Eve of the Moon | Chapters One + Two
I was challenged last week to do more on promoting my books. It would be easy for me to write a book, mention it in passing to a few friends, and then just let it die quietly. It's hard for me to promote myself. It's hard for me to ask people to buy and read my work. But, I'm going to try.
Writing is a dream of mine, it has been since I was a kid, and I'm ready to actually fight to make that dream a reality! =)
The person who challenged me to do this, does this himself. One of the ways he promotes his work is by publishing the first chapters of his books for anyone and everyone to read. I guess the goal is to hook the reader.
I almost feel bad doing this BUT, as I said, I'm ready to try! I'm ready to move out of my comfort zone a little. Be gentle with me, internet people! Here we go....
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Chapter 1
Rachel ran as fast as her slender legs would allow. She could hear the growling creatures behind her gaining speed and closing in on her at a rapid pace. She had to move! Her boots pounded into the white fluff beneath her, kicking up clouds of powder as she moved. The bitter chill in the air was working its way into her lungs, making each breath more labored than the last. She was running out of oxygen. She was running out of time. The howls, the growls, the pounding of small feet gaining on her, it was all happening too quickly. But she knew what needed to be done.
Just ahead of her, sitting on top of a pile of logs ready to be made into firewood, was the mission. The small creature just sat, watching the entire scene unfold. Watching the pack of wild animals approaching her at lightning speed. Rachel had to move faster! She willed her legs not to give in and raced toward the tiny creature in the orange tiger hat. She was almost to her destination when she realized grabbing the little tiger and running just wouldn’t work. She couldn’t run any longer, and she definitely wouldn’t be able to carry her little sister to safety in this snow. She would have to fight.
Just before reaching the logs, Rachel stopped, turned herself around to face her attackers, pulled her furry wolf ear headband tightly down onto her head, then released the most ferocious howl she could muster. She wasn’t entirely sure howls could be ferocious and wondered for a moment if she should have growled instead, but howling had always been her favorite and she wanted to stick to what she loved.
Rachel howled as loud and as long as she could, standing her ground against the crazed pack of wild animals coming for her sister. Katie, with her tiger hat pulled tightly against the winter chill, sat on her logs sucking her thumb and watching the scene unfold before her. The animals were right up on Rachel now, circling her as she howled. Katie half smiled, her thumb still in her mouth.
Suddenly, a voice broke into the fantasy, bringing all of the animals to a complete halt.
“Time for cake and hot chocolate! You wild things need to come inside and warm up now.”
Rachel glanced toward the door of her home, then waved to her mother to signal her understanding. Just ahead of her, the bear, the lion and the other wolf waved as well. The cousins just stood for a moment, panting and trying to catch their breath.
“You’re getting faster, Rachel.” Her younger brother, Jeremiah, held the bear hat in his shivering hands.
Libby and Marshall, Rachel’s cousins, pulled their hats from their heads as well.
“I’m freezing!” Libby told them, wrapping her slender arms around her small body.
“Me too!” Marshall started toward the house, “Let’s go eat!” The cousins all smiled at each other as they watched Marshall slowly run toward the thought of cake, his heavy boots fighting the thick snow and making it look as though he ran in slow motion.
Rachel helped Katie climb down from the logs and the whole pack went inside to warm up and continue the party.
They had all come to celebrate Rachel’s eighth birthday. They had been playing their animal game inside as they waited for everyone to arrive, but Rachel’s mother had once again forgotten to wrap the gifts until the very last minute, so she had banished the wild things to the snowy outdoors while she did so. None of the children minded. They would live outside if the parents would allow it. Even in the snow, which they insisted wild animals couldn’t feel.
After the children had all been given hot chocolate, they sat around the table and waited impatiently for the cake to be presented to the birthday girl. When the candles were lit, Rachel shivered with both excitement and the last bit of winter air from her adventure.
“Here we go!” her mother called as she entered the room with the cake. The lights went out and the whole family began to sing. Rachel could have done without the song, but she just smiled as the candles made their way to her position, navigating through cousins, aunts, and uncles in the darkness of the dining room. Eight burning candles stopped just before her, the flames illuminating her beaming face and highlighting the wolf ears, still perched atop her curly head.
She heard Libby, her closest cousin and fellow lover of wolves, howl during the last few notes of the birthday song. Rachel laughed. So far this had been her best birthday yet.
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Chapter 2
The last notes of “Happy Birthday” died down in a chorus of at least three different keys. Rachel’s family was not known for their musical abilities. A thin line of smoke danced through the air as she blew out the tall, pink candles on her triple chocolate cake. Everyone clapped and smiled at her asking, “What did you wish for?”
Rachel smiled and argued back at them, “You know I can’t tell you or it won’t come true!”
Balloons slowly rolled around on the floor as people moved through the house. Purple streamers hung from the ceiling in cascading swirls. Thick slices of cake were plated and handed out to cousins and friends. The noise in Rachel’s home was constant that day, but it was not the chaotic sounds of commotion and drama that often accompany a crowd this size. Rather, it was the continuous murmur of family members catching up in the corner, cousins running, laughing and playing together, and lively music playing softly in the background.
