May 31st!!!!! The end of the month but not the story.

Wow. Chemo and exhaustion and the start of a story written. Thank you everyone who has kept reading. I wasn’t sure what to do for the last day. This isn’t the ending of the story, of course. More story is left to tell. Chemo goes through til October. Also in October my novel is published by Plum Tree Books!

In the meantime, I’ll post a few things here. I’ve enjoyed this month, but I’m glad it’s over.

Thank you again and again for being here.

Hannah peered under the door to make the hall was clear. She saw nothing but the tight weave of red carpet.

“Careful,” the old woman said, “They know how to lie in wait.”

But Hannah had gotten this far. She felt sure of herself. “We’ll be fine. They can’t know I’m in here.”

She opened the door.

The guard had her by the throat before she realized he was there. She grabbed his wrist. She kicked. He pinned her to the wall. He said nothing, and she couldn’t speak.

His stare frightened her more than his grip, and she slapped him to get him to speak if not to break his stare. She tried to kick him again, but a heavy feeling weighed down her legs. Moving was becoming more difficult while he stared. Her throat hurt. She looked away.

A strange gagging sound escaped from him. The noise pushed her fear further, but she risked a sideways glance. His face contorted. Suddenly, he let her go.

Hannah fell forward, and he fell alongside her. She screamed and pushed and kicked. He offered no resistance. It took a few more kicks for her to realize he wasn’t moving at all.

“What…” Hannah gulped for a breath.

The old woman stood there next to the body of the guard. “What happened?” Hannah asked her. Her eyes refocused.

The old woman held her knife. Specks of blood dotted her hand. She looked down at Hannah and her voice was calm “You mustn’t let them touch you because you can never fight back.”

Hannah slowly looked back at the guard. A stain grew in the carpet underneath his body. “You killed him?” she asked.

“I saved you,” she replied. The old woman reached out a hand to help Hannah back to her feet. “You’re in deep now, child. I hope you can run.”

May 23rd and the long weekend looms

I’m afraid I’m writing myself into a corner. Oh well. There are worse things. Tomorrow I go in for blood work to find out how my white blood cell count is doing. It was too low a week ago. Also, this weekend, I’m taking my son to his regional speed skate competition. Somehow I will write something.

Nurse Meredith understood the Asylum better than any of security or management. She knew that the basement had grown so good at keeping secrets that it would hold any secret for anyone.

The basement cameras didn’t fool Meredith. She’d long ago understood how useless those cameras were.

That the intruder turned out to be a girl surprised her, but after a moment’s reflection, it made sense. Meredith noted the bag hanging from the girl’s shoulder. “How did you get that?”

The girl shrugged. “I found it.”

“You found it?” Meredith didn’t believe that. “What’s your name, you little fool?”

“Hannah.”

Meredith laughed. “You break in, you steal, but you don’t lie. You really are a fool. Well, come with me if you don’t want to disappear into this place forever.”

Hannah remined rooted to where she was. Her expression revealed her confusion and fear.

Meredith took Hannah’s hand. “You didn’t come here for peace and quiet, did you?”

Hannah shook her head. This was the chance she hadn’t known she wanted. “Come with me, Hannah the fool. Because I know your heart is bent on chaos.”

May 22nd and the end gets closer

dreaming

Well, another day done. Whew.

Hannah’s first step out of the basement set off alarms. She darted straight back into the basement and the world went quiet. Crouched down behind the door, she tried to understand what just happened.

Slowly, she stood, opened the door again, and peered out. The halls were bright and clear. She moved one foot from the basement side of the door to the hallway side of the door. Nothing. She put more weight in her step. Sounds and lights and voices rang around her.

Hannah jumped back. Everything was silent again. She retreated further back into the basement and tried to sort out what was happening. Was the alarm going off even as she stood there but for some reason she couldn’t hear it? Did the alarm stop when she stepped into the basement? Either way, it seemed likely that they would figure out where she was. Unless the basement was hiding her.

But that made no sense.

All the same, she couldn’t understand why no one searched for her there. Hannah sighed. Nothing was going to happen if she continued to hide.

The basement door swung open. A nurse stared at her. “You,” the nurse said. “You cause this much trouble and then hide in here like a fool. Well, don’t worry. You’re about to see more trouble than you ever dreamed.”