It’s a new week and that should mean a new words in a snippet except…

Yikes. Two weeks in a row now. First, I judged Thursday Threads then last week, the writer hosting the challenge was out of town. Tomorrow, there will be a new prompt. In the meantime, I went back through my notes. I likely posted this one before but it was written long before I started officially writing Ariel’s book. Here’s the prompt: *”There is no rhyme or reason.”* I will only say that this is a dream.

****
He awoke under an ancient sweet gum tree. For a heart-stopping moment, he searched with all his senses. Where was he? Keeping time with his now pounding heart, toe-tapping music sprinted through the fog-drenched forest. A fiddle, mandolin, and guitar led the way for the country-tinged voice of a young male. He stopped to listen, catching the words. Ah, he thought A traveling song about a fox. Cheeky creatures, foxes.

The music faded into the distance. He waited, as still as the air surrounding him. No more notes to enliven his environs, or to give him a clue as to his whereabouts. A dilemma to be sure, and it would be of infinite benefit if he could remember precisely who he was.

The brush of fabric against leaves caught his attention. He faded closer to the sweet gum at his side. A sprite darted along a mostly invisible path winding through the trees. His nostrils flared. No, not sprite. Human. A human girl. This made no sense. There was no rhyme or reason for a human to be in the enchanted forest. Wait. How did he know this place was charmed?

Remaining hidden, he studied the girl. Thin, ungainly legs like a new colt stretched from beneath red and blue plaid shorts. A purple T-shirt with a huge sunflower on the front clashed with those shorts. She continuously glanced over her shoulder, as if something pursued her. She put on a burst of speed, flitting along the game trail and he saw it then, the dark shadow hunting along her trail. She hesitated as she saw him, eyes widening in fear. He held his finger to his lips, motioning her to go. He would deal with the dark. He understood his purpose now. And he remembered who he was, Ariel. The Fae King’s Seducer.
****

There is it. There is no rhyme nor reason for it. Or is there? Only the Shadow knows. And maybe Ariel. Or he will. Eventually. Writers, if you are inspired, write away. Readers, what’s your reason for rhyming today?

Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s a lame sign off. Gimme a break. I gotta end the post somehow. 😉