48,991 To Go.......
Sarah awakened abruptly to a blood-curdling scream that pierced the silence of the nighttime air. “What’s going on?” she thought as she sat up in bed, listening intently. A shrill scream penetrated the quietness of the house once again. “Oh my God! What is happening?” she wondered again and quickly rushed out of bed. She pulled on her robe and was very careful to make minimal noise as she tip-toed towards the bedroom door. The voice had screamed twice now, was definitely a female and sounded like the person was a young adult. The only people that should be in the house right now should be Sarah and her aunt, Rebecca. She tried not to let fear overtake her as familiar memories from long ago came flooding back. “It can’t be…” she thought to herself, “I can’t even think about that now.” She willed her mind to focus on what was happening in the present moment. She could now hear the person sobbing and wailing as though in deep agony. Sarah stood at the edge of the bedroom near the doorway, anxiously trying to decide how to move forward. Her first reaction was to call the police, but the nearest phone was downstairs. She tried to decide if she should grab something to protect herself and rush to see what was going on, or sneak slowly through the hall and down the spiral stairs to the phone that was in the kitchen. She knew the situation at hand may be so urgent that there was no time to spare. It could be something that needed to be dealt with immediately to save the young woman’s life. What if Sara and her aunt were themselves in imminent danger? “Aaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!” This time the scream was more eerie and intense than ever, and now Sarah could tell that it was coming from just outside the house, somewhere very near the house out on the front lawn. That didn’t mean someone else may not be inside the house, she thought. She trembled, walked into the hall and instinctively grabbed a brass figurine, a small, yet heavy antique statuette, which had been in the McClaine family for years. Just as she grabbed it, Aunt Rebecca appeared at end of the hallway, also preparing to go downstairs. Relieved that her aunt was okay, Sara motioned for her to follow quickly and quietly, just in case someone was in the house. It was an extremely painstaking and panic filled journey, both of them creeping softly down the stairs. There was suddenly the sound of glass shattering, along with more crashing noises from somewhere downstairs. She could still hear the screams coming from the front yard. Sarah flew to the kitchen, grateful that it was completely opposite of where she could hear the noise from inside and grabbed the phone. Just as she started to dial she could hear someone speaking, “Hello? Hello? Sarah? Is that you? Rebecca?” She immediately recognized the voice as Justin Griffith, a nearby neighbor. “Yes, Justin. Rebecca and I...-” he interrupted, and inquired “Are you and Rebecca okay, Sarah? I heard screaming!” Sara spoke urgently in a hushed tone, “We hear it too, Justin! It’s still happening—and we just heard glass breaking from somewhere downstairs in the house! I was just going to call the police!” “No, Sarah, I’ll call them. Get outside now. You and Rebecca get outside this second and come over here as quick as you can!” he firmly instructed. They hung up and Sarah and Aunt Rebecca hurried toward the front door. They could hear more loud sounds happening inside the house as though someone, possibly more than one person was purposely destroying and breaking items in the home, but their only concern at the moment was one of survival. Sarah opened the front door and grabbed her aunt’s hand as she guided them outside as quickly as possible. “Where is the woman who is screaming?” she thought to herself. She looked around wildly as she ran towards her neighbor’s house. Rebecca let out a gasp, “Oh, Sarah! No, it can’t be! It’s--” Sara’s eyes followed the direction her aunt was staring in, frozen in fear, hoping this was all just a nightmare. “Oh, please God,” she thought, “Not now. I can’t deal with this again.” But it was exactly what she feared. “It’s Alison.” A young woman in her early twenties, twenty four years old to be precise, just three years younger than Sarah, was kneeling on the ground, rocking back and forth and screaming hysterically and incoherently. “That must be Derrick that is inside the house then,” Sarah realized. “Or who knows who it could be with Alison?” Sara exclaimed, “What are you doing here, Ali? Oh my God. Why did you come back?” Alison looked up, eyes glazed, definitely on drugs. What she was high on, Sarah couldn’t tell. Tears were streaming down Alison’s face. “It’s not what you think, Sarah. I swear I’m not on anything. I’m clean.” They had heard it all before and she knew from experience that no matter what Alison said during moments like these, that Alison was a liar. Not to be believed. Rebecca came up from behind Sarah and hissed, “I told you to never ever come back here again!” Alison’s long jet black hair was in a tangled mess, her clothing filthy and tattered, she smelled and looked as though she hadn’t bathed in weeks. Most likely she hadn’t. It was, as usual, heart-rending to see her like this, but at some point during the last ten years, both Rebecca and Sarah had found it necessary to somehow harden their hearts to her and her antics. Eventually everyone had turned their back on helping Alison or being fooled by her ever again. Since Alison was around the age of fourteen, she had repeatedly destroyed the well being of everyone around her. She had used and taken advantage of her family’s love and kindness over and over again until there was no more willingness from anyone to trust in her again. There was no emotional substance left in Alison that made it worth dealing with her anymore.
