Nano - Days 2 & 3

Well I didn't end up writing last night. I ended up sleeping for 14 hours. (Think my body needed it? I do.) But I have an extra hour tonight due to the time change and I am going to take full advantage for writing.

For some reason my snippet last time wasn't visible, so I'm posting it again:

"Trevor shifted his rifle strap to a more comfortable position on his shoulder. His job as a senior member of the Night Watch was great, but it always took a good hour or so of his shift to find a way to carry his gun comfortably. Even when he put the strap in the same exact spot that felt so good the night before. Didn’t matter a bit to him. He loved his job enough that any annoyance was worth it.

The sun finally disappeared completely behind the western horizon. Time to do his rounds. Giving the shoulder strap one last tug, he set off down the dirt path that surrounded the village. Three of the Night Watch were on shift at any given moment during the nighttime hours. Their sole job - to keep their people safe from the predators that abounded in the swamps. Alligators were the most frequently spotted and killed a good number of villagers every year. They did have the occasional panther and large man-eating snakes too, but the gators were the worst.

He’d just reached the halfway point of the path when a noise outside of his torch’s light made him freeze and listen. Foliage rustled against something large coming his way. Trevor yanked his gun strap from his shoulder and rammed the butt of it into the hollow above his armpit. His hands trembled momentarily as he steadied the gun and peered through the sight. Nothing would get past him to harm his village. His index finger caressed the trigger. The rustling noise grew louder as the creature approached. He could hear footsteps now. Rapid footsteps coming  straight for him, if the sound was anything to judge by.

No longer caressing, his finger began to tighten on the trigger. The bushes and reeds parted revealing...

Trevor whipped the gun up to point to the sky and released the trigger. Panting with adrenaline overload so fiercely his chest began to hurt, he stared at the two girls who’d burst through the bushes and halted in terror right in front of him.

“Kendra! Serena! What are you doing outside the village boundaries at this time of night? You both know better.” Horror that he’d almost shot these two young females and anger at their misbehavior lent a loud, gruff quality to his voice. He saw them wince, but continued. “Well? Answer me, damn it! What were you doing beyond the village boundaries after dark?”

Made It Through Day One Alive

I made it through the first day of Nano. Since I'm only aiming for 500 words a day, I can say I surpassed my goal yesterday - 1194 words. And yes I am happy about it, but I've also done Nano for enough years to know that this first week is pretty easy-peasy when it comes to knocking out the word count. It goes downhill from there as frustration and life block the words.

Yeah, I think my self-description for the day is pessimistic.

Anyway... Here's a snippet from what I wrote yesterday. Enjoy and I'll see you tomorrow.

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Trevor shifted his rifle strap to a more comfortable position on his shoulder. His job as a senior member of the Night Watch was great, but it always took a good hour or so of his shift to find a way to carry his gun comfortably. Even when he put the strap in the same exact spot that felt so good the night before. Didn’t matter a bit to him. He loved his job enough that any annoyance was worth it.

The sun finally disappeared completely behind the western horizon. Time to do his rounds. Giving the shoulder strap one last tug, he set off down the dirt path that surrounded the village. Three of the Night Watch were on shift at any given moment during the nighttime hours. Their sole job - to keep their people safe from the predators that abounded in the swamps. Alligators were the most frequently spotted and killed a good number of villagers every year. They did have the occasional panther and large man-eating snakes too, but the gators were the worst.

He’d just reached the halfway point of the path when a noise outside of his torch’s light made him freeze and listen. Foliage rustled against something large coming his way. Trevor yanked his gun strap from his shoulder and rammed the butt of it into the hollow above his armpit. His hands trembled momentarily as he steadied the gun and peered through the sight. Nothing would get past him to harm his village. His index finger caressed the trigger. The rustling noise grew louder as the creature approached. He could hear footsteps now. Rapid footsteps coming straight for him, if the sound was anything to judge by.

No longer caressing, his finger began to tighten on the trigger. The bushes and reeds parted revealing...

Trevor whipped the gun up to point to the sky and released the trigger. Panting with adrenaline overload so fiercely his chest began to hurt, he stared at the two girls who’d burst through the bushes and halted in terror right in front of him.

“Kendra! Serena! What are you doing outside the village boundaries at this time of night? You both know better.” Horror that he’d almost shot these two young females and anger at their misbehavior lent a loud, gruff quality to his voice. He saw them wince, but continued. “Well? Answer me, damn it! What were you doing beyond the village boundaries after dark?”