Sunday Snippet: Words Not Necessary

Geez, what a week. Starting late Monday night, a super-cell storm blew through Ohio. Around 11:30 pm, the tornado sirens went off in my little village. We took cover in our bathroom, mainly because our two doggos will not go down the basement steps and the bathroom is the most protected interior room in the house. By 12:15 am, we got the all clear, but the power went out around 12:05 … and didn't come back on until Thursday at 5:30 pm. It's been … a wild week.

Thankfully, we were able to borrow a generator to keep our AC (temps in the mid to high 90s), fridge and freezers going. We had one light in our living room and a charging station to keep our devices charged up. Not that it mattered much. The storm damaged a cell tower and we barely had a signal. I literally had one spot in the house where I could get one. The joys of living in a rural area.

Spent most of my time keeping the generator full, checking on my neighbors, and checking out my dad's house—luckily for him, he'd left early Tuesday morning for a vacation—after rerouting to get to the airport. Downed trees were everywhere. All in all, though, we were very lucky that we didn't have a lot of damage. Unfortunately, my cousin had a tree fall on their house. Weirdly, we had another storm blow through on Thursday that caused three fires from lightning strikes. Mother Nature isn't messing around right now.

So … I had a very minimal viewing week. And I'm playing catch-up on my work projects. I don't mind being a little bit behind, mainly because I'm happy and grateful we still have a house and didn't lose our fully stocked freezers. A huge hat-tip to the linemen and workers who still have their hands full trying to restore power to other locations.

I did get an episode of The Snoopy Show in. I'm almost finished with the first season and I'll be checking out the second one after I'm done.

I caught the cast interviews for Loch Ness and enjoyed getting some insight into the characters and the actors portraying them. I'll be finishing up with behind the scenes sometime next week.

Finished up a Silent Witness two-parter and quite enjoyed the twisty turns the episode took. I'm very much liking the later seasons of this show.

Ended up completing season 24 of Classic Who. Mel is going off on her own adventure and it looks like Ace is going to be the new companion. I'll start season 25 this week.

Caught another episode of Most Terrifying Places in America. A focus on historical locations ended up being pretty interesting.

Watched another episode of The Mandalorian. Again, I love the pacing of this show. There are a lot of little moments that stack up to add great impact.

Got another episode of The Hardy Boys in and the plot is getting deeper. There's a lot of cat and mouse stuff going on and I kind of like it. The pacing is a little weird but I'm happy to overlook a few glitches.

Also caught another episode of Peak Practice to round out the week. Not sure if I'll be caught back up by my next post, but I'm only a little behind and can live with that.

That's it for the life update. Tonight's post is from Words Not Necessary, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Sometimes an outside observer can provide a lot of insight on a couple's relationship, even if they'll never understand it. London and Braun are so in tune with each other they rarely speak, yet their communication is evident for anyone to see.

And a sneaky peek…

Braun tucked an arm behind his head. He and London did have this weird way of talking without speaking. Sometimes, so in tune they just knew the other's thoughts.

And it's not always work-related.

Often while eating in the mess … they'd be casual and relaxed and he'd hand London the salt, even though he rarely, if ever, used it. Or, London would wrinkle her nose at the smell of the steamed greens and he'd have a smile on his face before she picked up the fork.

Her grimace said it all. "Smells like feet." She'd shudder and push the vegetables around.

He'd hand her the pepper. "It'll help kill the smell."

She always had a straw ready before he had to ask for one. And, he'd never told her how he liked his coffee, yet she always gave it to him with two creams and one sugar.

Even when something awful happened, they often had a form of nonverbal communication. After running an operation that went sideways, they lost a good pilot. After the service, both ended up at the memorial wall after their next shift.

London gave him a sideways glance. "He died too soon."

Braun put his arm around her. "Yeah, he did."

She put her head on his shoulder then turned into him. He held her and didn't blink when she lifted her chin and squarely met his gaze.

Her eyes said everything. "I need you."

He stroked a finger along her cheek. "I'm yours." He grasped her palm, twining their fingers together. "Let's go."

They made their way to their quarters and spent the entire night wrapped up in each other, focusing on living in the moment because one or both could be the next to fall.

London shifted in her sleep and pulled him from the memory. His heart kicked hard against his ribs for a moment. He didn't think he'd ever have a connection with anyone else like the one he shared with London. Frankly, didn't want one with anyone but her.

Maybe you should tell her that…

He would. Soon. But right now, he needed some shuteye. Pulling a throw up over them, he yawned and finally drifted off to sleep.

I'm approaching this story from a bit of a different angle and I like where it's going. This is a fun one to write.

 

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

ML Skye