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lousytshirt.bsky.social
MeliSwenk Editing
@lousytshirt.bsky.social
840 followers 1.1K following 280 posts
Reader. Writer. Loves art, music, film, photography, & expression.
INFJ. She/Her.
#copyeditor #betareader #proofreader
http://meliswenkediting.wordpress.com
https://ko-fi.com/meliswenk
https://www.amazon.com/stores/M.-A.-Swenka/author/B07XXBSLZ7
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- Jim's POV, on the work site, where he was hired to construct new office buildings that are "homey and welcoming."
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When Jim got to work, the construction site was busy. Large equipment hummed, hauling scraps of wood and metal from the residential site where they started demo a couple weeks back. All the houses in a one-block radius were being scrapped for the sake of a new office building. More glass and metal to make this city feel less inhabitable. The people who owned the homes were well-compensated and probably living in a new neighborhood at this very moment. Each mother was probably decorating the house, making it a home with baked goods and framed photos of happy family memories.
November 14, 2025 at 2:45 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah's Bk. 1 -- Monah's POV, taking her first steps into Piatra Invelis.
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“The war began over a hundred years ago.” Evlin took my hand without the slightest provocation. Anger, hurt, and sadness flooded my frontal lobe. “It lasted for decades, and still we are reconstructing and building anew in its wake.” Smooth, mud-colored stone opened up from the cobblestone path behind us, and people began to greet Evlin as we entered the town proper. At first, the people were greeting me as if they knew me, then one child approached me and took my hands. “You look like Mother’s portrait of Queen Ursah. All my love and all my loyalty, Highness,” she said, resting her warm forehead against the backs of my hands. She met my gaze and continued speaking before Evlin could stop her. “You have her kind eyes and strong chin. I thought she died, Lady Grey.” Now the girl turned her attention to Evlin. “Sola Fazekas, you are too bold. Where are your mothers?”
November 13, 2025 at 3:05 PM
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#WIPSnips from KD & Jaz's story -- KD's POV, bit more of her breakfast conversation with Betsy.
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There was no denying that, so KD picked up her dishes, headed to the sink, and scraped the scraps into the cagey disposal, expecting its bloated death-rattle of a voice. She flipped the switch, smirking over her shoulder, and startled at the smooth, churning motor of its chewing. “Yep, yep, you’re lucky. Got that cute maintenance guy out here finally, Saturday, last weekend.” “A Saturday?!” KD chuckled and continued to rinse her plate and the sink. “Uh-huh,” Betsy returned her chuckle, then cleared her throat, “dishwasher’s still out, though. Said he’d be back next weekend with the part.” KD glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Betsy close her eyes in ecstasy as she grabbed the heft of her own breast through her threadbare shirt. She chuckled at the lewd gesture and expected nothing less from her best friend. “Lucky you!” “Let’s hope,” Betsy replied.
November 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
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#WIPSnips -- Didn't have "burger," so I searched "food" -- from Survival Instinct -- Rae's POV, breakfast from James on her first day of captivity.
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Just when Rae thought staring at the door hard enough would finally make it melt, a small slat at the bottom of the door opened instead. First, a tied bundle of clothes was sent through. She picked them up, found them unfamiliar, and set them down on the vanity pushing the cheap baubles to the floor with a plastic clatter. Secondly, a tray with wheat toast, scrambled eggs, and sausage links was sent through. Pulling the bench seat from under the vanity, moving the clothes to the end of the bed she slept in, Rae sat down to look at the food. Served on a foam plate with a plastic fork, it left her no hope. It also told her she wasn’t the first he’d taken this way. Before she completed her second bite of toast, she pulled the bench seat over to the spot under the camera. Retrieving the notepad and marker, she removed a sheet, wrote on it, and stood on the bench again to interact with the modified voice. HOW MANY OTHERS? WHERE ARE THEY? “Two, dead” came over the speaker. “Now eat. Made it myself. It’s safe.” Rae looked directly into the camera and produced an expression of cynical doubt.
November 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah Bk. 2 -- Khoda and Criseyde are following an iffy lead on Basalt's last known whereabouts, a bazaar at the border of Iran and Turkey.
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“Did we have to come inside?” “I’m sensitive to the sun. Did you forget that?” Criseyde cast a sidelong glance at him. “Why did you insist on coming to the bazaar now, then?” “Basalt is not sensitive to anything, Khoda, so we need to meet him on his plane.” Khoda shook his head as he admired antique weapons laid out at the front of an old shop. “These need cleaning,” he said, using the local dialect humming around them. Criseyde grinned as the old shop owner sent his thumb up in the air without even looking at Khoda. “Maybe keep your opinions to yourself.” “They are treasures, Seyde. If one is trying to sell treasures, why display them at their worst?” “Maybe so someone like you will pay to take them home and baby them appropriately.” Khoda just shook his head again and started to pick up his pace. “What makes you think he will meet with us?”
