The Rocky Tale of Dio Franklin (...my part...)

OK, Web visitors from far and wide, here is my section of the Dio story:

Assignment: Have the MC understand something they didn't before – using the words: Texas, flip flop, argue

Want to see where I pick up the story? Click over to Christina's Writing Buzz.


"What have you done to me?" Roddern asked, his smirk making her cheeks burn. Slowly, the markings on his chest faded. "It's just another trick of the forest. Faeries and Space Leapers don't often get along, so they make sure I'm marked in their territory. C'mon, give me the torch – we have to keep moving."

Dappled moonlight lit a faint path ahead as the pair walked in silence, their breath making little puffs of white though the air was warm.

Something was wriggling in her mind, and it took the better part of a silent hour for it to burst free. When it did, Dio's feet kept moving but her mind came to a screeching halt – the resultant crash sent her flip flops sailing in different directions and left a bloody scrape down her shin.

Too late, a fluffy yellow pillow manifested by her side. "Very funny, Roddern," she muttered as she pushed up from her belly onto her shaky feet. Neither the late gift nor the injury could shake this idea flashing in her mind like a billboard on a Texas turnpike.

Her hands sought the neckline of her shirt. Under the frayed pink cotton spattered with sweat, Dio found the chain of her necklace – the same one she'd worn forever. The silver was cheap, and the setting wasn't exactly pretty, but the real treasure had always been the penny-sized green stone. In sunlight, her namesake crystal glinted like a faceted emerald, but now, under the moonlight, the familiar multi-hued dioptase winked ominously.

As if it were keeping a secret.

Her mother had always said the necklace was special. "Whisper your most precious wishes into it, and the stone will keep them safe until you're ready to make them come true." It had been a sweet lullaby for a precocious little girl who didn't like bedtime, but now Dio wasn't sure.

Had her mother been preparing her for something special? Certainly her silly necklace couldn't be the key to reversing all that had gone so very wrong? ... Could it?

Without arguing the point aloud, Dio knew. She now felt armed against whatever waited for them in the depths of the faerie forest with this – her most secret weapon.

She tucked the pendant back under her shirt. Leaving the fluffy yellow pillow on the forest floor, she gave Roddern a coy smile and began walking again, her barefeet smacking the dirt and her mind set on the task ahead.


Continue the story thread on Jamie Ayers blog.

Want to start from the beginning? Here's Deana Barnhart's list of blogs and assignments – and you can skip formalities and start reading at this chain's first link: Zero At Heart

(PS – Sorry I made this so long. It kinda just took off on me.)

(PPS – I'm on Twitter if you are. @KnitOneWriteToo)