However, this is MY blog. And shouldn't I feel free to post what I want to post? I mean, I'm not really worried about one of my readers stealing my ideas- and hey, if a snippet actually inspires someone else to write, isn't that a GOOD thing??
So, that being said, I'm going to say screw the rules and post a little teaser from After the Dream (still tentatively titled, as I mentioned before- I have another title in my mind that I think actually works better). This is one of my favorite parts of the story, where Ella and Riley really start to work together to learn about Anna's ghost's mystery. This chapter is about a third of the way into the book, from Ella's perspective.
I would love to know your thoughts! Questions, comments, concerns- although of course I won't be giving away any major spoilers. ;o)
* * * * * *
Riley led me through the woods, holding back branches and stomping down brush for me as maneuvered his way expertly through them. Leaves danced frantically on the ground, trying to escape the relentless pull of the wind. I could taste snow in the air and buttoned my jacket all the way to my neck, shivering slightly. My hair whipped painfully around my face and kept getting stuck to my lips and eyelashes.
“It’s not much farther,” he assured me.
When Riley had called me this morning asking if I would come over, saying he wanted to show me some things to better explain his dreams, there was no way I could resist, especially after I’d committed myself to helping him on Friday night at Shelley’s. So that is why, on a very chilly Sunday afternoon, I was tromping through the woods with him, a little nervous and extremely cold.
I stumbled into him when he stopped suddenly at a small clearing. He appeared to be having some difficulty breathing as he looked around slowly, raising his face up to the sky.
“Riley?” I whispered, not sure what was going on. Or why I was whispering.
He turned to face me, only a few inches away. “This is it,” he said simply.
I took a step back and tried to see around him. “Um, what?” I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, besides the fact that the trees weren’t quite as dense in this particular area. A crow cawed loudly above us, disrupting the quiet. I jumped. I was completely on edge out here for some reason, buzzing with nervous energy.
Riley turned back around and focused on the ground a few feet in front of him. I followed his gaze and found a small, longish stone that looked out of place here, even though it was half-buried into the earth. I moved towards it and knelt down, scraping dirt and debris from it.
Anna Tomlinson
Beloved
I stared at it, willing the name to mean something to me. There were no dates on the headstone, no information other than “beloved”. I looked curiously up at Riley.
“Whose grave is this?” I asked. “Who’s Anna?”
Riley remained silent as he stared down at me, kneeling by the grave.
I stood up. “Okay, now you’re officially freaking me out again.” I crossed my arms over my chest, hugging myself.
Riley’s eyes were still on the grave. He shook his head as though shaking off a bad memory and finally looked up at me. “No. I mean, I’m sorry-“
“Just explain why you brought me into the middle of the woods to show me some random old grave, please?”
Riley seemed to be having a difficult time figuring out how to explain. It almost looked like he was about to lose consciousness; his eyelids kept fluttering as he struggled to form words.
“Anna…is…the girl…help…I have to help her,” he sputtered.
I glanced back down at the grave. “Um, I think you’re a little late to help her,” I said gently.
Riley plopped down on a fallen tree and held his head in his hands. “She’s the girl in my dreams. The one who’s trying to tell me something.”
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