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This snippet is from Emmily, Unbound, an SFR story. To read a compilation of all snippets posted for this story, click Here: Emmily Unbound, Chapters 1 & 2 Emmily, the main character, has lost pretty much everything in the last twelve months: her marriage, her parents, her job, and her house. She and her dog, Murphy, have moved to the mountains of Pennsylvania into an old, remote, hunting camp her parents willed to her. On her first day there, along a desolate road she's been forced at gunpoint to haul a wounded man to her house. She's doubting what she's seeing.
“And I need to get things out of the car. Food. To eat.” I don’t know why I do it, but I motion with my hand like I’m scooping air into my mouth and chewing.
He shakes his head and again says, “I need help… now.”
"If I don’t get the food out of the car, it will spoil and then we,” and I enunciate the word ‘we’ as I point to all of us, “will have nothing to eat.”
What is wrong with me? I could die in the next five minutes and I’m arguing over saving a jug of milk and a pound of bacon? Maybe he’s not planning on me being around to cook for them?
Assumptions do a lot more than make asses out of people. I tell myself in my most scolding mental voice that assuming things can kill when you’re being held at gunpoint. Even maybe-fake-ray-gunpoint.
That's the snippet. A few more lines if you're interested...
I swallow and try not to think about how hard my heart is beating. I hope I don’t get sick. There’s a lot of blood.
He looks up at me, away from the small box in his hand, and asks in halting English, “Do you have bandage, a…thread? Something to kill…to clean with? Heat? Clean cloth?”
He's struggling with words. English is not his native language. I volunteer, “I have a first aid kit. It’s still in a box. I’ll have to find it.”
That's it for this week. Thank you so much for visiting and for reading. :-)
This is definitely a complicated situation for all involved. Always curious to find out what happens next!
ReplyDeleteIt is--for all of them. We just happen to be experiencing it through her eyes. :-) Thanks, Jessica!
DeleteI strongly suspect she won't be left alone to find the first aid kit!
ReplyDeleteYour gumshoe instincts on right on! Thanks, Ian. :-)
DeleteGreat hook! Will she try to escape or will she stay and help? I think going for the groceries is a lost cause, however.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenna! :-) Her options are about to be limited to none--just do what she's told to do.
DeleteIt's so hard doling this out in little snippets. :-)
Yeah, I don't think he's going to let her out of his sight. And running away into the woods doesn't sound like a good idea.
ReplyDeleteThey're all a little off-kilter, now. But (spoiler) ...an escape is not to be. :-( Thanks for visiting!
DeleteWould sahe really be thinking about bringing in the groceries if a man's bleeding all over her bedroom? Of course she's in shock and you've established her thought processes aren't exactly tracking too well throughout this incident...lots happening in this snippet!
ReplyDeleteI think so, Jean. She jumps from rational thought, to ridiculous thoughts, fueled by the shock she's in. Any rational thoughts she has are pretty much autopilot stuff. :-) Thanks for visiting. As always, your observations are very much appreciated. :-)
DeleteSomehow I can't picture her doing the stitching!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Indeed. She might be tough in some ways, but she's a pretty big weenie in others. And at the end of this scene, we're about to see a demonstration of that. ;-) Thanks, Nancy!
DeleteI wonder what Cade thought she could do without medicine or bandages. Or maybe he just wanted her to tend to him, rather than the groceries.
ReplyDeleteHe needs a few things. A lot transpires in the next few hours. :-)
DeleteThanks for visiting, Ed!
That sounds like something I'd do: argue about getting my groceries in when someone was pointing a ray gun at me. I don't like things that disrupt my routine.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Cie. The older I get, the worse I am about changing my routine. lol Thanks for visiting!
DeleteLike the freudean slip there... "kill... clean with" The English language is definitely not his native language.
ReplyDelete:-) You caught that. lol Thanks for visiting, Jeff!
DeleteThe things that are important when under stress - milk and bacon.
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P.S. My snippet -with the dance moms and Peyton - you are reading it right - it wasn't written as a serious scene.
Thanks, Daryl!
DeleteGlad to know I read your snippet the right way. :-)
Nice snippet. I think it's great how she's holding onto something like the groceries. That's a bit of stability and normality in a freshly chaotic world.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elaine! I'm so glad you caught that--a tiny piece of normalcy in a world that has otherwise fallen apart. :-)
DeleteAt least he's making the effort to try to communicate with her? That has to count as something.
ReplyDeleteYep. It does! He's in a bad place, but he's really a good guy. Thanks for visiting, E.D.!
DeleteMaybe? a fake ray gun. And yes - there is a bit of a double entendre there with her wanted to "save the bacon" LOL
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