November 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah's Bk. 1 -- Monah wakes up in Evlin's family home shortly after arriving in Piatra Invelis takes its own unique toll.
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As I woke up to the moonlight pouring through my window, something had its eyes on me. Slowly moving my head, I tried to get a picture of what it might be, but nothing seemed immediately apparent. Clearly, there was nothing in the room with me, but something was watching, seemed to be waiting. I wanted to sit up. I wanted to find my clothes and get out of this itchy, woolen gown; although, the bedclothes around me were soft and light in their comfort. My feet met the cool wooden floor beneath the bed, and I sat back down as quickly as I’d tried to get up. Leaning over toward the headboard, I stretched my hands out until they latched onto the molding of the frame so I could pull myself up against its stability. Every single fiber of my body felt like it weighed a million pounds.
November 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
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#WIPSnips from KD and Jaz's story -- KD and her friend Betsy have a little convo over breakfast.
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“When is Pete due back?” KD crossed her arms as she leaned against the counter to face her friend. “Three, I think?” Betsy looked up to the right, then shook her head. “Probably earlier. Harold at that stupid market keeps everyone under full-time so he don’t have to give ’em benefits.” KD shook her head and jumped a little at the toaster pinging and popping her slices up. “It’s an epidemic.” “Of Stephen King proportions,” Betsy declared. “It’s the Square’s sheer size that’ll keep it from becoming a dust bowl.” “That and the asylum,” KD added absently.
November 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- Jim's POV, talking with Rae doesn't go exactly the way he expected, and he learns that she isn't like the others.
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You’re not like the others. Jim wanted to scream it into the microphone, in his own voice, pouring out of his own throat. What was this girl going to do? Did she really believe she could make it out? Her slow movement caught his eye, and she was writing again. It was quick this time, just two words. In fact, it took her longer to regain balance on the bench than it took her to write her response. She spent more time thinking about the two words. SO WHEN?? Partial words from the message on the back could be seen around her new response. She was calm; the look on her face was thoughtful, almost serene. She wasn’t angry or frightened. She wasn’t even scared. Almost insistent, she demanded to know when he was going to take her life, and only because he’d subtly threatened her with it. He’d never even had conversations with the other girls, only to tell them their time was over, they weren’t right. Neither of them could make the perfect bride. “That’s all up to you.” Jim’s modified voice finally moved through the microphone. Tonight, after the sleeping pills kicked in, he’d place a microphone in the room she could speak into. Though she’d probably never hear his voice, Jim definitely wanted to hear hers.
November 7, 2025 at 6:45 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah Bk. 1 -- Monah and Joni fighting just before Monah makes the official declaration that she's going to Piatra Invelis.
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“Are you even hungry?” she asked, resuming her place in the doorway and revealing her frustration in all its glory. “Eat whatever you want, Jo. I don’t care. I’ve got wine, and I need some time with my thoughts, okay? Just ignore me ’til you need something, like usual.” “Bitch,” she tossed over her shoulder and walked back into the house. “Thanks, I needed that,” I said, taking a deep sip of my wine and immediately regretting it because I knew I only had about a glass and a half left in the bottle. There were no plans for dinner, because my brother’s threat to kill me grew like a lead balloon in my gut. I tried not to feel afraid, and I tried not to feel hesitation in fulfilling my life’s purpose—I could feel now that going to Piatra Invelis was—but his amber-hazel eyes kept glowing into mine every time I blinked. The thicket grew into a darker and darker shade of green as the sun set on my penultimate day in the Territories. I knew I had to tell her that I’d made my decision, even though it seemed pretty clear that she already knew and was already disgusted. Her last question from the doorway only validated my thoughts. “What are you gonna do with your shit?”
November 6, 2025 at 3:19 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah Bk. 1 -- Monah's POV, reassuring Joni after she chooses to go to Piatra Invelis.
