Sunday Snippet: Yelling in Vain

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, father figures, and mentors out there. The weather has been wet and chilly and, honestly, I'm okay with that. When it's ninety in October and I'm complaining… remind me how the temperatures were in June.

Not a bad week of television. Had some deadlines to meet so a little lighter than usual.

Caught Banshee's fourth episode and loved the interaction with Job and Hood. Also liked entire theft scene and Carrie's rescue of Lucas. Very cool visuals there.

I've watched about three more episodes of Blue Heelers and still enjoy the show. I'm a little frustrated with Roz and finding a job. First, she did the mobile beauty thing, which was terrific. Then, when she lost her license, she was offered a job with a cosmetics firm but turned it down to supposedly take a job in the city. When Wayne got shot, she decided to stick around and now she applied for the office staff job at the station. I'm aware that's how things work sometimes, but it's a little whiplashy for me.

Caught Chicago Fire and loved the episode. I've got two more left of season seven and I'm really excited to see where things go. I'm very interested in how the situation with Casey and Brett plays out.

Episode two of Daredevil delivered another solid viewing experience. Again, my favorite parts were with Karen and Foggy. But I enjoyed Matt's story a lot more this week.

Watched another classic Roswell episode. I'd forgotten how funny Max and Kyle were in the episode where Liz gets to go on a blind date with someone else. And I'd also forgotten how terrific Maria sounded when she finally got to sing.

Frankie Drake Mysteries had a good episode. I'm glad Trudy is sticking around and I loved Mary and Flo's road trip. Also like the mystery this week.

Caught another episode of Riverdale. Gotta say Gladys might be even crazier than Hiram. And, honestly, I'm this close to being done with Hiram. The best part of the episode was Archie and Fred and FP and Jellybean and Jughead. Seriously, loved those scenes. I also loved, loved, loved Betty and Ethel teaming up to brig-break the creepy sisters' home.

Watched another episode of Arrow and, I'll say it again, I'm going to miss this show so much when it's gone. No one does flashbacks and flash forwards better than Arrowverse.

The premiere of Krypton's season two ended up being awesome. I missed this show! Colin Salmon truly seems to be relishing his role as Zod and he's quite good at being smarmy yet evil. I like that about his character. I'm so excited to see what else happens.

Also caught In the Dark. Man… talk about a crazy episode. It's seriously messed up when I'm rooting for the drug dealers to win the day, right? Yeah, I love this show. LOL

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Yelling in Vain, a novella that started with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

After an accident that takes the life of a fellow cadet, Lora Seaves falls back on her combative attitude to keep it together. Jestin Warbly has to decide whether or not Lora is cracking up or okay to fly. He's got one big problem… a powerful attraction for the rookie pilot clouds his judgment.

And a sneaky peek…

Jestin Warbly completed a series of intricate movements in the shou dini discipline. He admired the friendly bipedal race's combination of martial arts and exercise that required intense focus. Paying attention to small details when sliding from one form to the next helped Jestin every day in his work with Earth Force Investigative Services.

The sharp ping from his comm center interrupted his final cool down. "Incoming conference from EFIS office. Are you available?"

Jestin paused, holding his position. "Answer incoming. No video." A quick beep sounded and Jestin replied, "Warbly, J. joining the conference." He released the static hold and shifted into the final stance of his workout.

"Warbly, Major Brant and Captain Collins here. We've got an assignment for you." Brant's voice boomed over the line.

Jestin exhaled slowly, finishing his routine before he let excitement kick in. "Yes, sir. When should I report for orders?" He could be ready in fifteen minutes.

Seven if they needed him right away.

Collins entered the conversation. "No need to report. You're the lead on this and we're forwarding the pertinent files to your archive."

Jestin fist-pumped the air. "I'm solo investigator?" He'd hoped to land an unsupervised investigation soon, especially since he'd graduated in the number one spot from the class of recruits.

Brant confirmed Jestin's status. "You are. You're on the fast track for promotion and you can't move up to lieutenant until you close your first unsupervised investigation." He paused a moment. "We'd like to see you get confirmed ASAP, depending on the outcome of this case."

The implied meaning he could be denied the promotion if his findings didn't match their desired result.

Jestin ignored a tinge of unease. "Anything I need to be aware of?" The pertinent details would be in the files, but he hoped to get a read on what his superior officers were looking for.

Collins gave a terse answer. "We want this done quick and clean. The subject, Lora Seaves, is a pilot cadet and word is she's brash and abrasive. Not much for team playing either." His opinion came through loud and clear.

Brant added another piece of information. "She's also got a bad attitude so keep that in mind when you're doing your interview. The files have been transferred to your archive. You can get started as soon as you've reviewed them. We want you to get to the bottom of things right away."

I really like how this one is coming together. Jestin and Lora definitely start out on opposite sides but they'll end up working together to solve the problem of Lora's grounding.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye