I have this thing where I like to share the first chapter of the story that I’m currently working on. Well right now I am writing a novel for NaNoWriMo, or at least I was. There is no way that it is going to happen now. Life happened. You know illness, priorities other than writing, and all of the stuff that can’t be pushed aside to make time for writing. At least that is what I tell myself. By the end of the day I just didn’t feel like writing. I didn’t feel like much of anything. So by the time that I was ready to try my hand at NaNo some more I realized there is no way I am finishing this year unless I write almost five thousand words a day for the rest of the month. That is just not likely to happen. I guess that now I am just writing for me which is way less stressful. I do like this story though it is not really what I normally write. I tend to not write in the present time. I’m more of fantasy type of writer. This is fantasy and some vague almost science fiction. Not quite sure where to place it. It has a short first chapter. Things move rather fast I think. Not sure if this is a good thing but I’m still writing it. I’m on chapter three now. There are some curse words in this so if that thing offends please don’t read any more. Also the main character is a bit abrasive when thinking sometimes. She is pretty much my opposite in many ways. I like her though.
Please enjoy if you decide to read any further, and if you don’t enjoy it, I guess I have to keep trying until I get it right. Writing has been a part of me since before I knew how. I’ve always made up stories and I don’t think my brain knows how to stop. I just want to some day share them with people that will enjoy reading them. I must become a better writer to do that. I’m trying. I really am. There are however more than likely many errors in here. I haven’t really edited it yet. So as rough as it is, here’s the first chapter of my NaNo novel this year.
The Ties Unbound
Chapter One: The Last Halloween
So far her little Halloween party was going damn well. She chuckled at the thought. When her local, most likely well-meaning, community decided that they would no longer have trick or treating because of religious concerns, she had felt a bit more devastation than the decision had warranted. It wasn’t as if they had outlawed Halloween. They had just come damn close to it. Frowning at some of the newcomers to her little ‘Halloween Rebellion’ party, she turned quickly away. Most of those same people had been quick to jump on her bandwagon when she began to organize a party at their town park.
Taking up a collection among friends and family she had reserved all of the pavilions both indoor as well as out. She had asked for and received permission to decorate the park pathways as long as she cleaned up afterwards. She had made up fliers at home using her laptop and aging printer. She had taken donations of candy. They had done bargain store shopping for decorations. She had scoured the internet for spooky activities for both adults and children alike. She had spent hours making scary little touches for her homemade haunted path. Making this a night to remember became an obsession for her. She wanted to remind her neighbors what being a community was supposed to be all about.
She had done all of this so that some wishy washy church folk couldn’t take away one of her favorite holidays. A day where you could be anyone that you wanted to be. She had done it for herself. She had done it for the children. She wanted her children to remember their yearly flights of dress up fancy just as fondly as she did. She wanted that for all of the kids. Everyone was encouraged to dress for the occasion, even the adults. Why should the kids have all the fun?
Looking around with pride at the light hearted spook fest that she had created, she thought next year they may have to rent a vacant field or something. The place was packed. They probably weren’t all her neighbors. Word had gotten around via the internet of what she was trying to do here. There had been a mostly positive feedback to the whole thing. There had also been the detractors.
The sound of the protestors was faint now that there were so many people here but that hadn’t been the case when the party first started. They had been loud. They had been loud and mean. She had never really coped well with that combination. Luckily for her, she had back up in the form of the town cop who had politely told the protestors that it was their right to protest, they just had to do it outside of the park as there was a private party going on.
“Well Valia, you wanted to do something and you did it. Congrats!” the sound of her husband right behind her made her jump a little bit. The party planning had strained their relationship a little bit but now that should be behind them. Valia hoped so because she loved her darling husband more than almost everything. She love their children quite a bit more. She decided to be the one to take the high road. Smiling wryly she turned to face the love of her life.
Something softly stroked the back of her head. Valia hadn’t even finished turning around to look at her husband when the unexpected touch startled her. Confused she turned back. There was no one there. Maybe a bug had touched her. A bit freaked out she brushed the back of her neck as she noticed a commotion near the park entrance. Her mother and sister had just arrived. Her nieces and nephews were already searching their cousins out. That wasn’t the source of the commotion though. Turning completely to face the park entrance she frowned at her mother. She was obviously high. It’s possible she was drunk. She was most definitely out of her mind.
