Excerpt Thursday - From A Dream

With Valentine's Day so close I thought I'd do an excerpt out of FROM A DREAM which is a Valentine's story - of a different variety.

Jennah opened her eyes. It was dark, completely and utterly . . . dark. What time is it? She rubbed a hand over her eyes and tried to persuade them to focus. Opening them again, she huffed out a breath. It was hopeless, not even a shadow existed wherever she was. She stiffened when she realized that she was lying on something lumpy. She pushed up onto her hand and ran the other one over whatever she was on. It was some sort of padding, scratchy and lumpy. Please let it just be an old mattress.

Sitting all the way up, she hissed and held her forehead. Her head objected to being upright. What had they done to her? Dropping her hand down, she inched it out away from her body to see what she was on. It touched nothing after a few seconds. She moved one leg slowly out. Her foot met air and then fell down to hit the floor. Okay, so it is a bed—or cot is probably more likely considering it’s very narrow.

Something dragged over her leg still on the bed. She froze and tried not to be one of those females that freaked out at the thought of a creature of some kind. Taking a deep breath, she held it as she moved her hand down toward her leg. She held her breath when her hand came in contact with material. A blanket or quilt maybe—I hope.

She turned her head and, ignoring the dizzy feeling movement created, tried to see anything. This is the darkest space I’ve ever been in. She turned and lowered her other leg off the cot. Inhaling deeply, she tried to identify the smells. It was a damp mustiness, but earthy, and not in a good way. Her stomach clenched at the offensive scent. Grimacing, she leaned down until her fingertips touched the floor beside her foot. It was dirt. Cold and damp dirt.

The sound of fabric brushing against fabric dawned on her as she moved her arm back up. She still had her coat on. Frantically, she searched all of the pockets. All they had left her were her gloves. No cell phone. So much for having light, she thought with a groan.

Moving cautiously to the edge of the cot, she began to slowly stand up, keeping one hand a few inches above her head just in case this space wasn’t large enough for her to stand in. When she was standing straight, she reached higher above her head. The ceiling was only a few inches above her. So, this is a very short, dirt-floored . . . something?

She took one careful step with her hand stretched out in front of her. Please don’t let me touch anything—ick! She frowned at her own girlie thought and then shrugged it off, having decided that just about anyone would freak out in her situation—so she was allowed a few weak moments.

~~

I will also be putting up the new contest information shortly - I'm still working out the prize list for it.

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  Jacqueline Paige

http://jacqpaige.webs.com/