Monday, Monday, Monday!!! 6,000!

Yes, you read that right. It's Monday! UGH to daylight savings time - it has me alllll screwed up.

Time for a short story!

As I stand, alone, in the darkness, letting my eyes try to adjust, I begin to panic. I can feel my palms sweating and my heart racing in my chest; it's loud in the silence of the night. My legs begin to shake and I am fighting back both the urge to scream and the urge to run. I know that I can't give away my location but can't remember why or how I had gotten here. All I remember is falling asleep in my bed and waking up to this pitch blackness and the smell of trees, leaves, and grass. I am barefoot, dressed only in my nightgown, and I can feel a slight dampness in the ground beneath my feet. My hearing and smell are heightened to a state I have never experienced before. I am blind.

Suddenly, the thin waning crescent of the moon appears and my eyes are able to pick up a hint of light. What I see makes my blood run cold. I am standing in a small clearing in a forest and there are two very large, very red eyes looking at me from the brush on the other side. There is no body to go with those eyes yet but the sight of them makes my stomach tie into knots and every muscle in my body tense with fear.

It slowly takes a step out and I have to will my feet not to move and clench my jaw shut to avoid screaming. I know that if I scream, it will be on me in a second. Where that knowledge comes from, I can't remember. I lick my dry lips with my dry tongue as the animal emerges and my eyes widen in fear when the full form of the dog finally emerges. It is the biggest canine I have ever seen and I want to cry but find I am afraid to blur my vision with my tears and lose sight of my stalker.

His lips curl back in a snarl and I get the scent of blood in my nose. I can see the stains on its muzzle now and, as it moves closer, I am struck with the certainty that it is here to kill me. When it gets within mere feet of my position, my will breaks and I turn and run; crashing through the trees and bushes and cutting my skin deeply. I feel the sticks penetrating the soft bottom of my feet but I cannot take the time to care. I run like I have never run before in my life. I can hear the dog's feet as they pound the Earth behind me and I can  imagine its breath on the back of my neck.

I want to stop and throw up. My stomach feels like it is going to explode and my legs feel numb and detached from my body. I am breathing hard and fast from my panic and know that I will pass out soon if I am not careful; but I can't stop. I must keep running until the animal gives up. I know this as surely as I know my name is Bonnie; but I can't remember anything else.

I look back for a moment to see where my pursuer is and realize my mistake too late. In the dark, I don't see the end of the ground until I'm falling. I feel my hair whipping up and around my face for a moment and I think, "This is how I am going to die." but I slam into the ground a moment later and the sound of my bones snapping throughout my body sounds alien. I am lying on my back and cannot move but can see the place where I began my decent. As I stare, the dog leaps off the edge with no fear and lands, snarling, a few feet from me.

As he turns and looks at me, I allow my tears to flow at last. When he finally lunges for my throat, I feel a fear that I have never felt before...

The fear of death.

THE END - Literally!

I plan to crack out three chapters this week, my daily goal is 6,000 words. I need to finish by the end of March to hit my no-later-than-June release date.

Temujin, Jamuka, and Borte are about to have some tension and this is about to get real. I hope you all enjoyed my lil story above and that it made you cringe for a moment in this early morning light.

Now that I am all warmed up, time to write some book!!

Until next time, WRITE ON!!

Jo