NaNoWriMo Experience of the day:
Things I've thought:
stuff in all the extra words I possibly can, even when unnecessary, to reach the 50,000 words ASAP.
I may go "Horror" with this, nahhh nevermind I'll go stranger/burglar, No, I'll go...., etc.
At one point I thought about letting some new, not yet introduced main character suddenly shut the book that she was either:
a.writing
b.reading (thus leaving me open to a new and wide open plot that would go back and forth intertwining the reader/writer's life with the book she was reading /writing. Not connecting them, just that I could write back and forth about both.
and then /I thought nahhhh, go ON!!! Get BUSY!!!!
Sarah awakened abruptly to a blood-curdling scream that pierced the silence of the nighttime air. “What’s going on?” she thought as she sat up in bed, listening intently. A shrill scream penetrated the quietness of the house once again. “Oh my God! What is happening?” she wondered again and quickly rushed out of bed. She pulled on her robe and was very careful to make minimal noise as she tip-toed towards the bedroom door. The voice had screamed twice now, was definitely a female and sounded like the person was a young adult. The only people that should be in the house right now should be Sarah and her aunt, Rebecca. She tried not to let fear overtake her as familiar memories from long ago came flooding back. “It can’t be…” she thought to herself, “I can’t even think about that now.” She willed her mind to focus on what was happening in the present moment. She could now hear the person sobbing and wailing as though in deep agony. Sarah stood at the edge of the bedroom near the doorway, anxiously trying to decide how to move forward. Her first reaction was to call the police, but the nearest phone was downstairs. She tried to decide if she should grab something to protect herself and rush to see what was going on, or sneak slowly through the hall and down the spiral stairs to the phone that was in the kitchen. She knew the situation at hand may be so urgent that there was no time to spare. It could be something that needed to be dealt with immediately to save the young woman’s life. What if Sara and her aunt were themselves in imminent danger? “Aaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!” This time the scream was more eerie and intense than ever, and now Sarah could tell that it was coming from just outside the house, somewhere very near the house out on the front lawn. That didn’t mean someone else may not be inside the house, she thought. She trembled, walked into the hall and instinctively grabbed a brass figurine, a small, yet heavy antique statuette, which had been in the McClaine family for years. Just as she grabbed it, Aunt Rebecca appeared at end of the hallway, also preparing to go downstairs. Relieved that her aunt was okay, Sara motioned for her to follow quickly and quietly, just in case someone was in the house. It was an extremely painstaking and panic filled journey, both of them creeping softly down the stairs. There was suddenly the sound of glass shattering, along with more crashing noises from somewhere downstairs. She could still hear the screams coming from the front yard. Sarah flew to the kitchen, grateful that it was completely opposite of where she could hear the noise from inside and grabbed the phone. Just as she started to dial she could hear someone speaking, “Hello? Hello? Sarah? Is that you? Rebecca?” She immediately recognized the voice as Justin Griffith, a nearby neighbor. “Yes, Justin. Rebecca and I...-” he interrupted, and inquired “Are you and Rebecca okay, Sarah? I heard screaming!” Sara spoke urgently in a hushed tone, “We hear it too, Justin! It’s still happening—and we just heard glass breaking from somewhere downstairs in the house! I was just going to call the police!” “No, Sarah, I’ll call them. Get outside now. You and Rebecca get outside this second and come over here as quick as you can!” he firmly instructed. They hung up and Sarah and Aunt Rebecca hurried toward the front door. They could hear more loud sounds happening inside the house as though someone, possibly more than one person was purposely destroying and breaking items in