Hi All!
Thanks for dropping by today.
I sometimes challenge myself to write quickly, and for this exercise I wanted to write a complete story arc in one sitting, let my imagination flow. Below is an excerpt of story that emerged. I liked it, so I thought I’d share!
Enjoy!
Secret of the Blue Marble (excerpt)
by Jan M. Alexander
If Kate could find the blue marble she might see, once more, the tiny mountain inside. At the base of the mountain was a door. It had dazzled her for exactly three breaths, until the mean girl next door knocked the marble out of her hand. The marble bounced on the slate pathway, then rolled into the garden. Kate thought it would be right in front of the gray-flecked stones guarding the foxgloves—how far could it have rolled? But it wasn’t there. It wasn’t anywhere. It had vanished.
Every day Kate looked for the blue marble with hope in her heart. Her deepest desire was to find a way through the tiny door at the foot of the mountain.
On day she grew tired of looking and sat down on one of the larger stones. Next to the stone an elf held a strawberry-colored mushroom like an umbrella over his head.
“You’d better find shelter for you will soon be drizzled upon,” he said.
Kate crinkled her nose. “The sky is bluer than my lost marble. It won’t rain.”
“Suit yourself,” said the elf, just as a dark cloud settled in front of the sun. A drop of rain sploshed over his mushroom.
Kate covered her head with her hands. “Make it stop!”
The elf said, “I have nothing to do with it!” He rubbed his beard. “I’m curious. How blue is this thing you call a marble?”
“Well,” said Kate, keeping her hands over her head. “It’s almost as blue as the bluest sky, but maybe it’s more like the blue of a cornflowers. It’s possible it’s as blue as a mountain bluebird or maybe it’s blue like the blue of an eye, but I’m pretty sure it’s as blue as truth. It’s pretty blue,” she said.
“I think I got it,” said the elf. “I may have seen your marble. Come back tomorrow and I’ll bring it to you.”
Then the elf disappeared, and after Kate checked behind all the rocks in the garden, she ran inside, dripping wet.
The next day, Kate sat on the same stone and ate her ice cream cone. She waited for the elf, but he never came.
*excerpt of "Secret of the Blue Marble" © Jan M. Alexander. All rights reserved.
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