Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Teaser Tuesday #2 from The Willow Elves

Hey guys, this is a direct continuation from my first tease in this WIP and is the completion of chapter 1. Hope you enjoy and I look forward to your thoughts.



Tears traveled down Autumn’s cheeks as she imagined what her father might do to Becky now that she had run away. Would he seek revenge and take the life of her horse—torture an innocent and defenseless animal?

If she had just had time. If she had known that her father would attempt to cross such lines, she would have been better prepared.

But there was no time. She was too scared. She didn’t even have time to run up to her room and grab the emergency bag she had packed months ago and hidden under the lose floorboards behind her bed. Only now, when it was too late, did she realize that she should have hidden her runaway bag somewhere downstairs or in the shed, or under the bushels of hay outside. But she didn’t and so she leaves behind everything—everything except the torn clothes on her back, the bruises on her face and body, and the one thing more sacred to her than anything—her virginity.

It doesn’t belong to her father and damn him for trying to rape it from her. Autumn has always believed that her virginity belongs to only one person—her true love. Whomever that is when someday she finds him.

As she looked ahead, the vast woods that neared spread from as far east to as far west as she could see, serving as a divider between her world and a world beyond. A world completely unknown to her. One that she has heard rumors and stories about her whole life—tales of a magical and dangerous kind of folk that live deep within its borders. Most of the kids from her small town had always laughed and scoffed at the stories told by the older generations. It became the big joke. The I-dare-you-to-walk-a-mile-into-those-woods-alone kind of thing. No one ever ventured too far into them, and if they said they did, everyone knew they were lying.

But here Autumn stood, at the edge of the field, staring into the sea of thick, dark woods. It was eerily quiet. The silence filled her ears with the sound of her own pounding heart. Her hands shook. She clenched and unclenched them several times attempting to gain courage and control.

Whatever lies ahead couldn’t be any worse than what she was leaving behind, she decided and with that, Autumn closed her eyes, took a long deep breath, and then without looking back, she entered Trulien Forest.

13 comments:

  1. Wow.From the frying pan into the fire?

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  2. I'm definitely intrigued. :) You said at the top that this is the end of the first chapter...is there are lot that comes before this? Do we see the attack or does the story begin after the attack? I'm curious :)

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  3. Hi guys, thanks for reading!

    Hayley, This is actually a short chapter. The teaser from last week (which I linked above) was the beginning of the chapter and this was the rest of it. There's a good chance I may extend it, but that would probably come later. I have a tendency to start of my stories with quick, short chapters and then they get longer as I go. Not sure why. Guess it's my weird style? I was thinking about starting the story with the abuse happening, or even right before the abuse happens, but I'm just not sure it's necessary to get that graphic, especially since the story goes in a whole other direction as it goes. It could possibly add to the tension and make the reader connect with the severity of the situation, but I'm hoping that what I've given is enough. I'm back and forth with it, but I figure I can always go back and add in. Thanks for your interest :)

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  4. Oh, your question...it starts with her running from the attack/abuse

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  5. Awesome sense of atmosphere and foreboding here here: "vast woods that neared spread from as far east to as far west as she could see, serving as a divider between her world and a world beyond. A world completely unknown to her. One that she has heard rumors and stories about her whole life." Love it :D

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  6. Go Mel! And go Autumn! Can't wait to see what the forest is like. Nice atmosphere in this section.

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  7. Ooh... cliffhanger. What happens in the forest? Can't wait to find out!

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  8. Wow this gave me chills. And I'm drinking coffee, so I'm pretty warm already :) I love this scene... it's raw and emotional and awesome. I can't wait to find out what else happens!

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  9. Love the sense of adventure you're creating here. Spooky forests always intrigue me. Go Autumn! :)

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  10. Thank you all so much for your comments and feedback. It's giving me the courage I need to keep at this story. I'm so fearful about whether I can pull it off being that it's in a different view point from what I'm used to and that's it's fantasy vs. paranormal with a contemp vibe. I even found myself accidentally writing in first person present for a couple of paras, but luckily I caught it and fixed it :-)

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  11. WOW Mel...just WOW. You snagged me with the first sentence and then left me dangling with Trulien Forest. MORE PLEASE!!!

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  12. Thanks Karla :-) Sorry to leave you hanging. Guess I teased ya, huh?

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  13. Wow, this is totally awesome! I love it!

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