I'm posting snippets from a story for this year's Challenge.
If you'd like to read the whole tale, please start with A.
U IS FOR ULULATION
Danielle ran through the neighborhood's backyards and sent dogs to howling. Her hair whipped against her face and tangled as she leapt over fences.
Please let Libby be okay.
She heard a child's scream as she raced across Erik's back lawn and barreled through the glass door. Glass rained over the kitchen floor, and the alarm went off sounding like a dying siren's last ululation. Skating along with the shards, she darted down the hall and took the stairs two at a time to the second floor.
There was another scream and an ominous hiss. Not from Libby's room, but farther down the hall.
When Danielle kicked open the door, she found herself in the master bedroom. A gigantic serpent with a pink bonnet and a baby's rattle clutched in its tail loomed over its victim.
No. Victims.
Erik used his body to cover Libby's. Perhaps as his last act, because he didn't appear to be moving.
I'm trying to say that word. For some reason, my tongue isn't wanting cooperate :)
ReplyDeleteHi Christine .. I think I'd be howling if I had a pink-bonnet serpent squishing the life out of me ... especially if it was swatting life out with baby's rattle in its tail ...
ReplyDeleteI really need to read your book - shortly! Cheers Hilary
OMG! I'm not afraid of snakes, but a gigantic serpent in a pink bonnet armed with a rattle might just change my mind! (:
ReplyDeleteOh, no! As much as I'm fearing for these characters right now, though, I must say, I love how intense this snippet is! *eagerly waits for next snippet*
ReplyDeleteThis is a great word! I loved the urgency of this snippet, but I really hope they're OK!
ReplyDeleteOh my, noo! Thanks for the fast paced story!
ReplyDeleteHope she's not too late!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading, everyone! We're on the last stretch. I hope Danielle survives it!
ReplyDeleteNever heard that word before!
ReplyDeleteOh no, I hope Erik is okay!
ReplyDeleteI'm like T, I can't say this word either LOL.
Umm....was that a 'rattle' snake?? :D
ReplyDeleteLove it! I'm really enjoying the snippets you've been giving us and I've never heard ululation before...I'll have to remember that one :)
This is a heart-pounding story thanks to the threat to a child. Well done.
ReplyDeleteYou have to hear that ululation across a desert. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteAs to that snake . . . you could not have creeped me out more than giving me the image of it with a bonnet and rattle.
How awful! Erik was so brave!
ReplyDeleteI'm on the edge of my seat. I need to know what happens next!
ReplyDelete"like a dying siren's last ululation"
ReplyDeleteAwesome sentence.
This story is so wonderful.
oh my!!! I'd scream my head off if i saw a serpent like that.
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Whoa, a giant serpent with a pink bonnet and baby rattle? That'd scare the poop out of me!
ReplyDeleteGood grief, that serpent sounds very much like Ogopogo of Okanagan Lake. Must have go for a stroll :)
ReplyDeleteYikes! That would be comical and frightening all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteOh no! Although a snake in a bonnet would be funny.
ReplyDeleteThat is so intense, it made the hair on my arms stand up.
ReplyDeleteRhonda @Laugh-Quotes.com
My heart's pounding! I hope they're okay!
ReplyDeleteNOOOOOOO!
ReplyDeleteHeather