#FridaySnippets

Friday Snippet #20

Monica La Porta, , , , 4 Comments

I’ve been working on X for several weeks now and it’s coming along fine. Kind of darkly fine, but fine nevertheless. All in all, almost 5k.

Julius extended his free hand and gently laid one finger on the boy’s arm, waited a moment to let the kid react to his push. “Here, let me help you.”

His voice was hypnotic and even Allegra—although she should have been used to it by now—was affected by it. The boy visibly relaxed before her eyes and emitted a slow whoosh sound.

“There’s something strange with him—” Julius released his hold on her hand to fully connect with the boy.

Allegra never liked it. It didn’t seem proper he looked through someone else’s eyes. Eyes that weren’t hers. Her uneasiness was short lived as she watched Julius recoil in pain the moment he switched from her sight to the boy’s. “What is it?” He didn’t answer her, but terror showed on his features and she felt pain herself. “Julius? What happened?” The boy seemed to react to the wave of emotions emanating from Julius, brief elation lit his face to be replaced by fear and finally a calm that was utterly out of place.

“Allegra,” Julius croaked, feeling the air with his hands, looking for her.

She had never seen him looking so lost and realized she couldn’t bear it. “I’m here.” She reached out and pulled him in a tight hug.

He let his breath out in a rush. “It’s all twisted.”

“What’s all twisted?” She stroked his back, her fingers massaging his tense muscles, but it didn’t feel right. Then, it hit her. They were touching, but she could sense he wasn’t connected to her. She didn’t even know he could do that. It hurt her.

“I was a monster.” His body started shaking. “You were a monster. The house, the backyard… everything was wrong.”

Allegra was confused and upset to see him out of control, but he was beyond reading her aura and for once she had to explain her feelings. “You’re scaring me.” His instability feeding hers in a vicious loop, she couldn’t help sobbing and despising herself for it.

Friday Snippet #20

Friday Snippet #19

Monica La Porta, , , , , 4 Comments

Busy editing. That’s the short sum of this past week. The longer and uncensored version is available before a cup of tea, if you’re so inclined. Otherwise, I’ll spare you boring details.

From X, because it’s still amusing me to work on it.

“Are you ever coming back?” Julius had stopped abusing the metal gate, which prompted Allegra to plunge her hand past the spider webs and look for the ring with all the keys attached. A quiet Julius was a busy Julius.

Allegra found what was looking for, gave the child another glance to ensure he was still there, was surprised he hadn’t moved at all, and went back to the entrance where she found Julius attempting to climb the gate as she had worried. “Can’t you stay a minute without me? It’s not that you aren’t used to—” She didn’t know how that accusation had slipped through her words, but a vivid image of Julius touching Sofia’s slender arm played in her mind, followed by what he had said to her afterward, “Her eyes see colors in such a different way than yours.” She had never asked him if he meant it as a compliment to Sofia or to her; the memory still put her in a foul mood, but the hurt look on his face made her immediately regret her words. “Found the keys and a child.”

He was surprised by her statement and didn’t reply to her barb. “What child?”

Allegra fumbled through the keys, she couldn’t remember which one was the gate’s, and tried several before finding the right one. “That child.” She touched his right cheek—she could have make contact with his hand as it was customary, but somehow that didn’t occur to her—and turned toward the house to give him a clear view of the porch, the bushes nearby, and a small child half hidden behind the greenery.

Friday Snippet #19

Friday Snippet #18

Monica La Porta, , , , 6 Comments

This week I’ve posted on time and every day. I’m feeling rightfully entitled to boast about my accomplishment.

From X:

“What are you doing?” She felt Julius’s aura pushing her anxiety away and she didn’t like it. “I told you I need to be in control.”

“Your heart rate is too elevated. You won’t be in control for long.” Sometimes, he acted without consulting her. They had huge rows about it once or twice a month.

“Not now, please.” She didn’t want to argue with him, but her sense of smell was already dimming. “You’re blinding my nose.”

