Sorry this week’s snippet is so late, but at least it’s here! This is after Cynthia gets back from saving the girl at the Winchester Mystery House. Previous snippets are over on Blogger…
This material is copyrighted, buggy, and generally not final draft material. Please do not reproduce it, etc. etc. etc. You know the drill.
“Didn’t you go to the Winchester Mystery House today, Cynthia?” my dad asked without looking up.
“Yes.”
“Out to save the world again?”
“Well, yes. But not on purpose!” It was an old discussion, one that I’m told happens in most families where a Watcher is born to Mundane. Dad couldn’t understand the hunches that drew me to trouble spots, didn’t understand why both of his children ended up a part of this secret magical enforcement group instead of in the artistic or intellectual communities our teachers had predicted. Neither of us knew how to explain it. “I just decided to go, and then…”
“…and then she said she heard singing coming from the window, and she got there just in time to save the little girl!” Melissa the tour guide was on the TV now, gushing about the rescue. She seemed more excited about it this time around than she had been when it actually happened. The attention she was getting from the cute reporter didn’t hurt, I’m sure. I found myself sincerely hoping that when my fifteen minutes of fame came around I would have better things to do with it than prattle on about some stranger. “I thought is was just the resident ghosts leading a guest to the girl, but maybe—” her eyes widened as she paused for breath “—it was a ghost that pulled the kid away from danger! In the lobby, when she turned around to show her mom who reused her, there was no one there!”
I let out a quick nervous laugh, which my parents echoed. Even my dad understood the humor in this.
“Well, it looks like you lucked out! No police at the door, asking for statements, no lawsuits about how you might have sprained that girl’s arm,” he said, once he got his laughter under control. “Now they think you’re a ghost!”
Filed under: Friday Snippet
I like the Watcher concept a lot. Looking forward to more!
I like the Watchers too. One nit to pick, the third paragraph from the bottom, you’ve got her saying “when she turned around to show her mom who reused her…”
LOL! I liked her Dad’s response. Calm, just the right touch of humor.
WordPress had some major problems Saturday. I tried to leave a comment, but apparently it didn’t take.
Anyway, my comment was that I liked the calm, understated way the dad handled everything.
It took, Cheryl. I just wasn’t around to moderate it.
(The settings should allow you to comment without moderation once you have an approved comment, so I’m hoping that this won’t be a problem again.)
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