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“So you’re really going?” She looked up at me and took my hand when I extended it. “Yeah, I think I have to, Jo. I don’t know who I’d be if I didn’t,” I admitted. “Just my wife. You know, how we planned? Remember? Everything was right. Destiny? Meeting in that stupid class, finding this house. Remember?” She gripped my hands between hers and begged me to see what she saw, remember what we promised. “At the time, this was the right place; you were the right woman,” I agreed, holding her hands and bringing the knuckles to my lips. “But, now?” She sobbed and let the tears form diamond-shiny trails down her cheeks. “I’m meant for something different,” I said. “A different woman,” Joni whispered, aiming her words at the floor. “Not a better one,” I returned in similar tones, trying to keep Evlin’s rich green eyes out of my mind while I said it. And then, I could feel her eyes on my back, anticipating the choices I would make, the words I would say. As if she and my emotions, my thoughts were playing a game of Hide and Seek. “Just remember, Liena Abram will be here, probably tomorrow, now, instead of the next day, to collect my things. You don’t have to worry about any of it, alright, love?”
November 5, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah's Bk. 1 -- Monah's POV, making her way through the woods, Monah senses Doliu's distress from far beyond the Grey Meadow and Doliu's home.
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I groaned into the glaring sunlight and finally registered that it was early afternoon. The sun had slipped just beyond its apex, and my stomach grumbled against the idea of actually consuming some food. Guess I’m going to the castle. The idea brought me an immense and refreshing sense of calm, so I headed right there. Doliu flitted quickly across my mind, and I cast a brief glance over my shoulder. A slight buzzing started at the intrusive thought that I was headed in the wrong direction, that I should go back to the Grey Meadow—minefields be damned—and see about Doliu. Worry, doubt crowded my mind and made me feel a little fuzzy. I stopped in the shadow of a tall tree and almost needed to catch my breath against this new anxiety. Doliu? Whatever’s going on, be well and be calm. Be well and be calm. Be well and be calm. I trained my eyes on the horizon I had just walked away from and tried to calm myself, tried to steel myself against this nagging feeling that I should be back there, despite the renewed frustration that crowded the corners of my mind at the mere thought of running into Ankara again.
November 4, 2025 at 4:06 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- Introduction of Nanette and Ken.
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Midmorning on a dead-end road is just as quiet as one would expect, most especially when that midmorning is in early November with a forecast of mostly cloudy. Filmy sunbeams didn’t make it to the mattress or its box-spring support, and Nanette wouldn’t have noticed for hours except her cell phone began to ring. Even on a good day, Nanette hated nothing more than being woken up by the phone, not to mention being woken up by a phone call from, Ken, her ex-husband. Her cell phone tinkled with some classic Victorian strain, preloaded on the phone because damn figuring out downloading and changing ringtones on these supposed “smart” phones. It’s not as if Nanette had some disposition to boring old classical music, but it was the least annoying of the chimes provided. “God, why?” She tossed sarcastically at the ceiling before answering her phone. “Yeah?” “Nice to hear your voice, too, Nanette,” Ken said.
November 3, 2025 at 4:29 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah's Bk. 1 -- Monah's POV, laying in bed and thinking about what Evlin had told her earlier in the day.
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Not necessarily trying to go back to sleep, I simply closed my eyes, slipped the red book beneath my pillow, and concentrated. Thought about what Piatra Invelis might be like. Thought about how the people there would see or treat me. Prepared myself for the fact that most of them might not want me there, me and my mixed blood. Me and my muddled history, of both mythic and mundane proportions. How had I really come to leave Piatra Invelis? Had I been selected by fate or secreted away by frightened, loving parents? What did my bloodlines really have to do with my power? When the word entered my mind, a flash startled me and washed me in heat and anticipation. Ribbons of colored light approached me, as if drawn by some unseen magnet, and when they passed through my body, several separate sensations, lava hot and ice cold, sticky like cobwebs, and as fluid as ice cream dropped on summertime pavement lit across my nerve endings in the pops and sizzles of a fireworks display. When I attempted to open my eyes, there was nothing beyond the thick, bright light.
November 2, 2025 at 5:05 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah Bk. 1 -- Monah's POV, as Evlin explains her lineage and the kingdom that's waiting for her.
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“He waits. We all do. For you.” “Why is he waiting for me?” Evlin looked at the floor, the wall across from us, and my fiancée before she looked at me square in the eye. “More accurately, he is waiting for your death. Though, your return has been prophesied long before your death ever has been. In fact, throughout all my years with the Grey Elders, your death has never even been mentioned.” “The Grey Elders?” “Your true mother’s ancestors. Queen Ursah, Ursah of the Grey, is your mother. Faldor shares your paternal lineage, but his mother comes from the Desert Lands, Turkey, if I recall.” “I call bullshit. Monah’s a hundred years old? Her folks, kings and queens?” Joni drank her beer as if it had offended her. “No way. No fuckin’ way.”
November 1, 2025 at 3:43 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah's Bk. 1 -- Evlin's POV, discussing Territories technology with Sonja & why they protect themselves from the Territories on multiple levels.