the home, but their only concern at the moment was one of survival. Sarah opened the front door and grabbed her aunt’s hand as she guided them outside as quickly as possible. “Where is the woman who is screaming?” she thought to herself. She looked around wildly as she ran towards her neighbor’s house. Rebecca let out a gasp, “Oh, Sarah! No, it can’t be! It’s--” Sara’s eyes followed the direction her aunt was staring in, frozen in fear, hoping this was all just a nightmare. “Oh, please God,” she thought, “Not now. I can’t deal with this again.” But it was exactly what she feared. “It’s Alison.” A young woman in her early twenties, twenty four years old to be precise, just three years younger than Sarah, was kneeling on the ground, rocking back and forth and screaming hysterically and incoherently. “That must be Derrick that is inside the house then,” Sarah realized. “Or who knows who it could be with Alison?” Sara exclaimed, “What are you doing here, Ali? Oh my God. Why did you come back?” Alison looked up, eyes glazed, definitely on drugs. What she was high on, Sarah couldn’t tell. Tears were streaming down Alison’s face. “It’s not what you think, Sarah. I swear I’m not on anything. I’m clean.” They had heard it all before and she knew from experience that no matter what Alison said during moments like these, that Alison was a liar. Not to be believed. Rebecca came up from behind Sarah and hissed, “I told you to never ever come back here again!” Alison’s long jet black hair was in a tangled mess, her clothing filthy and tattered, she smelled and looked as though she hadn’t bathed in weeks. Most likely she hadn’t. It was, as usual, heart-rending to see her like this, but at some point during the last ten years, both Rebecca and Sarah had found it necessary to somehow harden their hearts to her and her antics. Eventually everyone had turned their back on helping Alison or being fooled by her ever again. Since Alison was around the age of fourteen, she had repeatedly destroyed the well being of everyone around her. She had used and taken advantage of her family’s love and kindness over and over again until there was no more willingness from anyone to trust in her again. There was no emotional substance left in Alison that made it worth dealing with her anymore.
NaNoWriMo Experience of the day:
Things I've thought:
stuff in all the extra words I possibly can, even when unnecessary, to reach the 50,000 words ASAP.
I may go "Horror" with this, nahhh nevermind I'll go stranger/burglar, No, I'll go...., etc.
At one point I thought about letting some new, not yet introduced main character suddenly shut the book that she was either:
a.writing
b.reading (thus leaving me open to a new and wide open plot that would go back and forth intertwining the reader/writer's life with the book she was reading /writing. Not connecting them, just that I could write back and forth about both.
and then /I thought nahhhh, go ON!!! Get BUSY!!!!
posted by shari at 11/01/2006 05:58:00 PM
3 Comments:
Character development---must describe all and soon. Where is the neighbor, is he a love interest for Sarah or Rebecca? Where are the police? Must describe that soon. Is it a small town --do they personally know the police? Is it a nice neighborhood?
Why is Sarah living with her aunt at age 27? How old is the aunt? If she needed Sarah due to age or health problems, that would explain, but I don't want a frumpy old ill healthed aunt. I don't like oldness. Not in my book.
Gotta figure that out. Are Sarah and Alison sisters? cousins? Alison could be a foster or adopted child.
Where are Sarah's parents? That's the kind of stuff running throuh my mind. I gotta quit thinking and start writing.
Oh yeah, and what is Derrick doing inside the house? Is it even Derrick?????????
Yay, you were scared to let anyone read it, then you put it on your blog! Go bravery!
Hey! Okay, it only took me twelve days to get back over here to see this! (Been busy, busy, busy on my own nano novel...and working...and playing nurse to Karim who had a bad tooth week).
I like it, I like it! Keep going! I'd like to see where your story twists and turns. It's pretty cool!
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