Snippet 3

Shh. I have a secret. Huge! Too big to keep to myself so I'm going to share it with you. C'mere. It's the moon. She's mine! No, silly. Not like that. No one can own the moon. I mean she's my best friend. Oh sure, I let everyone else enjoy her but way down deep inside I know without a doubt that she's there for me. Always watching over me, protecting me, lighting my way when I need her to. Sometimes we play hide and seek, her behind the clouds, me in the shadows. She wins more often than I do because she know just how to shift so I'm back in her light again. Honestly, I wouldn't want it any different. Sometimes she can't wait until night to see me and pops out during the day. Did you see her a month or so ago? Strutting out at high noon so fast to find me that she blocked out the sun! Boy, did that cause a stir! And last night, after the rain, did you see her? Wasn't she glorious! All that, just for me. I am so loved!

Another Snippet

He watched her wander into the market. There was something about her, a stillness even when she was in motion that captivated him. He’d had a stand there for years and knew all the regulars. He also recognized the occasional patrons. She was new, different. From away if he were a betting man. He liked his routine and just her being there was disrupting it somehow. He wanted to ignore her but couldn’t. She both disturbed and fascinated him in ways he knew he’d never be able to explain to anyone, not that he had any intention of trying. When she stopped at the end of his table he had to fight the urge to run away almost as much as his impulse to rush towards her. He watched in awe as his helper greeted her as if she were anyone. Looking around, he saw that no one else seemed to notice anything odd about her. Or if they did, they were hiding it much better than he was. When she looked up at the young man and shook her head his breath caught. He’d never seen an expression of such pure peace before. As if on cue she turned toward him and snared him with her gaze. Waves of serenity exuded from her and washed over him. He still wanted to flee but found himself gravitating to her instead. She glanced at the peaches before her and waited quietly. Without conscious thought, he chose one perfect peach and handed it to her. The anticipation nearly killed him. For a brief instant everything went silent. The surrounding area was as still as she was. Then she brought the fruit to her nose and inhaled deeply. She smiled at him and nodded, biting into it, letting the juice run freely down her arm. She thanked him softly and moved away. The simple act was nothing yet it was everything. He knew deep in his soul that his world had just shifted. She would be back and his life would never be the same…

A Snippet

And the world faded around her. She had fought so hard to be what they demanded, to become what they saw her as. But in her shattered heart she knew it wasn’t her. She finally accepted the impossibility of it. Time to let it all go and move on. Maybe, hopefully she would one day step back out of the shadows and find a tribe to call her own. One where she was accepted, cherished even, as she truly was. For now though, she had to begin the journey on her own. The one to reclaim herself and discover who she really was behind all the masks she juggled for eons. It was so long that she’d hidden her true self that even she didn’t know her anymore. If you see her going along her solitary way, please be kind. She carries enough disappointment in herself for the masses. Don’t add to it. Nod and let her pass. This empty shell phase won’t last forever. She will sooner or later be back in all the shining glory she held when she was young. Before she was beaten by the life she struggled to fit in to...

There Be Monsters Here

Uh Oh

Beau is plotting again.  I was making real progress on book 4, Jesse's story.  And then out of the blue I woke up to these two teasers.

#1 - Humans. They're so inane. Or most are. My latest is decent as they come but hardly up to par with me. I suppose I'll keep her a while now that I have her almost fully trained. Also she amuses  me. Very few I can say that about. We moved recently. I wasn't working on anything in particular at the moment so I saw no harm in accompanying her. Her senses are lacking in comparison so I figured I'd tag along just in case something came up.

#2 -  I have a secret. Or so I thought. But I'm not the only one.

I found them in my email.  They were sent from my phone.  I know I didn't send them.  Which takes us back to Beau.  He does this to me all the time, clever little kitty that he is.

As I said I've been poking at book 4.  But I know better than to ignore Beau once he sends the beginning of something out into the universe.  Can't wait to see where these lead.

Breathing Room update - Currently at 39% with 35 days to go.  Please help if you can.  Little bits add up!

Prima Donnas, the Lot of Them

Characters, that is. I was happily listening to the Penguins tonight, cheerful that they were beating the Islanders when a new character popped in and smacked me upside the head. She demanded that I start on her tale immediately.  Nevermind that I was preoccupied with the game.  Nevermind that I was in the middle of knitting a new pair of mitts.  No manners, this one. She didn't even properly introduce herself, outright refused to tell me her name, just insisted I take this down. So of course I did.  Who am I to argue when a character is being chatty?

"I’d rarely been one to back down from a challenge and I was not about to start then. No, that was one I simply could not ignore, not with how he was sitting there looking entirely too smug. He was smiling at me as if I was some cowardly little girl who didn’t have a clue. I had no choice but to show him just how wrong he was."

Oh yeah, she's going to be fun!

Giggle!

Magic!

This is the print that hangs at the end of my bed.  Pretty, isn’t it?

I found it years ago at Skippack Days, a semi-local arts festival.  It was tucked away in the back of the bin, hiding from everyone else, just waiting for me.  Oh yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was meant for me.

How am I so certain?  Take a close look if you would.  The picture doesn’t do it justice but you can see the church and the houses, can’t you?  Me too.  Today.  It’s not always like that though.  Ha!  That got your attention, didn’t it?

You see, the print is magic.  The colors remain the same but the mist swirls and the scene changes.  There’s always a tower.  Church today but sometimes the buildings are replaced by a castle.

And the mist?  When it swirls, I can see it out of the corner of my eye.  The density changes.  And sometimes, when the mist is very heavy it seeps out into my room.  I can smell it and feel it on my face.

If I ever vanish without a trace be sure to check the print.  I may have found a way to step inside.  You’ll find me in the tower.

Happy weekend, all!