang)
chips = fries
crisps = chips
football (game) = soccer
kecks = trousers or underpants (regional term)
manky = dirty, messy, unpleasant (regional term)
mash = to make tea (regional term)
pavement = sidewalk
punter = customer (additional meaning, slang)
revise = review a subject before a test (additional meaning)
show (someone) up = to embarrass, but not necessarily humiliate, someone by saying or doing something. May well be done unintentionally. Can also be done reflexively.
trump = fart (additional meaning)
HMRC = Her (His from 9/9/22) Majesty's Revenue & Customs = UK tax authorities.
V-sign/Two fingered salute = Equivalent to 'flipping the bird' but using both the index and middle fingers. Alledged to have originated during the 100 years war when the French were in the habit of cutting off the fingers of captured English archers. Not to be confused with the palm outward version which is Churchillian 'V for Victory' sign that has probably now acquired other, more nefarious meanings!
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