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| See? I've always been a fan of this season. I even insisted on holding this leaf when the picture was being taken, lol =) |
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| photo credit: niseag03 via photopin cc |
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| photo credit: T1m0thy77 via photopin cc |
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| photo credit: steviep187 via photopin cc |
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| photo credit: Send me adrift. via photopin cc |
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| Photo courtesy of Anderson Independent Newspaper |
This time last year, I was experiencing a mixture of feelings: Nervousness. Excitement. Fear.
Nervous about stepping out of my shell to do interviews and book signings.
Excited about the possibilities surrounding my new release (and the fact that it was actually happening!).
And afraid–terrified, actually–of what people might think about my book.
{Continue reading}
I look around the airport. He’s not here. Good.I walk in the opposite direction of everyone else, pushing past men and women of all ages. I clutch the passport.Keeping my head down, I reach my destination, where my flight waits. I pass my wanted poster. I pass the flight attendant, flashing my ticket in her face.I did it.I’m ok.And I still have them.I settle into my seat, a sigh of relief escapes.My bags wait above me.I can only hope no one took those last tickets next to me.People shuffled down the row.But no one shuffled down my little row.I sat back and relaxed, it was just a moment before we were going to take off.That’s when a momma of two boys came up, I could see the stress pouring from her eyes.“Um, could we go by sir?” She asked.My whole insides were yelling no, but I couldn’t make them go somewhere else. I stood up and they sat down in the two seats.The baby in her lap, and the at least twelve year old next to me.“What’s your name, Mr?”I turned to the boy.“Jenkins.” I mumbled, pushing my hat down a little further.“That’s like a book series my momma likes to read.” He grinned.I tried to smile, my whole insides were screaming against this.He stopped talking to me and soon the plane was in the air and I knew it was time. But how could I get past it with this momma and her two little boys?I pulled out the small scissors from my pocket and hoped for the best—but the worst for everyone on the plane.Congratulations, TW! Click here for your badge. =)
The boy stretched out his hand, tapping exactly the right spot. The green web illuminated the night forest, stretching as far as the eye could see.“Yes, yes, yes!” I shrieked as I sprinted forward to the nearest bubble-like circle. Finally, I had my way in. “Here I come, Mom,” I whispered under my breath.The green lines of the web grew closer and closer until they glowed right in front of me. I made the final jump. One moment, trees stretched up above my head and the sounds of the jungle filled my ears. The next: silence, complete and utter silence. And a stark whiteness. Absolutely nothing. This had to be right, though. I knew that was the portal. What else could it have been?My heart started pounding in my chest. Forget the questions- I was floating in thin air. I had to find something, anything, to place my feet on.Then, a field of burnt grass flashed before me, the horizon meeting with a charcoal gray sky spotted with dusty clouds. I dropped a couple feet to the ground. Having landed on my knees, I didn’t even have time to clamber to my feet before the world around me flashed away and the gravity-less whiteness returned.What was going on?Something green- the same shade of green that the portal was made of- flashed in front of me. I reached out, swatting at it, but it had already disappeared.I was just about to throw my hands and shout in hopes that something would hear my frustration, when I heard a shrieking sound. I craned my neck towards it, trying to decipher the words.“Our world is fading. We need Melody.”Melody. My mom.Congratulations, Katheline! Click here for your badge. =)
The man slammed his fist against a desk, emotion surging through his body. In a fit of rage he threw back his chair, pumping his hand at his angled, office ceiling.
“You have the wrong man? You hear me? I’m not the one you want!”
But no one was there to listen to his begging cries. No one was there to recognize that the man was harmless and innocent. No one understood.
How did he get mixed up with the thief? How did he, a humble, quiet man get taken for a dangerous criminal?
The man picked up a stray pair of scissors from his desk, twirling them around, feeling helpless. The scissors spun off of his fingers and landed with a loud clatter on the floor.
Sighing, the man ran his fingers through his dark, unkempt hair. What was there to do? How could he convince them that he wasn’t the one they were looking for? He needed to get away. He needed to…go.
His eyes lit up. He hurled open his desk drawers, shuffling through different assorted papers and files. It wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for: A small, blue passport.
With his heartbeat elevating, the man strode past his desk with a mission and a plan. He would get out of his house, he would fly to a different country, and he would find a way to convince everyone that he was innocent.
He ran out of his office, shutting the door with a bang. Inside, a poster floated gently to the floor, big, bold text inscribing: WANTED.
Congratulations, Katie Grace! Click here for your badge. =)
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and a cold river of fear trickled down my spine. The air smelled wrong, and empty space crackled with tension. Girders which once seemed secure now acted as obstructing objects behind which anything could hide. Dust scattered the floor evenly, too evenly. Something here had changed. I felt death in the air. Someone followed.
A plastic sheet swayed gently in the breeze. My head automatically snapped towards the motion. I realized too late the error I just made. Red lights and alarm bells went off in my head as a blunt object contacted my cranium sharply. Tendrils of a black haze crept across my vision like the legs of a spider. Everything blurred, then I slipped out of consciousness.
Shapes shifted before me, dark shapes, unfocused shapes. I closed my eyes, trying to rid myself of the sensation that left me feeling like a drunken sailor. Gradually the world stopped spinning around me, and I found myself sitting on a chair, hands pinioned behind my back. The shapes I had seen were no more than the metal table in front of me and the gun on it.
Someone entered the room; a tall, spare man.
“Hello Mr. Holt.”
He picked up the gun. Removing the magazine, he showed me the lone bullet inside.
“You would recognize this wouldn’t you? The bullet you tried to assassinate me with. Ah, the ironies of life.”
I watched mechanically as he returned the cartridge to the gun and leveled the weapon. As my life flashed before my eyes, I was brought back to the moment when I was captured. It was a place I passed everyday. Who would have guessed it was a trap?
“Goodbye Mr. Holt.”
Complacency, a terrible mista–