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“I know you stand against my hesitating to implement Territory technology here, but we protected ourselves from their advancements for a reason.” Evlin steepled her fingers and rested her elbows on the desk so she could press the tips of her touching fingers against her lips. Once more, she found her mind consumed with images of the princess and her home from the Territories. While the technology seemed easier, and now far distant from her earlier comparison to mixing life with the Grey Elders, Evlin considered how much shorter her working hours might get if she was constantly answering the phone. If anything, it would just be another round of messages and inquiries to answer. “‘Protected ourselves’?” Sonja laughed, and the unexpected burst of energy sent her fangs out and over her full pink lips. “More like hid ourselves from the Territories. I still don’t know why. We could easily overpower them.” “Yes, we could overpower them.” Evlin nodded, considering Sonja’s declaration. “That does not mean we should. We protect ourselves from their desire to kill us—their unwillingness to understand us. To see us only as monsters.”
October 31, 2025 at 5:30 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah's Bk. 1 -- Monah's POV, traveling to Piatra Invelis with Evlin.
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“Please, feel no fear, Your Highness; I will protect you every step of the way.” She took my hand, and before I could offer any kind of argument to the contrary, we took a step and Washington Square, Missouri, was far behind us. There had been no incantation, no spells for protection or far-reaching sight, just one step with my hand encircled by hers, and we were swept up by an unnamable force and carried away to wherever Evlin wanted or needed us. Our second step led us toward a dense, dark forest that seemed to reach for miles. Large, intangible peaks of gray-to-white mountains rose above us majestically. A cool breeze sent chills over my shoulders and down my spine but seemed to do nothing to Evlin. It happened so quickly. I barely registered that it had happened at all. We had jumped halfway around the world in just a few moments. The weight of the realization pressed me toward the ground, and no matter how tightly she held my hand, I had to separate from Evlin and meet the cool, wet grass beneath me.
October 30, 2025 at 4:40 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah Bk. 1 -- no brooms or broomsticks in any of my current WIPs, so I went with "sticks" -- Monah's POV, walking through the woods to meet The Grey Elders for the first time.
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The misty light up ahead compelled and calmed me as I took uneven steps through the rough wooded landscape. Chunks of bark were no softer against the arches of my bare feet for the soggy wet leaves that covered them. The sound of loose sticks dry enough to break beneath my feet filled the thin air around me, but dulled to silence almost immediately after. The hem of my thick green gown clung to my ankles as it darkened with dampness. But something told me I would be just fine—“Set to rights,” the third familiar voice, the creaky one, promised—once I achieved the origin point of that blue-gray mist calling to me. That all my stress, all my frustration, maybe even all my questions would be handled.
October 29, 2025 at 2:51 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- Jim's POV, remembering how he chose Rae.
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Bright, in a flash, the two boys from work, David and Kyle, were in front of his eyes. He could see them laughing at Paulina, too. They’d been at the party that night, giving the girl in the Black Cat costume a bad time. That was before all the dancing with the silly boys. Paulina, from her perch at the table, had been watching, with eagle eyes tucked in neatly under dark black eyeliner and that garish costume wig of thick magenta curls. He’d recognized her character from The Rocky Horror Picture Show almost immediately. If he was going to be truly honest with himself that was what made him choose her. All the other girls at the party were barely dressed, trying to pass themselves off as police officers, nurses, and old-time bar wenches. Then, there were the others dressed quite similarly who were trying to trying to be Alice in Wonderland, the Wicked Witch, or a Greek goddess. But Paulina, Paulina pulled off the Magenta character with a kind of class the other girls there lacked.
October 28, 2025 at 3:37 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- going for vibes with "frightened" -- from Stella and Gregory's interview of David and Kyle about the Halloween party.
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“The statements said Kylie was on the dance floor with the both of you before heading into the bathroom. What kept her on the floor when Rae left the table?” Stella eyed David, waiting for his reaction. “Dancing,” David tossed out, quick and almost without thought. Kyle neither confirmed nor denied it, but he wouldn’t catch the detectives’ eyes. “That may be or it may not, but don’t think that I can’t find a way to determine if you’re being honest. Any information you withhold at this point will only make you look guilty when it comes to light. It’s better to just be honest.” Gregory leaned in across the table and plastered his eyes on David’s face. The boys exchanged glances, probably considering how much covering the truth could really cost them, and before David could stop him, Kyle was talking, frightened of Gregory’s threat.
October 27, 2025 at 11:14 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- Jim's POV. We all know someone like Bill Wyland, don't we?
