Progress! New words! Edits and tightening of old words! Woot! I’ll admit, today’s gave me a nice nudge last week, and because they were so varied, it made for a slightly weird but fun snippet to share today. From #1LineWed, we have the word **YOUTH.** From #ThursdayThreads, we have this delightly little question, **”Did you miss me?”** Once again, the snippet is pretty self-explanatory and I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler.
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The clearing was small but the trees surrounded it were ragged and spaced apart rather than the dense forest they’d been traversing. Meg wondered if there’d been an avalanche or perhaps an old rock fall that caused it. She startled as three heads all came up in unison—Kin, Loch, and Moshe. Uri quickly followed suit. The three men and the dog stared up the mountain, which was still enshrouded with thick clouds.

Duke came to join them. “Plane or helo?”

“Helo,” they said in unison.

Everyone stood up now, their attention focused the same direction. Meg began edging the children back in preparation to run.

The clouds swirled, broke apart, and a Russian helicopter appeared as if by magic. It circled, then it rotated, hovering about 200 feet above the ground. Duke motioned everyone back to the tree line as Dalton and Tank moved to opposite sides of the clearing. Duke stood facing the craft. It slowly descended and with a rush of wind created by the rotors, it squatted in the center of the space. Nobody moved until a hatch opened along the side of the helo.

A man with dark hair popped out. He removed his aviator-style sunglasses and grinned. “Did you miss me?”

The men all groaned but began to grab packs and gear. Meg motioned the kids toward the hatch. She remembered the cocky pilot from his brief stay at the abandoned barn. Too bad he reminded her too much of Tom Cruise.

As she walked up, Dom winked at her. “Pretty sure you did, darlin’.”

A soft growl at her back had her slowly turning around. Kin stood far too close, glaring at the hotshot. “Sometimes the folly of youth is enough to make an old man weep,” Kin muttered.

Meg stared at him, eyes wide. “Did you just quote ‘Lord of the Rings’?”

He looked shifty-eyed. “Maybe.”

She hid both her snort of amusement and her delighted grin. He’d read “Lord of the Rings.” And obviously knew it well enough to pull that quote out of the air. She felt eyes on her and she glanced back. Dom’s gaze danced between her and skittered away from Kin’s glare.

“Well, damn. Too late again,” Dom groused. He held up his hands in an “I surrender” gesture. “I’m done.” Raising his voice, he called, “Head ’em up and move ’em out, cowboys. We got weather moving in.”
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There you have it. I hope you enjoyed it. Writers, you know the drill: pick and choose or combine. Ready, set, go! Readers, do you miss your youth? 😉