Rachel was beaming. There was a pile of beautifully wrapped gifts in the center of the table. Her mother had made a delicious birthday cake for the party. Her grandparents had driven five hours to be there and some of her best friends had come the night before and would be spending the weekend. The day was filled with scrumptious desserts, her favorite meals, games, laughter, and constant hugs from the people she adored most in life. It had been a day to remember. Her day.
When the cousins had been successfully sugared up and the cake had been cleared away, the time came for birthday gifts. This was an uncomfortable time for Rachel. She loved presents (what child doesn’t?) but she wasn’t fond of all the attention that came with opening gifts in the midst of a crowd. What if she opened something she didn’t like? Would her expression give away her disappointment? Would she offend her family and friends by not showing the proper amount of gratitude? She hated the thought of hurting someone’s feelings and was not at all confident in her acting abilities. She often wished that birthdays were more like Christmas and that everyone received a gift. That would surely make things simpler on the shy girls like herself.
Somehow, she made it through the event without needing to tap into her pathetic attempts of foolery. She genuinely loved every gift she received and was almost more grateful for that than for the actual gifts themselves.
Hours later, after the dishes had been washed, the house had been cleaned and the guests had gone on their way, Rachel was still floating high on the joy of the day. Her spirits soared as she climbed into her warm bed that night and opened the new book she had received as a gift from her aunt. She was excited to begin this book. Aunt Angel had a talent for finding exceptional stories.
“You’ll have to let me know how you like this one,” Aunt Angel had said as Rachel carefully tore into the wrapping paper at the party, “I think this one is pretty fantastic.”
Rachel sat in her bed, caressing the book cover that lay in her lap and remembering Aunt Angel’s words. There had been something in her aunt’s voice as she spoke that had made Rachel look up at her with curiosity. Her aunt just winked at her and both of them felt they had an understanding. A secret. Though, Rachel wasn’t yet sure what the secret was.
Leaning back against her pillow, Rachel sunk down to get comfortable, then opened her new gift and flipped to the middle of the book. She always did this. She loved to read and would inhale stories at a ferocious speed, but she always opened to the center of the book to read a paragraph or two, then went back to read from the beginning. She wasn’t exactly sure why she did this. She couldn’t really explain it. But it had become a habit (arguably a bad habit) and now she did it without so much as a thought. This time, however, the center of the book gave her pause.
“That’s odd,” she said aloud as she stared at the very center. She flipped back to the first page and found everything to be completely normal. Black ink covered ivory paper in beautiful formations. She turned a few pages to where she thought the second chapter would begin. Blank.
“What?” she exclaimed to herself, “This must be a fluke!”
Back to page one. Words. Page two? Blank.
“Blank?” she sighed and slumped down onto the pillows in despair.
“Well, that’s disappointing,” she told the stuffed wolf (a gift from her parents) that sat next to her on the bed, “Aunt Angel made it sound like this was a really good story.”
She went back to page one and glanced over the words. This time, something caught her eye…
Grace was confused. She went back and forth through the book, trying to discover the secret of the blank pages….
Rachel sat up straighter in her bed, eyes wide. Had she really just read that? Was this some sort of trick? What was going on? She looked again.
Grace was beginning to feel annoyed. What was wrong with this book?!
Rachel slammed the book shut in her lap and stared hard at the cover. Grace? Her heart began beating just a little faster than before.
She studied the front of the book and realized something she had missed before. There was nothing on the cover to indicate what was inside the book. There were no pictures of characters, no snippets from the story, not even the author’s name. Had it always been like this? She could have sworn there was an image on the front when she opened it at the party. She tried hard to remember what the image was but to no avail.
With both confusion and intrigue, she opened again to the first page. She hadn’t planned to read it (why start a book you can’t finish?) but curiosity was getting the better of her and she had to unlock this mystery.
She read the first page with a fire in her eyes. This story was fascinating! So much like her own life, her own day, really, but just different enough to keep her from guessing what came next. She reached the last line and, forgetting the rest of the book was blank, turned the page over. Her heart sank.
“Ahh! Blank!” She poured out her frustrations to the stuffed wolf who had yet to be named, “I shouldn’t have read the first page! Why did I do that?”
She started to close the book, but something caught her eye. That can’t be right. She looked more closely. Words?
“Woah!” Rachel tossed the book away as if it had suddenly become hot and had burned her fingers. “Is that really happening?” she whispered to herself.
She stared at the book for a moment or two before gaining enough courage to pick it up again. She went to the first page then slowly, cautiously, turned it over again.
It was happening! As Rachel stared at the page ink slowly appeared before her eyes! Words were formed, then sentences, then paragraphs. The story was being written right in front of her!
“This is amazing,” she whispered in astonishment. It never occurred to her to be frightened of this magic. Aunt Angel had given this gift to her. Rachel trusted Aunt Angel with her life and knew this book was not something to fear if her aunt had gifted it.
She pulled the book in close, settled down deeper into her pillow and began to read.
<----- Find the book here!