“It’s okay, your olfactory power is stronger than mine anyway. You can function even at reduced capacity and still sense more than a normal human being.” He was calm as usual and forcing her to calm as well. “Yield. It’s pointless and you know it.”

She did know. It was how she had passed all her finals with flying colors. She was prone to panicking when under pressure and he couldn’t bear to feel her anxiety building. He had let her have her way only once and she had regretted it. “Just to prove a point,” he had explained to her, when calming her down after failing an important test. But someone who she thought was her father was hiding from her just meters away and she didn’t want to listen to Julius, even though she knew he was right.

“Allegra, reason.” The pressure on her arm increased, until it was uncomfortable and at that point he repeated her name.

“You won.” Allegra emptied her mind and let his aura invade hers. For the briefest moment, she saw blue circles playing behind her eyes, then a sense of calmness descended slowly on her. Wave after wave of blue light covered her until she was in control of herself once again.

“Better?” Julius massaged the spot where his fingers had left a mark on her skin.

“Yes.”

Friday Snippet #18

Friday Snippet #17

Monica La Porta, , , , 1 Comment

Still writing for fun. Allegra and Julius are still wandering through Cartaghena.

From X:

The gate didn’t swing open as supposed to. She applied more pressure. “It doesn’t open.” She needed to say it out loud.

“It could mean anything.” Julius moved to her side. “Look ahead,” he instructed her.

Allegra straightened her head. “What did you see?” At first, she had been put out by the way he used her eyes better than she did, but during the years it had proved useful. “I see things through you in a different way than you do,” he had said once without explaining much. But at the first occasion he had avoided them a punishment, she had been grateful for his ability to spot details and never questioned it again. One night, they were out of their respective quarters, way past curfew—a dare from one of their classmates, and Julius saw, before Allegra noticed, their teacher’s pointy shoes emerging from the dark corner she was staring at. That split second had allowed them to run back to their rooms, none being the wiser.

“Something moved at the end of the path.”

She focused on the dark-gray gravel covering the path that went from the entrance to the stairs leading to the porch. “I see nothing.” She opened her nose then and the faintest aroma of sandalwood reached her nostrils. “Dad!” She beat at the metal bars of the gate. “Dad!”

Friday Snippet #17

Friday Snippet #16

Monica La Porta, , , 1 Comment

Another week, another snippet. Still enjoying this new and surprisingly refreshing concept of writing for fun. Words just form in my mind and fingers click on the keys. Is that easy. Here it is, straight from my imagination, my weekly snippet from X:

“There’s nothing out here.” Allegra had never experienced sensorial blindness, but without her nose to direct her, she felt as if seeing with her eyes  wasn’t enough.

“What do you mean nothing?” He caressed her shoulders the way he did when she was tense.

The slow, circular motions around her scapulae combined with a calming push from his aura normally soothed her anxiety.

But not this time. “My nose doesn’t catch anything. There’s nothing out here,” she repeated, and he finally understood the entity of her words and interrupted the contact between them by removing his hand to give her some privacy. “I don’t know how I didn’t catch it earlier.”

“You were so preoccupied…”

She felt him stepping closer, but he didn’t close the final gap waiting for her to decide if she wanted to be consoled. “I should’ve sensed it immediately.” She was angry. Mere hours out of school and she had already failed.

“It’s understandable—”

“I’m responsible for your life.”

“I’ve survived for nineteen years already.” His words weren’t meant to offend her, but Allegra felt worse.

“I was thinking about my family.”
“I know and I don’t blame you for it. I’m worried for mine too.” He did close the gap this time without asking for permission and she was glad for it.

Allegra leaned on him and closed her eyes. “It won’t happen again. I promise.” She breathed in his scent, the familiar essence of Julius doing the trick to send the tears away. “You’re still here.”

