Suffice it to say that as soon as I'm feeling well enough (hopefully tomorrow!), my plan is to get this train back on the track and chug away.
But first, I want to share a portion of what I've written so far and shared with my reading group. My goal is to eventually finish and do something with this manuscript. I don't know what I'll do. It may go into the pile with all the other ones I started and never finished, but I hope to get it out of the house and onto someone's desk for perusing. I don't know; we'll see.
Here's a glimpse:
The first time she saw Chad was on a hot July morning. Granna's icy lemonade was causing her glass to sweat. Natasha Howard wiped the condensation with her hand and watched as the cool water slid down her wrist and onto her forearm. She sat on the porch swing, gently rocking, her dirty feet shod in flip-flops that were a size too small. She hadn't asked Poppy and Granna for new ones because she hated new shoes, flip-flops included.
She sighed, wishing there was something to do. She was just wishing it was time for school to start when a baseball sailed over the wooden fence. It took a long arc, and Natasha suddenly sat up, worried that it was going to hit--
“No way!” She launched herself off the swing, leaving it careening crazily on the chain, and sprinted to the bird bath. Too late.
The ball landed right in the middle of Granna's really expensive bird bath that had its own little neat fountain and smashed the bird that perched proudly in the center.
She looked around behind her to see if Granna had seen what had happened, but the kitchen window was uninhabited, as was the living room bay window. Then Natasha fixed her gaze toward the wooden fence and saw the planks shuffle and move. Someone was trying to climb it. One of those new kids Granna had talked about who'd just moved in next door, or--
Suddenly a tow-colored head appeared atop the pointed edges at the top of the fence. “Hi, sorry. I hit the ball a little too far.”
This wasn't some little kid like Granna had suggested. He was at least her age, or maybe a year older. Natasha pointed at the bird bath and watched as the boy's gaze shifted to the mess in the middle of the yard.
His eyes grew wide and then he winced. “Did I do that? Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry!” He struggled to maintain his stance on the fence. “Can I come over and see it? My dad will probably kill me, but I'll pay for it to be replaced.”
Natasha held back a little grin as she realized there was no way this twelve or thirteen year old boy would be able to replace her Granna's prized possession. “Come on over,” she replied. “You can come over and meet my Granna. I promise she won't rip your head off, but she might be a little mad.”
“Ok, thanks. I'll be right over.”
Natasha sighed and, since he was no longer in her line of sight, let herself grin. Really big.
That's the prologue. As you probably have figured out, it's a flashback. The rest of the story goes back and forth between modern day and when Natasha and Chad were growing up.
That's my update for NaNoWrimo. I'm not sure I'll have 50,000 words by November 30, but at least I'll have a start, and that's more than I've had for many, many years. :)
Copyright © 2014 Jami Bennington