Her sister was trying to talk to the agitated matriarch of their family when she abruptly stopped to look around confused. Then she crumpled to the ground. Valia’s feet had her moving before she knew what to think of it all. A man that she had never seen before was running towards the unfolding drama. She felt a shock of recognition shiver through her even though she was certain that she did not know him. Everything began to feel hot. She was burning up. Still she ran on to her sister. She was vaguely aware of other people running toward them as well as if being herded by an unseen force. Everything felt speeded up as well as slowed down all at once. The air sizzled around her.
Valia felt as if she might crumple to the ground alongside her sister. The surreal feeling of a ghost touch along the back of her neck didn’t slow down her run. She heard someone shout her name. In a daze she slowed down when she had almost reached her sister. Slowly she turned to try to find the person shouting at her.
It was her husband. He was chasing after their daughter whom was chasing after her. She saw this dully unfold even though it was like watching it from a world away. She was seeing it through a blurry haze. It was as if some had set a giant wall of water between her and her family. It was a strange thought yet for some reason it did not surprise her. She felt as if she were empty. With little feeling she saw that her daughter was running toward that wall. Her little girl was going to leap through that wall to get to her.
A part of her that was more viscerally present than her brain knew that this would be bad. It would be very bad. This thought prodded and poked at her. She heard it as if it were a strange whispering voice living inside her head. It told her in a foreboding manner that it was up to her to stop it. She had to stop the little girl from reaching the wall. She had to stop it. Only she could save her. Only she was capable of the impossible. There was a growing pressure at the back of her mind making her feel as if there was a great weight weighing her down. The voice grew in strength. She had to remove the veil of water. She had to…
A touch at her elbow caused a fierce burning deep inside her. It spread all along her skin making her tingle in a thoroughly unpleasant way. She glanced furiously at the man that she had seen running earlier. He needed to go away. There was something she needed to do. He was glaring right back at her with eyes so darkly brown that they might as well be black. She tried to push away from him so that she could save her daughter. She felt the gentle touch at the back of her head again. She struggled to get to the water veil. To her daughter. To save her. He was nearly yelling in her face. Something about breaking free.
What the hell did he think that she was doing? If he would just let go she wouldn’t have to break free. Her daughter was almost there now. Close it, the voice said. Close it now. The man struck her brutally in her face screaming at her to listen. All that she could do was watch her daughter approach that evil veil of blurriness. Feeling in a trance barely aware of the surrealistic feeling of it all. Something snapped inside her breaking wide open. The man fell backwards away from her as if pushed down by an unseen enemy.
Valia stepped towards the veil tears pouring down her stony visage lifting her shaking hand toward her daughter. “No.” She whispered as the shattering sensation she was feeling inside of her traveled outward infecting the barrier between her and her family. The veil was gone now, in burst of lightning that would have made Zeus proud. Confused at the feeling of devastation she felt assailing her she searched for her daughter certain that she had saved her. Her daughter wasn’t there. In fact no one was there. The decorations for the party were still there, but there were no people except for those that she could hear behind her. The ones that had been on this side of the strange wall. No one else though. No one. Not her daughter. Not her husband. Not her sons. No one. No one. And she was the cause.
Darkness closed in on her. Her mind shut down. Her knees hit the ground with a dull thud. She stared at the emptiness. Gone. All gone. A scream ripped itself from her throat tearing at her with the primal rage that filled her. Let it free, the voice from earlier whispered. Fill the world with your power. Your wrath is just. The scream seemed to make everything waver even more as it ebbed from her in wave after wave of agony. The man that had struck her earlier towered over her now. She was only barely aware even as he drew back his arm.
“I said to stop listening to that psychotic voice god damn it!” He shouted as his fist flew forward. He struck her with the force of a moving brick wall. Her head snapped backwards, the scream abruptly cut off. Her world truly gone black as she continued to fall to the ground at the horrid man’s feet. No time to think. No reason to feel the pain of the truth of her sudden aloneness. No more tears. No more pain. No more.
Journey in Fantasy 