Juggling

I read somewhere a while back that Neil Gaiman likes to juggle multiple books at a time. That way he can skip from book to book when he gets hung up or something like that. So I’ve decided to try it. I came up with a fun new story idea the other day that I’m calling “Contrary to Calla” and I’m having such a great time with it I don’t want to set it aside till I finish Tully and Rourke. So here goes! Wish me luck juggling!

Here’s a little sample for you.

One more log on the bonfire.
As I looked through the flames I could almost conjure his face. Almost. Something was always a little off, though, I never could decide what it was. Maybe if I wasn’t such a failure at conjuring, I could make him appear.

I could hear the waves crashing more than a mile away; the starless night amplified every sound. My nightly vigil ahead of me, I cleared a space of moss and weeds with a large wedge-shaped stone. I measured the small clearing with my staff to make sure it was perfectly square. When I was content with the shape, I placed a round stone at each of the corners, three blue and one green.

I placed my staff along the fireside edge of the clearing and knelt in the center. The firelight glanced off of a worm and a couple pillbugs as they squirmed and scurried to the cover of the damp moss. The grit of earth dug into my bare knees. My arms spread wide, welcoming the warmth of the fire. Tatters of sleeves hung from my arms.

I took a breath in, counting the drumbeats in my head to twelve. Twelve beats in and twelve beats out. I bowed my head to the dirt, stretching my arms out behind me, pointing to the cornerstones, one blue and one green. My heart slowed, I counted the beats, twelve. Then it stopped.

Care to guess where this is going? Fun! Fun!