Another windy Wednesday. And cold. What is up with Mother nature?!?! It was 81 yesterday and at the moment, our wind chill is 32. Brrrr 🥶
Still I have good news! I won! Thursday Threads, not the lottery but hey, somebody liked what I wrote. I have to admit, I rather like the words in this snippet too. Our prompt this week is: *He watched their faces.* *hums the Twilight Zone theme* That’s the creepiest music I can “action” and everybody know the exact sound. Anyway. And again, no real context. I’m not there yet.
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Shadows. Insubstantial as gossamer wings and not nearly so user friendly. They haunted. And hunted. The unwary, the profane, the innocent, and not-so-innocent all fell prey to them. They lurked, hunting in pairs, ready to pounce when chance provided them with a victim. Like the disenchanted urchins swarming around old Fagin, the Shadows plagued humans and Sidhe alike.
Ariel knew his job. For whatever reason, this woman had blipped on the King’s and Queen’s radar. When Oberon and Titania said jump, he didn’t pause to ask how high. She always walked home this way, at the end of her work day. He’d spent several nights watching, finding her rhythm. She wasn’t beautiful, at least not in the fairy tale princess sense. And she was human.
Movement in the gathering dusk jerked his attention from inward thoughts to defensive strategy. They were there. Across the street. Two Shadows. Waiting. Watching. For her. He watched their faces, noted the hunger and the cruelty.
What made her so special? He intended to find out. The Shadows stirred, their sharp faces turning to the west, noses high like blood hounds shifting the scent of their prey from the breeze. Ari heard laughter carried on that same breeze—hers—and the muscles in his gut clenched, even as something else tightened in anticipation. She swung into view, turning the corner as she all but skipped down the sidewalk, spreading her smile like sunshine and rainbows. That’s when he knew; that’s when it all made sense.
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There you have it. The plot is thickening and there are some twists that have occurred to me. In the meantime, writers, steal the prompt if it inspires you to dash off a little word sprint. Readers, do you people watch when you are out and about?
Silver James 
That’s really good. No wonder you won. I’m beginning understand Ariel, or so I think 😉.
No, I don’t usually watch. I’m focused on what I have to do so I can get home. Before, seems like a million years ago, I watched.
Have a great afternoon.
Glad you liked it. Ari is deeper than he’s let on in previous books. 😉 I don’t people watch as much as I used to because I don’t really get out that much these days. I sometimes miss the days when I’d go hang out at Panera or Starbucks to write. Then again, I don’t have to people now. LOLOL
Hope your week is going well.
hmmm sounds good…
yes people watch…see what is not moving correctly when they walk…where they r going etc…started back in PT school.
wind coming here with pollen!
With all the wind shifts, we’ve gotten Kansas and then Texas sharing all their pollen with what we produce on our own. I’m never out of arm’s reach of a tissue box. Thanks on the words and yeah, it’s ingrained in you to look for those things. Good on you for doing it.