This month’s excerpts are from my short story, “A Place to Die.”
When Libby spends a summer helping out at her mom’s bed and breakfast-turned-hospice, she doesn’t expect to spend her time babysitting someone like Mr. Calloway – a young, vibrant financial planner with a mischievous streak. But Mr. Calloway is sicker than he seems, something neither he nor his family want to acknowledge. Can Libby help him accept his fate without losing her heart?
In this scene, Libby and Mr. Calloway have just met. He’s going for a walk, and she tags along.
* * * * * * * * * *
I studied the shoreline beneath us; the path wasn’t steep, but it was too rugged for most of the guests, and no one was down there tonight. “You feel up to it?”
“I’m not dead yet.”
I knew the path like the back of my hand, having used it daily practically since I could walk, but he still beat me down to the beach. He loped over to a log and sat down on it, facing the lake.
I plopped down next to him, breathing heavily, and said, “You take that path that fast too many times, you’ll be dead before you know it.”
He chuckled, and I winced. For all I knew, he might be dead tomorrow.
* * * * * * * * * *
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So touching and more than that, your writing reflects life. Just beautiful.
Oof, a little gallows humor. Looks like he’s taking it pretty well and like he’s still in decent shape!
I winced along with your heroine; I think we’ve all made a comment we wished we had bad.
That’s pretty unfortunate. Still, live while you have the chance, right?
Nice little scene. I think it’s quite true to life that the girl made a comment that could be taken as unfortunate. So often we say things like that without thinking about the effect on our companions. Great snippet!