It’s here, it’s here!

November.

Thanksgiving, Christmas music, cooler weather.  And NaNoWriMo.  National Novel Writing  Month.  Every year I say I’m going to jump in, give it a shot.  And every year I end up not even writing one line.  Well…I wrote a few lines today.  Here’s to hoping I’ll actually follow through.  When I do write a story, I don’t start with a character, a title, or even a plot.  Crazy huh? It just works out that way for me.  I alway start with a prologue.  I put in my earbuds, find some tunes to write to (today is was Massive Attack) and just go with it.  So now I have a character, and soon I’ll have my plot.  And you get a sneak peek.

Enjoy and go easy on me….I’m still recovering from our annual Trunk or Treat. So it’s definitely a draft.  I mean, it’s so rough it makes sandpaper look smooth…..

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Prologue

Her track and field coach in junior high had given her the nickname Jackbie Nimble. Agile, quick, smooth: all the things he said made for a good runner.  The name followed her through high school and right into college.  Jackie loved feeling the world slip away as her feet lightly slapped the track.  With each whisper of impact, Jackie got further and further away from reality.  When she ran, the world disappeared; peace- she found peace when she ran.

As her feet collided with the hard-packed earth just now, she wasn’t feeling any peace.  Her problems hadn’t melted away; they clung to her as she pushed herself to go further, to run faster.  No, there was no peace for her as the forest floor tore her flesh, only terror.  Pure, unadulterated terror.  With each stride, her pulse quickened.  She’d been running for what felt like an eternity, surely she was close to help.  If she could just get to a road, a town- something.  Despite the hollow feeling in her chest; the sweat pooling on her skin,  she continued to flee blindly into the dark, green hush of the woods, having no idea if she were getting closer or farther away from help.  From the finish line.  She had to get to the finish line.

Her life depended on it.