Guess what?!? I managed to garner another Honorable Mention in the Thursday Threads fromme last week. I’ll admit I’m a little surprised because I really had to think about the prompt. My inner editor rebelled just a little, wanting the me to be myself. Here’s what I’m talking about: *”I was laughing at me.”*

The only thing I can tell you about this scene is that the “Scoobie Gang,” or at least a large portion of them, have gathered in Rochester–NY not MN–to figure out what’s up with Ariel.

****
Stumped, Sade stared at Caleb. Nope. No insight there. She shifted her gaze to Sinjen. They were hunting things that only came out to play at night. Could these creatures be some variety of vampire? Except there were no visible marks on the victims. No signs of violence. No trauma. Lost in thought, she missed the exchange of glances.

A master vampire, Sinjen could be considered the King of Night Play. She capitalized that in her head and yes, her brain went there. She chuckled because it occurred to her that if it wasn’t for the gutter, her mind would have no place to go.

A noise sounding very much like ahem refocused her thoughts even as the old-fashioned attention-getter made her laugh. Jeez but she needed sleep.

“You gonna let us in on the joke?” Caleb wasn’t amused.

She curled her lips between her teeth though her shoulders still shook. Finally able to speak, she said, “No joke. I was laughing at me.”

“You aren’t funny.”

Sade gave her best withering look. Neither Sinjen nor Caleb was impressed. “You’re right, Sinjen. I’m not. I’m going on forty-eight hours with no sleep. Coffee has abandoned me. I’m in fu—frickin’ Rochester, New York. Ari’s in trouble and I can’t do a damn thing about it. The only advice you two can give is that I shouldn’t quit my day job to become a comedian.”

“Good to know you’re smarter than you look.”

“Shut up, Caleb.” She didn’t hit him.
****

There you have it. Last week’s judge liked the dialogue and humor. She thought it excellent and that the interplay was clever. *preens a little* It’s the little encouragements that help. I have plans for words today and tomorrow. We shall see what occurs. Writers, use it or lose it. 😉 Readers, who doesn’t like a bit of humor in their books?