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“Go to any of the good parties last night?” Bill Wyland was the manager of this site, not the project manager, but he just barely succeeded in keeping all these engineers in line. He was friendly but in the most obnoxious of ways. “Just one, Bill, it was pretty good.” “Did you meet a girl there?” Bill followed in Jim’s shadow, close at his heels. “Yep, but I left her there, too.” Jim’s yellow construction hat bobbed in the air a full six inches higher than Bill’s orange one. Bill gave a mighty roar at this, and Jim watched from the corner of his right eye as the older man’s features jiggled under the weight of his glee and then quickly changed to red. Jim knew the man loved a good laugh, and gave good laugh for a solid punch line. His whole body would shake, from hips to shoulders. Often he would bend at the waist and slap his knee, literally, for almost five minutes after the joke had floated away with the clouds. And all day afterward, Bill would mutter the punch line back to you, chuckle, and shake his head as he walked away. Jim could already hear echoes of “left her there, too” following him around all day.
October 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- going with "chance" -- Stella and Gregory investigating the scene in the barn.
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“Kind of,” Stella guessed, eyeing a long thin strap and larger holding area barely attached. “Looks like the bag was forcibly removed—like the strap was busted. Look,” she directed. When Gregory finally managed to remove it from the harboring garbage can, Stella could see he was glad with its weight. The perpetrator left evidence behind, something to identify his victim and lend proof to the fact that Kylie Jo Martin was not alone the night she died. If there’s a living connection, there’s a chance, a real chance to still catch this guy. “You know, if this guy murdered and kidnapped, it’s possible he’s done this before,” Stella offered, looking into the cracked mirror. “Disorganized and quick as it was, he may not have done it too many times before though.” “Agreed, but what makes you think he?” Gregory stood up and pulled a plastic bag from his pocket that would have matched a gallon-storage Ziploc bag, without the well-known name on it. Instead, it was plain minus its red-trimmed zip closure.
October 25, 2025 at 3:07 PM
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#WIPSnips from KD & Jaz's Bk. -- Jazmine's POV, reflecting on a bit of Washington Square's immediate history, which you might recognize 👀.
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She watched one or two old cars pass by, and the big black truck made her remember the Jim Highland case—how he’d lived just down the street from her, how her father knew Bill Wyland, how she and Kylie Martin had started classes at William Hurst the same year, how Rae Andrews had totally rebuffed her when she tried to reach out. She shook her head, glanced at the sunlight landing hard on the cracked pavement and dried grass in front of her house, and wondered when Washington Square would catch a fucking break.
October 24, 2025 at 4:44 PM
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#WIPSnips from Monah's Bk. 1 -- going with synonym "hill" -- Faldor's POV, helping his army lay a fallen brother to rest.
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“You are aware of the hill, just beyond us?” He pointed where his memory carried him and smiled when the majority of them smiled and nodded. “With the tabletop plane at its peak?” More smiles and nods encouraged him. “We will walk there, from here, carrying our fallen brother on our shoulders. Bearing his weight with his blood in our veins.” Faldor made a fist, curled his arm, and brought it up toward his cheek, a show of force he intended as one of unity. “Along the way, those with empty hands will collect stones and stumps, any of which appear sturdy to the naked eye. Take from nature what evil has taken from us, strength.” Solemn nods met him. “Upon that hill’s peak, we construct a proper pedestal from those mere stones and stumps. As the sun crests the horizon, we will lay our fallen brother’s form upon’t. Let the sun’s rays finish what evil started and could not complete.”
October 23, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- Jim's POV, does anyone actually believe him? (I don't think he even believes it...)
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{Totally spaced on yesterday's post!! 🫠}
“Never want to hurt them,” Jim muttered, eyeing his creation. “Just want to show them who’s in charge.”
October 22, 2025 at 2:55 PM
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#WIPSnips from Survival Instinct -- Stella and Gregory at the site of the Halloween party, looking for evidence after realizing Kylie wasn't the only victim.
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“You did what you had to do, Steve, no one blames you.” Stella rubbed his shoulder again, but looked at the barn, the field, and the job they had yet to do. “The people do; otherwise why Jones?” “People can be strange, especially after a violent, unexpected trauma.” Stella patted his shoulder and didn’t want to give him another moment to question himself. “Come on, let’s get started on this field, and I’ll call Jones to get that team out here.” “I want a look around in that barn, too; if those other officers didn’t even look at the field, I’m willing to bet they missed something inside, too, especially if people and other officers were still milling around.” Stella smiled because he’d picked right up on her own silent thoughts. “Especially while we’ve got the time and opportunity.”
October 20, 2025 at 4:38 PM