Sunday Snippet: Yellow Fang

Greetings to the month of September. I'm kind of not ready for it yet, mainly because once the calendar changes to the ninth month, it seems like October, November, and December zoom by super fast.

Had a great work week and made some progress on my new venture. I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to launch sometime between October and December. Another reason I'm not quite ready for the new month.

Decent viewing week. I'm not quite caught up on everything, but I'm getting there. I did make a full rotation of my usual shows but I'm off schedule, which confuses my weird brain.

Got two episodes of Only Murders in the Building watched and I'm kind of loving this show. Had a great conversation with my daughter, who also loves it.

Caught an episode of Blue Heelers and kind of thought a couple of the characters were acting unlike themselves. But I did like the mystery.

Enjoyed another MasterClass lesson with Roxane Gay. She did another workshop and talked about finding your voice as a writer. Very good stuff.

Finished up The Babysitters Club and I'm so bummed there aren't any more episodes left. I'll be starting a new show this week but haven't decided which one yet.

Watched two episodes of Classic Rugrats. The Chanukah episode is one of my favorites and I always enjoyed watching it with the kiddos. The Mother's Day episode is also up there even if it's a little bit of a downer.

Started Resisting Roots, a Passionflix original. So far, I'm enjoying it. Looking forward to finishing up this movie.

Caught another episode of Chicago Med and struggled to stay interested. I liked two of the storylines and didn't really have much invested in the other two. Season five might be my last one.

Enjoyed another episode of Batman: The Animated Series. This one introduced the Joker and my major appreciation for Mark Hamill's portrayal of the iconic bad guy started all over again.

Watched the Christmas episode of Ted Lasso and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ted having Rupert's number made me happy. Also loved Roy in this one. And I'm finding a deep appreciation for Keeley. I really love the dynamic she has with Rebecca. Jamie … I absolutely dislike with an intense passion. Just saying. Coach Beard is awesome. And so is Nate.

Caught another episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries. I'm kind of bummed I only have one more left of the season. This show makes me happy.

Finished up the second part and final episode of Silent Witness's season nineteen. Looking forward to starting the new one next week.

Watched another episode of Classic Who. I'm a little lost with what's supposed to be going on but I had a few distractions while I was watching this episode. Looking forward to the final two for this season.

Enjoyed another Strangest Things. This one had several fun artifacts. One happened to feature in a middle grade book I edited a few years ago. Very fun to see a breakdown of the item the author wrote about in his book.

Caught another episode of The Book of Boba Fett. I actually love this show a lot. It's right up there with The Mandalorian. I'm hoping there will be another season of this one.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Yellow Fang, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Yancy the Yellow is Palmer Gump's only childhood friend—a stuffed toy from her dad. Missing and presumed killed in action, an auction is held for Palmer's personal items. When she returns, she gets everything back … except for Yancy, which leaves her feeling a little lost and unsettled, until it finds its way back to her via Dannon Bennett.

And a sneaky peek…

Palmer guided the manned drone over the enemy outpost. "There you are. Finally hit pay dirt." Snapping images, she hit upload on her console. See … I can totally handle this solo operation.

Less than a second later, she regretted getting cocky. Her drone-ship took a hit from an electro-magnetic cannon. Everything went dead and the light-weight craft dropped like a stone, skimming over treetops then going lower to knock against branches.

Struggling to control her trajectory, she braced for a hard landing. "Dammit, this definitely didn't get covered in training." Why didn't they add an ejection method?

The ship's underbelly bounced hard when it hit the ground then tilted forward before flipping over onto its top. The canopy shattered around her and she went flying when the craft twisted onto to its side. Palmer dangled by whatever remained of the restraint system and she worked to get herself loose.

Grasping the edge of the drone, she wriggled her shoulder free of the harness and made the small drop to the ground. Pain shot up her leg and she swiped blood from her brow. A piece of the canopy stuck out from her forearm.

Giving it a tug, she winced when it came free. "Damn, that stings." Tearing a strip of her shirt, she applied pressure then limped for cover.

Wouldn't take long for a search party to track the whereabouts of her ship.

Scrambling into some underbrush, she crawled to the nearest tree and propped her shoulders against it. "Fine mess I've landed myself into." She wouldn't let her mind hear Dannon's warning.

Instead, she heard his last words to her. You and me both, Palmer. You and me both. Regret could be a right bitch sometimes.

Grabbing her hem again, she tore another strip from her fatigues and staunched the blood along her hairline. She couldn't sit and wait. She needed to get her supply bag from the drone and find a place to lay low until she could think straight again.

A snap behind her made her heart sink. The barrel of a gun over her shoulder started her stomach churning. When she glanced up, she met the dark and angry eyes of an enemy soldier.

Damn, that was fast.

The realization came too late that she'd pretty much been led into a trap. Especially when five more soldiers came drifting out from the trees. She quickly squashed the idea of fighting her way out. Not even she would take the odds she'd survive if she tried.

Instead, she slowly put her hands up and used the tree to get to her feet.

The first soldier grunted and turned, leading the way. The other five flanked her on all sides while she limped behind him. Definitely not her best day.

Her one fleeting hope would be that at least some of the data made it back to base.

I'm having a little fun with this story. Regret plays a role but so does reunion and I can't wait to get to that part.

 

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

ML Skye