Snippet Sunday: September 20, 2015

Welcome to Snippet Sunday!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the FB group that does all three.

For this month, I am going to continue on with my short paranormal story, Rivers of Black. A story which I am now in the process of editing again after I talked myself into it. Come October I am going to be switching to something different. (I think.)

I am skipping ahead a few paragraphs again from last week’s snippet. My main character had been thinking about wanting to take her own life, but her fear of being found had stopped her. Now, she is out in the woods and has come across a sudden dark circle of wood that was not there before. Upon entering this eerie dark circle, she has stumbled onto a girl sitting on a rotten stump in the middle. A girl that was not there before.

Also, the photograph that is mentioned is something described in the paragraphs I skipped. If you want the awesome description of it — I’m rather proud of it (Yeah, yeah, I know, don’t go boasting, Morgana.) — then you’ll have to go read on Wattpad. I know, I’m mean.

A bit of background on this story as well: This story is rather dark and depressing. It deals with a topic some people would be hesitant to read; which is self harm and suicide. I don’t sugarcoat this either, I write it raw on how someone in my character’s state feels. Just be forewarned with that. I hope it doesn’t deter you from reading, but I know others cannot deal reading these kinds of things. (There is really nothing bad to this snippet though, but it’s getting spooky.)

(The following has been creatively punctuated to fit the ten sentence limit. Okay, I lied, it’s two sentences over. I edited to the best I could to try to fit it. But it’s too good to cut any sentences.)

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I continued to stare at her, trying to discern how she had gotten here or how the forest had even changed so drastically when it was perfect before. The longer I stared at her, the more my eyes seemed to play tricks on me; every so often it seemed like the outline of her blurred and became fuzzy, like the static on a TV screen before you put a VHS in, and sometimes, it seemed as if I looked right through her. I blinked my eyes rapidly, slightly shaking my head to clear it, deciding that my eyes must be playing tricks on me.

Yet, something just wasn’t quite right about her, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t put my finger to it.

Crouching forward more I looked back to the photograph in her hand and contemplated on removing it from her to take a closer look and to possibly draw her attention to me. Tentatively I reached my hand out slightly as if to take it, but changed my mind at the last second thinking the better of it.

Easily I asked again in a calm soothing voice, “Why are you crying? Are you alright?”

A soft reply came from her lips, carried off by the wind battering around us before I could make out what she said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?”

Seconds went by before the girl replied once more, “I thought it would be different here…”

“You thought what would be different here?”

Cover made by @_teenagers on Wattpad

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Mwahahaha! Cliffhanger! If you want to read the whole story, it is available to read on Wattpad! (Though I am in the slow process of editing it once more.) I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,

hop on over to Facebook and check out Sunday Snippets!