Shayla has tracked a mysterious madman, Randall, to a makeshift bar in a forestry work camp. The patrons have been plying him with drink, and he rewards them with an insane rant about fire falling from the sky.
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“The earth melts; it opens up before me.” Tears glistened on ruddy cheeks. “Buildings gone. Trees like torches. People are matchsticks in the wind.”
“Yeah, the wind,” someone near the back of the room called. He made a farting sound and collapsed, laughing.
“Fear the wind,” Randall bellowed. “It roars like a lion and sweeps all before it. It levels whole streets at a single breath, turns them to glass.”
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15 comments:
Oh, maybe Randall knows something of the future. Maybe? Great snippet! :)
Ooh, shivery scary excerpt. I think instead of laughing at him, they should be listening TO him. Really enjoyed the excerpt and want more!
I suspect the crazy man is telling the complete truth!
Jessica, it's kinda sounding like that, isn't it? The reality will be even more surprising to Shayla.
Veronica, you'd think, wouldn't you?
Cara, more so than anyone there knows!
Maybe I read too much fantasy, but I'm totally buying Randall's story. I think everyone else should too. :-)
Turns them to glass...
How exciting!!!
Christina, trouble is, everyone else just thinks he's a mad hellfire & brimstone preacher guy.
Stephen, oh, the excitement never ends in Shayla's world :)
Uh oh! Alcohol is a fairly cheap truth serum... Just saying.
Whatever he's describing sounds wet-your-pants terrifying.
This sounds like the blast wave and effects of a very powerful bomb, perhaps. I wouldn't be laughing--and farting at--the poor man!
Teresa, you can probably have a good guess at what he's talking about. You read Ghosts, think about what got Shayla all vengeful in the first place.
Caitlin, you are very close to the mark there.
I like passages like this, where the reader has a better idea what's going on than do the characters. If he's mad, it's probably because of the horrors of the bomb attack (or whatever it was, exactly).
Ed, good guess :)
Mushroom clouds.
Elizabeth - worse!
Hi Ian. I definitely 'Fear the wind' after reading these lines. Great atmosphere.
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