The Latest

Here's where I left off on my novel this evening. I'd try to find a "better" section of it for you all, but I'm trying not to go back and read much of it. If I do, then I just start editing and at this stage... editing is dangerous. Therefore this is what you get.

Not only am I caught up after a few days of being behind, but I'm now writing the first exciting part. My heroine, Jenna, is meeting Mr. Kumai... my second major character in 20,000 words of writing. How exciting, eh? I kind of want to stay up and write more, but I have most of tomorrow night to write too (after running). Here's to avoiding burn out!!

Chapter 6: More Yari
But Jenna was just too cold. Her muscles wouldn’t relax and she couldn’t stop shivering. She rolled over in her sleeping bag and reached for the jacket. Careful to keep the wet side up, she placed it over the sleeping bag, hoping to keep more of her body heat inside. If it made a difference, she couldn’t tell. She waited, desperately willing her body to warm up. The wind was angrily blowing the rain against the sides of her tent. Jenna laid there listening, shivering, and praying for sleep as the sky finally became completely dark. Without leaving her sleeping bag, she ate some of her trail mix. The motion of eating warmed her slightly, but as soon as she finished she was cold again. She cursed the rain, the mountain, and herself for this whole idea. She thought about the treats she would give herself when she finished this section of trail. Visions of pizza, hour long hot showers, and her thickest college sweatshirt flashed behind her tightly shut eyelids. Suddenly she heard footsteps in the gravel approaching her tent.
“Sumimasen...Jenna-san?”.
“It must be Kumai!” her eyes opened widely. She didn’t know how to respond. “Um... hai. I’m right here...” she trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Surely he didn’t expect her to come out of her tent? She never wanted to leave her sleeping bag, in spite of the fact that she’d still not managed to warm it.
“Jenna, It’s Kumai” he said in a way that made her felt she was supposed to do something. She wasn’t sure what. In the absence of any sound from Jenna, he tried again. “Daijoubu desu ka?” She’d already been asked that too many times since they’d met and she gritted her teeth. Kumai should know by now that she really wasn’t okay at all.
“I’m a little cold, but yeah, I’m all right” she answered instead. Silence. She figured he wasn’t sure how to respond but then he surprised her with his bluntness.
“Is it okay if I come in?”. Jenna shot up to sitting inside the tent. Her first instinct was to tell him no, but then it occurred to her that he was there because he knew she’d be cold out here. She was, in fact, cold. She reached for the wool hat, turning the damp section to the back and jammed it down over her messy ponytail and then reached over with one arm to open the zippered door. Kumai was bending over at the waist and his face was level with hers as she pulled the tent flap open wide for him to enter. He muttered some Japanese phrase that was used when entering another’s house as a guest as he awkwardly lowered his backside into the door. She shook her head at the silliness of it. The tent was as far from being her actual home as he was to being a real guest. His boots off, he slipped his legs into the tent and closed it to the rain. He sat cross-legged, obviously uncomfortable. He was parallel to Jenna in her sleeping bag and facing the opposite wall. Jenna stared at the foot of her “bed” to avoid meeting his eyes.

ps. No, Mr. Yuk does not live in Japan. Sadly, neither does the Tooth Fairy. I've explained both in the last month. Can you imagine?? And then can you imagine trying to explain them? I think the Japanese teachers think I'm crazy. Good thing I have Erik to back me up.