In Competition No. 2428 you were asked for a piece of prose incorporating, in any order, 12 given words, using them in a non-alcoholic sense.
Despite the fact that some of you occasionally groan at this type of comp, it always pulls in a big number of punters. The combination of sidecar and bishop generated a fair amount of gas (in the American sense) and gaiters. Shrub, since you ask, is a drink of mixed alcohol and fruit juice. I did not, of course, accept it or any other given word with a capital letter used as a surname. The prizewinners, printed below, get £25 each, Richard Ellis takes the extra fiver and David Jones has an honourable mention.
Bond stared out at the wooded Transylvanian landscape. It was St Agnes Eve. A bitter chill was in the air. A rum old world, espionage, Bond thought. He turned to the table, pushing forward his bishop.
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