I’m gonna be honest here, it’s not looking good for me to finish NaNoWriMo on time. I have seven days to write 20,000 words. And given that all I’ve been able to manage during the week is 500 a day.... Well, I still have the weekend ahead, and I’ve been known to pull a few miracles off in the name of NaNo in the past, so I guess we’ll just have to see.
The thing is, I’m just not feeling it with this novel. I like the characters and it’s not a bad story, I just don’t feel like writing it. At some point, when I feel ready to move forward with this series, I’ll have to sit down and create a guide to the Myste, which plays a major part in the whole story line. But for now all I can do is make it up as I go along.
So for this week’s excerpt, I give you Nathan trying to explain to Sara about the Myste that’s surrounding them:
Excerpt
“Time doesn’t work the same when you pass through the Myste.”
Sara finally reached her limit. “All right, you’ve pussy-footed around the subject long enough. Tell my about this...Myste.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “There’s been debate for centuries over whether the Myste is naturally occurring or it was somehow created. It spans both time and space. Some worlds it only touches temporarily, some worlds have permanent access points to it. As near as I can figure, you and your friend Hannah entered the Myste through a temporary access point and it was only through sheer luck that you entered at different times but ended up in the same place.”
As she tried to process this, he tried a different tact. “When Madalyn was explaining the Myste to Hannah she asked if there were any stories where you come from of people who have been lost in the fog and when they’re found only hours or days have passed for them but years have passed for those left behind?”
“Sure, Irish folklore is filled with stories of people who’ve stepped into the land of fairy.”
“Only it’s not a fairy tale, it’s real.”
She stared at him, eyes narrowed, and he continued. “Islands like this can be found in the Myste, but are not part of the Myste itself. They’re like sanctuaries. One of the reasons for the expedition was to try and map the islands - I have no idea why, unless it’s to make it easier to travel from world to world. Right now it takes special equipment to make this possible, and even then it’s chancy at best.”
“Why would it be chancy?” Sara asked, in spite of herself. “I mean, other than the generally poor visibility. If this Myste spans worlds, like you say, I’d think people would be lining up to go world hopping.”
“Just being in the Myste is dangerous - breathing it in can cause lung damage, and if it changes colour even a breather won’t help you. *this would be a really good place for the Myste poem that I will have to re-write*
“We were breathing the Myste in,” Sara pointed out. “But we seem to be okay.”
He sighed heavily. “Look, I know you have no reason to believe me but I have no reason to lie to you.”
They stared at each other for a few moments and then turned away to watch the Myste.
“I probably wouldn’t believe me either,” Nathan admitted.
“Are we safe here?” she asked with a shiver.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Probably.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
“No, but at least it’s honest.” He hesitated, then said, “We need to figure out what we’re going to do.”
“Do? Isn’t that obvious?” Sara asked, a little surprised. “We need to go back the way we came. Or better yet, we go to wherever the others went and then Hannah and I can go home together.”
Nathan drew back and looked at her askance. “You can’t seriously think it’s that simple! Haven’t you been listening to me?” He got up and began to pace. “Getting back to your world is impossible - the access point you passed through was temporary.”
Sara felt her first real chill of fear. “Then I guess we go back to where you came from. Surely there’s someone there who can–”
He was already shaking his head. “That’s really a long shot at best. We–”
“Then we just wait here to be rescued,” she said a little desperately. “Someone will have to come back for the equipment at least right?”
“Sara.” Nathan stopped pacing and came back over to the bench. Sitting down again he took her hands in his. “I’m not going to sugar coat this. The chances of anyone coming back here before we run out of food and water are pretty slim. We’re going to have to take our chances out there.” He waved a hand towards the Myste.
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