NaNoWriMo

I know it's been a long time since my last post, but I have an excuse.  I decided to join in the fun at NaNoWriMo.  

The acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month.  It's basically a challenge to write a novel of 50000 words in one month's time.  Everyone starts at 1 November, with no writing done before that, and then you can update your wordcount as you progress.  

The daily word count that you should get to is about 1666 words.  I thought it would be easy, but I'm already behind.  I have every intention of catching up, but it might take a while.

So, basically, I don't have time to write any short stories really, since I spend all my time writing my short novel.

Here's a link to my page there: http://www.nanowrimo.org///eng/user/529066

The event is every year, so if you don't have a good excuse, make sure you sign up next year.  Also, if you have the money, you can make tax-deductible donation to their cause. 

That's all.

Fiction : Walking Alone

Being alone was something that Kilan had been used to. In his younger days, there was never any friends to speak of, and his family hadn't cared what he did or what happened to him.

“Come on,” Hithal said.

The young man speaking to him was Kilan's newest colleague. They were assigned to do this task together. Apparently it was impossible to do alone.

“I'm coming.”

The two men jogged over the dusty street and came to the high wall surrounding the small mansion they were to infiltrate. The moonlight was bright enough for Kilan to make out small cracks and imperfections in the wall. Equipped with hand claws, to make the climbing easier, the two partners proceeded to scale the tall barrier.

It was never part of Kilan's life plan to be illegally entering people's homes and climbing walls to achieve this, but he needed the money. He actually hated the idea of being put in such a dangerous position. Mostly, Kilan had avoided danger, but now he was walking directly into it.

After a few seconds, Kilan and Hithal landed on the soft grass on the other side. The sheer size and beauty of the garden not only astounded, but also disgusted Kilan. Such a waste of precious resources and time to create these overly vast yards.

“The window is over here. You go around to the dogs. You know what to do,” Hithal whispered.

Kilan nodded and split away from their meeting. The plan had been thoroughly explained to him beforehand. The boss had said that there was only two ways that the night could end for Kilan : Success, or death. Since he didn't want the latter, Kilan hurried to his designated spot.

The rather useless dogs lay in their kennels, and had seemingly not heard the two intruders. Kilan crept closer and hid behind a large square cut bush. He lifted his hand and checked his watch. The seconds counted by, every one bringing him closer to the time they had agreed upon. Hithal would now be on his way to the window, getting ready to break it.

Fiction : Last Stand

The war was at last upon them. Fires ravaged the lands while swords cut down the people. Jial stood atop the lookout tower, gazing across the vast landscape. The sky was tinted orange, mixing with the blazing yellow light of the noon sun. Jial steadied himself against the railing when a sudden squall swept across the lands.

Finally, movement caught his eye. Thousands of black dots appeared over the horizon. Jial drew a deep breath. He could feel his heart beating furiously in his chest. The time was here.

“They're coming!” he called, turning around.

In front of him stood the last human army. Dressed in crimson and blue, the soldiers stood in perfect rows. They had long been preparing for this. It was a battle that was inevitable.

“We stand here today. On this glorious day, the sun blesses us with it's burning embrace. We all know what we face. We know the odds. This is our last day. Our final act. Let us make it a good one. Let the humans be remembered this day. Not for our loss, but for our fighting spirit. We will die today. But we will not give in. We will fight! They will strike us down, but by all that is holy, we will take them with us!” Jial paused a moment. Then he raised his hands. “To arms!”

A huge roar erupted from the human army. Jial smiled. The human spirit would explode in a glorious symbol before it was laid to rest.

Jial turned back. The enemy was almost upon them. He slid down the ladder and stood with the rest of the army. They watched as the huge wooden gates began to shake. Jial drew his sword.

 Then the gates burst open.