October is a Glorious Month!

The trees are absolutely fabulous this year!  October seems to distill every good thought and feeling into an elixir that it pumps back into the air, making the leaves more brilliant and the sky more blue.  And that's my homage to Ray Bradbury.

I'm working on a short story in amongst finishing the novel.  Here's a short snippet of that---a little late for Friday, but better late than never.

First draft, please don't quote or repost without permission.  Thanks!

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               The moon hovered, just above the left tower of Dragonkeep, just in the right spot.  Tia shifted her weight  as she sat on the stone wall that surrounded the church, waiting for the dragon to make his nightly flight.  The moon seemed to balance on the tower’s zenith, then broke away to ride the night sky, free and solitary.

                Tia frowned.  She waited until the moon had risen another handspan before she climbed down from the wall, a sense of foreboding descending on her.  Every night for the past ten years, she had sat upon the wall and watched the dragon rise with the moon.  Even at moon-dark, she could see his shape, a darker black against the night sky, hear the snap of his wings.  He had never failed her.  Until tonight.

                She slid back to her pallet at the rectory, disturbed.   The other acolytes slumbered on, used to her coming and going.  Only Alli stirred when Tia lay down, and whispered sleepily, “You’re back early tonight.”

                Tia grunted in reply, and turned her back to Alli.  Eventually, she heard the other girl’s breathing deepen and slow as she fell asleep again.  An icy dread clutched at Tia’s throat.  Something was wrong with the dragon.