He chuckled at her statement. “I’ve no intention to let go of my guide.” He had started calling her My Guide a few years back, soon after they had been paired. At the beginning it was just who she was to him and she hadn’t liked it—their differences in built and height the source of infinite jokes among their peers. Then, she had realized he was only using it in private.

Friday Snippet #16

Friday Snippet #15

Monica La Porta, , , 4 Comments

Here it is, and it is still Friday here in the Pacific Northwest.

From X, my little fun project which is getting darker and darker:

With uncertain steps, her heels loudly clicking on the stones, Allegra led the way to her parents’ house, a mere fifteen minutes away from the bridge. A few people hurriedly walked through the alleys, disappearing behind darkened glass doors. She took a good look at the buildings, at first incapable of understanding what was different. Then, she saw it.

“It’s early,” Julius said, “It’s not surprising there aren’t lots of people around.” He didn’t comment on the darkened glasses.

Every single soul on Terra knew of Cartaghena’s see-through skyscrapers. It was as if the fires that had ravaged the earth had also obscured the city’s soul. It was a morbid thought and Allegra didn’t need it.

“I’m sure there’s a reason.” Again, Julius had connected his aura to hers.

“It doesn’t seem right.” Allegra let him calm her. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” It was his usual response, but somehow his words sounded different.

She dared looking up and Julius averted his eyes, but she caught a lingering pale blue shade flickering through his aura before he could revert to neutral once more. Longing.

Unsettled by nuances of feelings she couldn’t decipher, Allegra hurried her steps, his hand protectively splayed on her back. Although she was his eyes, in moments like these she couldn’t have walked a single step by herself.

Friday Snippet #15

Friday Snippet #14

Monica La Porta, , , 6 Comments

Following last week successful experiment, this Friday snippet was written just for fun. Coincidentally, I wanted to know what Allegra and Julius were doing. I left them unattended on a running train last week.

From X:

Cartaghena the Beautiful, it was called. Allegra rejoiced at seeing it still held true. They had jumped down the train worried it wouldn’t stop long enough to let them out. The city was still there. Unwalled. Unexed. Funny how words that hadn’t existed a year ago, now were part of their vocabulary.

“Ready?” Julius took her hand in his and gently squeezed it.

“Ready.” She smiled, not wanting to show him how scared she was and knowing it was a futile attempt. She had thought she could cope with going back home, but she had been wrong. Back at the boarding school, the pupils were shown footages of their home cities to prepare them. Mostly, it was done in good faith to help them visualize what they were going to find once out of the safety of the institute. But there had been accidents. Not every mind was strong enough to accept their families were lost to the world. Unreachable behind dark walls. And that was what scared Allegra the most. The unknowing quality of waiting for the truth to reveal itself. What if there was nobody alive behind those un-climbable barricades? What if the people you loved the most were worse than dead? One look at the glass towers and she sighed in relief; the buildings were mirrored on the placid waters of three rivers insinuating through the city. Cartaghena was intact. The destruction bordering its limits a palpable reminder nothing was what it used to be, but the city had been spared. For now. How long would it take for the Malady to corrupt her city?

“To your place first.” Julius’s good nature shone bright even in times like this.

Friday Snippet #14

Friday Snippet #13

Monica La Porta, , , 2 Comments

Thankfully, being Italian the infamous number thirteen doesn’t have any effect on me. Seventeen on the other hand… I had my final high school exam on a Friday seventeen and it happened to be an Ancient Greek poem to translate in Italian. Serial killers were born that day.

I followed Clare’s suggestion and wrote just for fun. I know, incredible concept isn’t it? I have several works in progress—just remembered there’s a third story I started and never looked at again—but between the jet lag and life in general, I can’t concentrate. So here it is something I poured on the keyboard without thinking. It’s so liberating to put down words without worrying about writing from beginning to end. Forgive me the length, I didn’t have time to shorten it. Aptly named X…

The train didn’t stop. Allegra looked at the landscape outside the window, an ever-changing river of colors following each other in a maddening rush.

