I have another major revision to do on my WIP, but here is a section I thought I'd share with you today. My main character's name is Todd, and he finds an old book of riddles in his uncle's library.
Chapter 2: The Labyrinth
I grabbed the book and flipped to the table of contents.
VIRES EX ERUDITIO
Prologue
Part 1: Riddles of the Labyrinth
Part 2: Riddles of the Forest
Part 3: Riddles of the Mountain
Part 4: Riddles of the Road
The Riddles of the Road were probably the most difficult, so I glanced to the right hand side for a page number. There wasn’t one.
Weird, but no big deal. I opened to the middle, intending to flip through the book to find it, but the pages were empty. I turned a few more, but those were blank too. I flipped to the end. Nothing.
Was this some kind of joke?
I turned back to the title page. It was still there, and so were the table of contents. But there was nothing else. Why would a book contain a table of contents for content that wasn’t there? It didn’t make sense.
I almost tossed it aside, but…couldn’t. That same electrical spark surged through me. I needed to read this book, but how? Maybe I should go through it page by page, just to see what would happen. I opened to the title page. Still there. I turned the page to the table of contents. Check. The next page should be the Prologue, unless it was blank, too.
I turned the page, and a few squiggly lines had been scrawled along the top. Great. Some two-year-old had gotten hold of this book and scribbled all over it. Maybe that was why Uncle Hugh had it hidden behind his textbooks.
Enough of this. I had homework to do.
I tried to close the book, by my hands were frozen. Then, the squiggles moved.
No, that was impossible. My eyes were just tired. I tried to close them, but couldn’t. I tried to look away, but my eyes wouldn’t move. I couldn’t move!
The squiggles blurred together, spinning around the page, and my body was pulled toward the book. It loomed closer and closer until it was inches from my face. I tried to push it away, but the pull was too strong. Then I was falling through complete darkness and my stomach lurched. Ugh. The peanut butter and jelly I’d had for lunch was churning. I swallowed, trying to keep it down.
Something hard smashed into my chest and face, and all the air whooshed from my lungs. I gasped, trying to gulp down air as I rolled over. Oxygen flooded back into my chest and I flopped into my back, panting.
“That wasn’t very graceful,” said an amused, static-filled voice. “Looked like it hurt, too.”
I was lying on a cold, stone floor with a dark ceiling above me. A fire crackled in a fireplace big enough to stand in, casting flickering shadows on the walls. A short, stocky man leaned against the marble mantle, his mustache twitching with a grin. But there was no color on him anywhere, and he was fuzzy around the edges.
“Are you going to lie around all day?” he asked. “I might have all the time in the world, but I doubt you do.” He straightened his long jacket and bow tie, then tugged at the crease in his pants. He was kind of flickering, too, like he’d been lifted from an old, black and white movie. A really old movie, like, from a century ago.
I must have hit my head or something, because none of this was possible. I was either dreaming or seeing things. Dreaming, probably. Yeah, that was it. I must have fallen asleep in the library. I don’t think I’ve ever been aware during a dream before, so it might be interesting to see what my brain conjures up.
Maybe I can study dreams when I grow up. Maybe I can invent a device that records dreams! That would be cool. And it’s considered impossible, which makes it the best kind of challenge. After all, Orville Wright said ‘If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.’
***
Feel free to share snippets of your own fiction!
Chapter 2: The Labyrinth
I grabbed the book and flipped to the table of contents.
VIRES EX ERUDITIO
Prologue
Part 1: Riddles of the Labyrinth
Part 2: Riddles of the Forest
Part 3: Riddles of the Mountain
Part 4: Riddles of the Road
The Riddles of the Road were probably the most difficult, so I glanced to the right hand side for a page number. There wasn’t one.
Weird, but no big deal. I opened to the middle, intending to flip through the book to find it, but the pages were empty. I turned a few more, but those were blank too. I flipped to the end. Nothing.
Was this some kind of joke?
I turned back to the title page. It was still there, and so were the table of contents. But there was nothing else. Why would a book contain a table of contents for content that wasn’t there? It didn’t make sense.
I almost tossed it aside, but…couldn’t. That same electrical spark surged through me. I needed to read this book, but how? Maybe I should go through it page by page, just to see what would happen. I opened to the title page. Still there. I turned the page to the table of contents. Check. The next page should be the Prologue, unless it was blank, too.
I turned the page, and a few squiggly lines had been scrawled along the top. Great. Some two-year-old had gotten hold of this book and scribbled all over it. Maybe that was why Uncle Hugh had it hidden behind his textbooks.
Enough of this. I had homework to do.
I tried to close the book, by my hands were frozen. Then, the squiggles moved.
No, that was impossible. My eyes were just tired. I tried to close them, but couldn’t. I tried to look away, but my eyes wouldn’t move. I couldn’t move!
The squiggles blurred together, spinning around the page, and my body was pulled toward the book. It loomed closer and closer until it was inches from my face. I tried to push it away, but the pull was too strong. Then I was falling through complete darkness and my stomach lurched. Ugh. The peanut butter and jelly I’d had for lunch was churning. I swallowed, trying to keep it down.
Something hard smashed into my chest and face, and all the air whooshed from my lungs. I gasped, trying to gulp down air as I rolled over. Oxygen flooded back into my chest and I flopped into my back, panting.
“That wasn’t very graceful,” said an amused, static-filled voice. “Looked like it hurt, too.”
I was lying on a cold, stone floor with a dark ceiling above me. A fire crackled in a fireplace big enough to stand in, casting flickering shadows on the walls. A short, stocky man leaned against the marble mantle, his mustache twitching with a grin. But there was no color on him anywhere, and he was fuzzy around the edges.
“Are you going to lie around all day?” he asked. “I might have all the time in the world, but I doubt you do.” He straightened his long jacket and bow tie, then tugged at the crease in his pants. He was kind of flickering, too, like he’d been lifted from an old, black and white movie. A really old movie, like, from a century ago.
I must have hit my head or something, because none of this was possible. I was either dreaming or seeing things. Dreaming, probably. Yeah, that was it. I must have fallen asleep in the library. I don’t think I’ve ever been aware during a dream before, so it might be interesting to see what my brain conjures up.
Maybe I can study dreams when I grow up. Maybe I can invent a device that records dreams! That would be cool. And it’s considered impossible, which makes it the best kind of challenge. After all, Orville Wright said ‘If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.’
***
Feel free to share snippets of your own fiction!
6 comments:
Oh, fun! Looks like Todd is going to have to do some riddle solving to get out of his predicament. I like the 'peanut butter and jelly churning' description. That really stood out to me.
I decided to try writing a story in serial form this year. I have the first two episodes up on my blog. It's inspired by Rumpelstiltskin.
http://nickieanderson.blogspot.com/2013/01/ep-1-easiest-thing.html
Very fun. It reminds me of Harry Potter getting sucked into Tom Riddle's diary. I also meant to tell you that I love your new blog design. :)
Oooh! Looks so great. My 2nd grade son is almost done with Percy Jackson series and your book reminds me of that kind of action adventure. I'll have him check it out!
Love the intrigue!
I am always a little wary of posting anything from my WIP as I had heard publishers don't like it. Are you planning on self-publishing, as I think it is a cunning idea in that case, as it certainly makes me want to read more?
No, I'm not going to self-publish. I'm working with my agent on revisions, and she doesn't mind me posting small snippets here and there. If I posted my entire book, that's a different story. But a teaser won't give away your whole story, and it might create a following in the process.
I kept reading wanting to know what happens next. Thank you for sharing.
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