Hey, fans and friends! So Sunday was spent working on the NaNoWriMo project I was hoping to submit this year. After the accidental loss of more than half of this story, I must admit, I've had a hard time going back to it. So much so, I've not looked at it since November.
But, it's been on my mind a lot lately, so I thought it was time to get back to it. After reading through, and polishing some, I'm actually really excited about this project again! And, though the loss of those 10k + words was devastating, I'm actually choosing to see this as a chance to explore a different plot idea and a completely opposite ending.
Though this is a very rough draft, I thought I might share a very small excerpt from what I'm hoping will be a complete novel by the end of the year, or sooner!
First, allow me to share a quick story set-up...
What would happen if you finally got the opportunity to tell your first love all of the things you never had the courage to before? That's exactly what happens when Kara gets the invitation to her twenty-fifth high school reunion. But when John reveals some truths of his own, Kara begins to question the path her life has taken. Is this the universe giving them a second chance, or the closure she's been so desperate for all these years?
Please enjoy this short snippet from This Life or the Next...
I walk into the open foyer and it’s abuzz with people mingling. There’s a large table set up with name tags and each person’s senior photo. I nervously scan the table secretly hoping I see his name and hoping I don’t.
I’m squaring up how I feel about it not being on the table, as I grab a tall thin glass from the tray on the piano lid. Making my way into the crowd, I’m hoping to spot a familiar face quickly.
I’m more than halfway through the pockets of people when I hear a laugh that used to make my heart melt. The butterflies are choking on the acid in my stomach as I turn toward the sound, and I’m immediately that insecure seventeen-year-old again.
Though its been twenty years plus, I could still pick him out of a crowd instantly. My forty-two-year-old feet navigate to one of the small high-top tables near the group of faces I mostly recognize. I’m trying to act as nonchalant as possible, leaning against the table hoping he’ll notice me, and trying to remember how to breathe.
One of the servers squeezes past him through the crowd that is starting to form near the bar, and he looks up in her direction, stepping aside and ushering her through the small space. His ever expressive eyes catch mine over her shoulder, and he begins to look away before doing a double-take. The same slightly embarrassed smile that used to greet me from across Mr. Brown’s classroom spreads across his more mature face, and he excuses himself from his conversation, starting in my direction.
Though the butterflies now feel like they’re electrified and made of lead, I am somehow able to croak out the words.
"John... It's been a long time..." I breathe up at him as he reaches the table.
"Kara…” his voice is slightly deeper than I recall, but the familiar sound of my name on his lips fills me with a longing I’ve only ever felt before when thinking about my mother.
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