I have emerged!

It's been so long since I last blogged that I'm almost ashamed to do so now. Nevertheless, I wanted to confirm that I haven't been sucked into the black hole of cyberspace as it was once believed. lol
I must admit however, that I've been having serious balance issues with everything going in my life, and (unfortunately) all of my writing suffered serious cases of neglect.
HOWEVER, I'm back now and have begun editing and writing much more, especially on Whispered Promises. In fact, I just sent a chapter to one of my crit partners today. It was wayyy (as in like months) past time for my update, and there were enough pages to it to make up another three chapters. :-o
I'm not certain how much longer it will be but I'm determined to have at least the first full draft completed and ready for editing by July 15, my birthday.
Also, I have several other stories (some short and some not so short), that are clamoring to be told, plus a fantasy/romance trilogy that's plotted itself out in my brain. Now THAT's going to be a challenge. The good news is that I've written two notebooks full of notes on two of the three stories already.
My mind is all over the board when it comes to my novels. For instance, I had a story idea that popped into my head (the beginning is posted below, by the way), that is definitely a contemporary romance and will contain a degree of sensuality yet it's a sweet story that, I believe, will leave the reader with a 'happy happy, joy joy' feeling after reading the last page.
On the other hand, the fantasy/romance trilogy I mentioned? Oh boy! The scenes are at times funny, at other times smokin hot, and at others will make the reader want to cheer out loud, at least it did me as I wrote out some of the parts. Yet that series, tentatively entitled, "What You Wish For', is on the backburner until I get some of the others completed and out of the way.
Saying that, I'm getting a burst of inspiration right now. So, without further ado, please allow me to introduce Dylan and Nakeya's story to you, tentatively entitled, 'Again.'


Again
by Naomi James
copyright 2009


Little Smiles and Dimples Daycare
August 1988


Mrs. Dunstan was in the back, changing one of the babies.
Good!
Dylan Holt tiptoed into the kitchen and eased open the snack drawer. He was pretty sure where his favorite treat would be hidden, and he was right. Under variety packs of cheese and crackers, graham crackers, and boxes of raisins, lay the best snack of all.
He grinned as his fingers curled around it. Silently, he closed the drawer and hurried out of the kitchen.
Licking his lips in anticipation, he opened the sliding glass door that led to the enclosed back yard and raced over to where his best friend, Nakeya Mitchell sat busily making mud pies for their ‘dinner.’
Dylan slid a twisted strand of chocolate flavored licorice from within the cellophane wrapper and took a seat beside her. He frowned, eyeing her brown skin thoughtfully as she worked. He then studied his own skin, so pale in comparison to hers yet just as good as anyone else’s or so his parents had taught him.
“Better,” his Great Aunt Karen had insisted at the time.
Dylan glanced down at the ‘pie’ which was nearly finished as far as he could tell. He knew he was the only one who actually ate a bite of the pies Nekeya always made, while she just pretended to try her piece. But he didn’t mind. He figured as long as she took the good time and trouble to make them for him, the least he could do was eat a little of it.
Wasn’t that what his Daddy always taught him about the shepherd’s pies his mother often made?
Dylan hated shepherd’s pie, but he always ate a ‘thank you’ bite to show he appreciated her efforts.
Daddy took more than a ‘thank you’ bite. He ate three full helpings, even though he’d once whispered to Great Uncle Wally how godawful it tasted.
Well, if daddy could do it for Mama, he could do it for Keya.
It just seemed right.
After all, he was gonna marry her someday, once he got bigger and got himself a good work ethic, whatever that was.
“Keya?”
“What?” she asked, glancing up from her chore.
“Gimme your hand.”
She complied without question, thrusting her arm out to the side with her hand flattened, chubby fingers held stiffly straight. With her free hand, she continued to put the finishing touches on the ‘pie’, smoothing the edges with the tip of an index finger.
Dylan slid the chocolate licorice in his mouth.
After a moment he pulled it out, savored the flavor then, poking out his tongue, he swiped it across the back of Nakeya’s hand.
“Ewww!” she wailed, snatching her hand back. “I’m tellin!”
Yet as she stared at her wet hand, she made no move to do. Instead, she plucked up Dylan’s free hand, stuck out her tongue and with a grimace, swiped it across the back of his hand.
He made a face but said nothing.
Nakeya, having expected a different response, frowned at him. “Why’d you do that?” She asked, wiping her hand on the side of her lavender shorts.
“You don’t taste like chocolate lick rich,” he said, clearly confused.
“Of course not, silly. I taste like people.”
Dylan thought about that for a moment. “Then why are you brown?”
“Cause God made me that way, and he loves me.” she said, echoing the very words her mother had spoken to her just two nights earlier, and effectively ending the discussion.
Nakeya scooped up Dylan’s piece of pie and handed it to him.


**I hope you enjoyed the beginning of 'Again.' I know it's a small excerpt and for that I apologize but 'Again' is going to be a fairly short story.
As in the past, let me know what you think. Good, bad, or indifferent I look forward to your comments. Be blessed!

~~Naomi