At best, my participation in WIPpet Wednesday has been spotty this summer, but you know how life is.  Anyway, I’m back – for this week at least.

My son has been in Canada for the past week visiting his girlfriend – that’s a pic he sent to me from their climbing trip this past Sunday.  Inspiring?  Dangerous?  Crazy?  Brave?  Comments have varied on Facebook.  No doubt it’s a breathtaking view.  Personally, I wish I could have climbed with them because for me, there’s something about an adrenaline rush that cleans out the cobwebs and gets the ideas flowing.  Does that happen for anyone else?

Anyhoo – on to WIPpet Wednesday.  Today’s WIPpet is from a short story that came to me about a month ago that I just began writing last week, so it’s a VERY rough draft.  Willa is somewhere around 14-years-old (she hasn’t told me her exact age yet)  and is waiting to board a plane.  Her ability/curse is that she can hear other people’s thoughts, whether she wants to or not.  My math is simple today – five sentences.

Some people broadcast louder than others without even being aware of what they were doing.  Usually these were either the very happy people who were high on life, or those whose thoughts were dark and twisted, full of the wrongs they’d committed.  Willa had learned early in life that evil existed in the world and was often horrified at what she heard in other’s minds.  Some acted on those thoughts, but the majority of people didn’t.  Unfortunately for Willa, she’d encountered more than her share of those who did.

Make the rounds to the other WIPpeteers here.  As always, thanks to K.L. Schwengel for hosting!

Well, it’s been quite a few weeks since I posted anything for WIPpet Wednesday, mostly because of getting ready for vacation, being on vacation, and recovering from vacation.  When did vacations become so stressful?  Anyway, I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things.

So, this week, I have a WIPpet from Chapter 15.  It’s getting a little difficult to post things without giving away spoilers, but I’ll keep trying.  This week finds Cain and Lindsey on their first date, but things didn’t go as Cain had hoped.

“……..wrong with him?  This isn’t normal, Finn.  Maybe we should call an ambulance.”

My back was stiff and I felt the unyielding wood of the park bench beneath me.  How long had I been out this time?  Unless Finn had happened to be nearby, it would have taken him at least twenty minutes to drive here, and that didn’t count trying to find parking.  “Dude, you were right,” I mumbled.

“Of course I was.  I usually am, but what about this time?”

“Sarah.  She was here and took over.  She drained my energy and that’s why I’m like this.”

“Sarah?  No one named Sarah was here.  See, Finn, I told you he wasn’t making any sense and he needs to see a doctor,” Lindsey argued.

Journey to the other WIPpeteers blogs here.  Much appreciation to K.L. Schwengel for hosting!

So, I got my son to percussion camp and over the course of 30 hours and 4 flights, finished up one book and started and finished another.  I didn’t get much writing done, but the camp was at the university campus where I got my undergraduate degree and I hadn’t been back there in many years, so it was fun to drive around, show my son where his parents had met, and see how the campus had changed.  Hubby and I are going back to pick him up in a couple of days and hope to have some time to do a little more exploring and reminiscing.

My math this week is a few paragraphs from chapter 7.  Cain and Finn are having a conversation regarding Cain’s suspicions about his room being haunted because of the attic door opening on its own, among other things.

“A/C vent placement?  I’m not certified in HVAC, but it’s a possibility.  There could be a breeze from an open attic window or from downstairs or even from someone opening another door in the house.  If it’s windy outside and the back door is open at my house, the laundry door slams closed.  Pressure can be a freaky thing.  Same with the attic door opening on its own.”

Rubbing my face, I thought about what Finn said.  It was all possible and he made some good points.  Was I just overreacting?  No one else in the house had noticed anything unusual.

“Dude, you know I believe in the paranormal and I’m a fan of all that’s weird and supportive of people letting their freak flags fly, but I’m just saying, don’t jump to any conclusions, alright?”

Exhaling the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding, I said, “Yeah.  You’re right, Finn.  Of course you’re right.”

Hop on over to the other WIPpeteer blogs here.  Hugs to K.L. Schwengel for hosting!

As far as writing, I finally came up with the ending of this story over the past week – I knew what had to happen, but wasn’t entirely clear on how to get there.  So there’s that.  Got a decent amount written last week, but it doesn’t look good for the next week.  I have to get the youngest son to and from percussion camp, which involves two flights and about twenty hours of driving when all is said and done, plus we’ll be out of town for a few days.  Anyway, on to the WIPpet.

From prior WIPpets, we know Cain has a high maintenance girlfriend he’s not completely enamored of and he also sustained a concussion during a soccer game and has been missing some time.  The following is his conversation with Finn after Cain is told he broke up with Erin – which was news to him.  Since the date is 6/10, I’ve given you a few paragraphs from chapter 7.

Learning from others about what I’d done was like hearing stories of someone else’s life.  “I broke up with her?”

“Broke up with her?  Cain, you decimated her.  You told her what a horrible person she is – shallow, narcissistic, snobbish, and seriously lacking in intelligence.  I never knew you understood such big words.  You also told her all the designer clothes and makeup in the world would never make her into something she’s not and to get the hell away from you for good.”

Holy crap.  I’d said that?  It wasn’t a lie – that’s really how I feel about her, but saying it in public, in front of a hallway full of students, wasn’t really the way I’d have handled it – consciously, I mean.  However it happened, I should probably celebrate.  The wicked witch is dead.

Make sure to drop by other WIPpeteers blogs here.  Thanks to K.L. Schwengel for hosting!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!  Hubby and I left the kids home and went to Nashville for a couple of days and found some great new restaurants and spent a beautiful day on the golf course.  Not that I play golf – I ride along and appreciate the gorgeous, calming scenery, have some laughs watching the hubby try to putt, and get a chunk of reading done – a win-win situation, right?

Today’s WIPpet finds Cain and Finn trying to understand what just happened.  While they were gaming in Cain’s bedroom, the attic door creeped opened, then a small mini-tornado developed, sucking up the various detritus on Cain’s floor (don’t laugh, this could totally happen in my oldest son’s room – where do you think I got the idea?).  Math – 5 sentences from chapter 9.

As the funnel dissipated and the objects dropped back to the floor, Finn and I stared at each other for what seemed like an hour, although it was probably closer to ten seconds.

“Ooookay.  You saw that too, right?”

I heard him, but my mind was busy processing, replacing the empty spaces with memories from last week – the coldness in the attic, the certainty someone had been sitting on my bed while I was half asleep, the conversation I’d had with Mom about Sarah’s blood found in the attic.  I remembered.

Make the rounds to the other WIPpeteers blogs here.  Thanks to our host, K.L. Schwengel!