“I know where we are.” She tapped at the window with her long, brightly painted nail.

“Do you?” Julius raised his head from the article he was reading and looked outside.

“See the greens and the violets?”

“Yes, and the oranges and the reds.” He squinted but his expression remained puzzled. He did close the glass reader though and focused on her words.

She could see the news flowing under the surface of the reader, but she tried her best to ignore it. “I remember when I was a kid, my mom and I travelled for miles and miles through lavender fields and orchards to visit an old uncle. He lived in Rallen—”

“I have a cousin who lives in Rallen,” Julius started saying, then realization dawned on him. “Lived, I guess. So the rumors about Rallen being exed were true. ”

“So it seems. I’m sorry for your cousin. Maybe he’s still alive. Nobody knows for sure what happens behind the city walls.”

Julius cleaned a tear with the palm of his hand, sadly smiled and took a deep breath before saying, “Rallen was all white marbles and spires. It looked like delicate lace from faraway.”

Allegra understood his silent request to change the subject and didn’t interrupt his reminiscence. “We took tons of pictures inside the Mosque. Its ceilings were so high.”

A few minutes later, browns replaced the rainbow and she knew Cartaghena was next. Orchards once stretching for acres had been destroyed by wildfires soon after Centralia proclaimed martial law and started putting cities under quarantine by drawing the letter X on the municipal buildings doors. Only one month after the first exing in the ancient city of Lavi, walls were erected as a precaution to ensure the safety of the healthy citizens. Allegra had never believed Centralia’s good intentions.

“Will the train stop to let us go home?” Julius asked, the news already forgotten under the transparent screen of the reader as Cartaghena drew closer.

Friday Snippet #13

Friday Snippet #12

Monica La Porta, , , 2 Comments

Back in Umbria to my parents’. A heat wave has been following me from the sea to the hills and only at night temperatures lower to reasonable digits. Today, despite the merciless weather condition, I wrote 2k words. Too bad they are the only words I typed in a week.

Although I should be working on both projects, my mental energies are depleted and I can’t see a clear path out of an impasse in the fantasy plot. Therefore, dystopian TCOM it is, again.

The man under the brunette’s care moaned in pain as she threaded the needle in and out of his skin. “I’m sorry, but it’s better this way. The longer it takes the more painful it is for you.” She patted his arm in a display of tenderness Marie found out of place. “The rector sent me another useless, snotty girl,” the brunette said under her breath, but loud enough to be heard. The man smiled through thin, bloodless lips.

Marie had already reached the door and was looking longingly at the darkness of the stairs, when the brunette called her back, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I thought—” Sweat freezing on her forehead, Marie understood she wasn’t getting away from that job.

Friday Snippet #12

Friday Snippet #10

Monica La Porta, , , Leave a comment

Technically speaking there are still six minutes left before Saturday in Redmond. The fact that I’m typing from Porano in Umbria and it’s already 8:54 of the next morning it only proves the Earth isn’t flat after all. It’s not cheating.

Before it’s too late, here is the snippet from this week. TCOM, again.*

Marie had been taught that ending in a waste plant was a better fate than serving as a mother, but she wasn’t sure Carnia would be happy. “She’ll be fine, don’t worry.” She didn’t have a clue of what she was talking about, but she felt the need to reassure Verena once more. The wind shook the branches with more strength and the whole green umbrella swayed under the assault. Something swiftly moved at the corner of Marie’s eye and she automatically turned to her right only to see Grant stepping back into the shadows of the corner. He was listening. Her heart skipped a beat.

“What was it?” Verena tilted her head and Marie rearranged her body in a useless attempt at hiding Grant’s presence when he was probably already gone.

“Nothing.”

“A cat, probably.”

Marie wished she was alone. “Yes, a cat.” He wants to know about Carnia. She felt her stomach contract.

*For the sake of being honest, it’s now 12:01 in Redmond, which it means it’s a Saturday snippet after all. Oh well, I did try…

Friday Snippet #10