WARNING: As I did just throw this together, it may be INCREDIBLY cheesy...just sayin'...don't judge, okay?? Also, its kinda long...brace yourself...
I'm working on Changing Tyde again, now that I have time (HOORAY!!!) I feel as if I have been neglecting my characters, which is not a good thing. Fortunately Jason and Kyla are both patient people by nature so I'm sure everything will be fine. I have been e-mailing the lady from whom I won to have my manuscript evaluated which has been a learning and neat experience. Any way, here is an excerpt that happens just after Jason finds his wife cheating on him and he walks out, hops in his car and starts driving:
My phone started ringing again. It had been going off every few minutes since I left the house. It was the only register of time I had. Brooke kept calling over and over and over again. I finally took my stupid Blackberry and chucked it out the window, and pushed the gas pedal down a little further. It was close to 2:00 AM before I finally made it to the beach house. There were three messages on the phone there when I arrived. Without listening to them, I unplugged the phone and went straight up the stairs to bed. I was exhausted, I was already dragging when I had gotten home three and a half hours ago. The messages would be there in the morning. I could already guess who they would be from, Brooke, and Phil. I walked into the master bedroom, dropped my bags on the floor and didn’t bother to change my clothes. I took off my shirt and my shoes and crashed on the bed, not even bothering to get under the covers. I tried to turn my mind off and just sleep a long dreamless sleep…then maybe things would seem better in the morning. Maybe I’d wake to find the whole night had been a dream.
I opened my eyes and everything seemed so bright. I stood and realized I was in my beach house still, but things were different. Nothing was in its usual place, and the walls were a pale blue instead of the stark white Brooke was so fond of. I knew Brooke could not possibly be here because the tall windows were open. I could hear the ocean behind them and could feel the breeze as it gently moved the curtains in a soft swaying motion. I picked my white shirt up off the floor, put it on, but didn’t bother to button it up. The sun was streaming in from the East telling me it was early in the morning. I left my room and walked down the hall. I knew it was my house, but it didn’t feel the same as when I had walked in last night. I walked down the stairs and none of the furniture I was used to was in the house. Instead of the cream, white, and tan colors that Brooke preferred, everything was colorful. The furniture in the front room a vibrant spring green to go along with the cream and ocean blue stripes on the walls. All the wood was a light colored oak instead of the dark mahogany. I walked over to the mantel, which still contained pictures, but as I approached, I realized they were not the pictures I had been looking at last night. These were different. I picked up a frame with a few different pictures in it and examined them closely. I was shocked to see myself in them; one of me and a little boy running outside on the beach. One of me holding a baby girl with a bow in her hair, my head next to hers with an expression peaceful contemplation-not something I do often, especially lately. One with me holding a dark haired woman close to me…I couldn’t see her face, you could only see my profile next to her long dark hair. My eyes are closed and my expression is one of sheer joy. I can imagine the scene at which this picture is taken, but I have no actual memory of it. All I know is the feeling in my heart tells me how much I love the people in these pictures. It was strange, I looked so happy in these pictures. I looked like I belonged somewhere, instead of the stranger I currently felt like-even to myself.
Voices caught me off guard, I thought I was alone in some alternate universe. They are coming from down the hall where my office was supposed to be. I wanted to go listen to recognize them, but part of me just stayed where I was. This was all so surreal to me. I didn’t know what to think. An unconscious thought told me that the people here were my family, but logically it couldn’t be, because my family had fallen apart and I was lost and alone. I just stood there looking around my house when the voice from earlier that night returned, it was peaceful and simply urged, “Go see them, they are your family”. I hesitated slightly, but I finally turned and walked quietly down the hall. I heard soft whispers coming from what was supposed to be my office. I didn’t look in at first, I just stood outside the doorway listening. The voice was gentle, a woman’s voice. It sounded peaceful and welcoming. She was telling a story about a little rabbit who wished he had a pair of red wings, and the calamities that came when he got them. There was a second voice too, a little boy. He kept asking questions about the story. His mother, I assumed, answered them patiently and would continue with the story when he was appeased. My curiosity was starting to pique as I inched towards the doorway. I entered the room slowly, the little boy turned to see me immediately and I saw a head of dark spiky hair, accompanied with crisp ocean blue eyes staring at me with a gasp of excitement crossed his lips as he ran over and hugged me around the knees…
I gasped for air as I shot straight up on my bed. Everything had been so vivid, so real. I looked around, half expecting everything to be changed to how it had been in the dream, but no, everything was how I had left it. The stark white walls, the dark mahogany bed that stood out like a dark cloud on a sunny day. I sat there until my breathing calmed. I finally looked at the clock, it was 11:45 AM; time to face reality. I walked over to the windows and opened them. I picked my shirt up off the floor and started buttoning it as I walked out of the room and down the hall. I passed by a few pictures of me and Brooke that hung on the wall and paused for a moment. It was like comparing the difference between night and day when I looked at these pictures of me and Brooke in comparison to the girl I was with in my dream. I took the pictures off the wall and when I reached the bottom of the stairs with them, I dumped them all on the floor by the mantel determined to rid the house of any trace that Brooke was ever here. First, however, I knew I needed to call Phil and tell him to calm down because undoubtedly he would be near having a heart attack right now, if he hadn’t had one already.
So...What did you think? Let me know. I don't know if it will stay or not since I already have the other dream sequence with Kyla and Jake...I don't know, I just had to get it out of my head and onto paper. It might just be one of those scenes that stays with me and doesn't make it into the final manuscript.
I know that you are probably sick of reading, but quick update on me: I passed all my classes this last semester!!! I am so grateful for an ever mindful Heavenly Father for helping me through this one. I am taking a semester off to save up money so I don't have to worry so much about money when I go back. I still need to post a picture of my "new" car. Names that have been submitted so far: Button, Kris or Krista, The Original Ghetto Cruiser, and Steve. I like Button, but I just don't know if I want all my guy friends accusing me of naming my car butt (because they are childish and stupid and I know I need to find new friends...I'm working on it.)
I have given up on Luke. Having said that, funny story for you. I went to go see Avatar with a few of my brothers and my dad and on the way out (mind you, I was surrounded by my brothers and my dad) I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be funny if I saw Luke here?" and then not a minute later I saw him waiting for someone! It was so funny. He saw me first and said "HEY!!" sounding rather surprised and I said "Hey Luke!!" and had to keep walking as I was in the midst of very fast walkers. My family generally walks at missionary speed, which is not conducive to stopping to have a conversation with someone. So yeah, it was cool. Sorry this post is FOREVER long, thanks for hanging in there, those of you that did!! YOU'RE AWESOME!!
