Today’s #1lineWed theme is SOUNDS. And as always, I’m cheating by posting a snippet. Since I’m not really working on a project currently–I’m still deciding what comes next–I went back and pulled this snippet from my files. It will appear in a future Penumbra book. Promise. In the meantime, enjoy some vintage Sade and a touch of sexy dragon goodness.

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Ghouls. He was kidding, right? “There hasn’t been a ghoul infestation since 1915.”

“There’s blood everywhere.” The cop dug his toe into the wet mulch of leaves.

Sade swept the cemetery with a practiced eye. Something had rampaged through the grounds, toppling gravestones and digging up coffins. “Ghouls.” Saying it aloud didn’t ease the nausea offering up the chili dog she’d wolfed down in sacrifice to the Gods of Gross. “Hell.”

The cop glanced toward the storm clouds on the western horizon. Sundown wasn’t far away, and darkness was helped along by the distant rumble of thunder. “It will be if we don’t get outta here.”

Sade trudged to her government-issued sedan and yanked out a state-of-art flamethrower. “Yeah, you’d better hit the road. Me? It’s time to barbecue.”

Moans swirled around her riding a cold, autumn wind strong enough to kick up the wet leaves underfoot. The cop took off like he’d been shot from a carnival cannon. Flamethrower ready, she waited. Sade heard them first. Shuffling, growls, high-pitched screams. Then the stench hit. And that chili dog made a bid for freedom.

She swallowed bile, squeezed the trigger, and the night lit up with a hissing whoosh. “Where the hell is that freaking dragon when I need him?” she groused.

Flames erupted from the sky. Ghouls blazed like marshmallows over a campfire. A silver blur the size of a Ryder truck landed beside her and morphed into a handsome man.

“Took you long enough.”

Nikos Constantine, Drakon of the Kholkikos dragons, watched the burning husks, popping and sizzling like fat dripping on green wood, then offered a charming smile. “I brought marshmallows. Along with chocolate and graham crackers.”
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I’ve finally learned to put smells and tactile “feels” into my writing. I really need to work on layering in sounds, too. What about y’all? Any words to add?