Poetry for poetry's sake

MOONLIGHT

Your soft whispers

are the waves’ voice

spraying on the rocks.

The sparkle in your eyes

is silver moonlight

on the sea.

Your chest

to which I press my cheek,

is summer sand-

and

your love

is found on the salty breeze.

Far gone…

We kissed goodbye,

but never touched,

I reached out a hand

and grasped only mist.

Cross post: Thursday writing prompt

OMG After last week, and the sudden rash of edits I've brought on myself, I'm feeling pretty tapped out. Do you ever get like that? You know our brain is there, because your body is functioning, you're thinking about stuff, but no matter how much poking, prodding, or pleading it doesn't brings about anything useful.

This happened right in the middle of me deciding Screw it, I'm going to write what I want. I had one of those moments at the inception of BROKEN. I was having it again, and it was glorious! I had files open for research, for character names, quotes I liked... *sigh*

Then reality came crashing in. And then I got up this morning and realized today's my day on the Oasis. So... with my brain kinda scrambled, I'm taking the coward's way out and giving y'all a writing prompt, and my take on it.

 

If y'all want to play, please play nicely. Constructive comments to help each other out!

My take:

Dust whisks up with each hesitant step. Dry, raspy whispers drift through the room, loosed by paint peeling from the ceiling. Even with the pitted walls, broken furniture and window panes, it's beautiful. Memories hidden in my blood rise, images of this place in its height of glamor. My heart clenches, fingers drift down to feel the silk of the gown I am not wearing in this life. The moments are so similar--except for decades in between. Then, and now, I wait for Aidan to appear.

He did. I know he will. Hunters never fail. 

God. I never thought, at the beginning of the school year, that I would end up here, so many memories unlocked, with Aidan chasing me, trying to save me from the inevitable.

I thread on creaking floors past the toppled piano, to the hole in the plaster, led by the knowing that sings in my soul. Anticipation rushes through me, a heady mix with the adrenaline of the chase, of knowing Aidan is bound by oath and by blood to stop me, or end my life. The small hole in my jeans rips when I bend down, and red falls to muddy the dust. The box is here, as I knew it would be, the rosewood gleaming through a fine silty layer.

I ache to have that life back, to be what I once was. It only takes opening that box, and using the vial inside.

A crash echoes through the theater, and Aidan's presence races my nerves.

It's now or never. So why am I hesitating?

BROKEN ARC contests & TEASER TUESDAY

I don't think I will ever tire of posting that picture. *sigh* It's just so PERFECT. Trust me, when y'all read it, you will get to a certain point and TOTALLY GET IT ^_^

But, this is more of an update post than a 'Lookit me I have a pretty' post. With the cover revel last week, some mighty fine bloggers launched contests to win ARCs of BROKEN. Are you interested? Want your mitts on a hot-off-the-press copy before most everyone else? Here's a list of the lovely bloggers hosting:

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
WRITING FROM THE TUB
MY BOOK JOURNEY
CHAPTER BY CHAPTER
I LIKE THESE BOOKS
POISONED RATIONALITY
MOONLIGHT BOOK REVIEWS

But hurry some of them end soon!

And because this is fast becoming a semi regular feature on the blog, here's our TEASER TUESDAY snippet frm BROKEN:

The drab gray walls are even more morose with Alex walking away from them. I don’t look at my parents as I follow him to the front door. When he pauses, the rest of the house could fall away into black, the world with it. Alex fills my vision, the resigned expression from dealing with my uptight mother melting into the expression just after the amazement I see every morning. One part tender, one part joy, all of it mine. He laces his fingers in mine, and pulls me closer. Then closer still. Kissing distance. With a motion of his chin he tucks my head to his shoulder and slides both arms around me.

I melt into him, breathing in the warmth of his skin. I can taste the smell of leather and Alex on my tongue. If he kissed me now, I wouldn’t mind. One arm loosens, then he slides his hand up my sleeve, across my shoulder to my chin. With gentle pressure, Alex guides my face toward his.

The look on his face is more intimate than any kiss.

“Have sweet dreams tonight, Emma.”

New post on Old Things

Edits are done with BROKEN, at least the first round. I'm hesitant to jump into my SecretBook until I know what's going on with further edits. The voices are so different, and I don't want to muddle things, so I opened up my favorite YA and started reading yesterday.

Is it sad to admit I got sucked in? I mean, I wrote it, I know what happens. The tension is high from the start, pace is a tight. It's a darker, more vicious world than BROKEN. To compare the two is like comparing apples to oranges. Sucked. Back. In. *sigh*

Chapter One

I bounce my gaze from the red Xs on my calendar, to the scuff mark on my white bedroom door, to the person walking along the shoreline outside. No amount of shuffling around my room puts me ahead of the pain I’ve been trying to outrun. My walls swim, the wood floor rocks. For one brief second I think about yelling for my dad, but I know there’s no help coming from him. He says this misery is all in my head. Well, I wish someone would tell the beast trying to claw its way out of me that it’s just a figment of my imagination.

My knuckles whiten in my grip on the window sill. Sick gurgles rise from my stomach, tight and rolling, threatening to throw back the burger and fries from dinner.

Outside, moonlight halos a guy standing on the beach, face tipped to my window like he can smell my agony. His eyes are feverish bright and boring into me. Go AWAY! I want to scream, but nothing’s coming through my locked jaws. I glare across the yards of beach sand, willing him to leave, but his eyes only open wider and he hunches suddenly like he’s hurting too.

Freak, I think and drop the mini-blinds.

Heat slashes across my body, burning under my skin and ripping free visions of being peeled from the inside. Muscle spasms tug on joints feeling like puzzle pieces in the wrong places. I suck in a rattling breath and stare in horror as my fingers convulse and curl. The lunar misery drives me to my knees, and I sink as the floor pitches and sways in my vision.

This pain eclipses what I’ve suffered before. Unbearable, like bombs going off in my chest and skull.

Daddy, I cry silently, Daddy help!

Somewhere downstairs Dad jacks the TV volume to drown out my moans.

Nerves on fire, every breath searing my lungs, I claw at my curtains for fresh air and snag the cord on the blinds. They rocket up into the housing, then rip from the window and clatter to the floor. My vision tunnels to the source of my personal hell. Hanging fat and full in the autumn night sky outside my window, the moon watches me slide toward a black out. Just before I lose consciousness a wolf’s howl shatters the night.

BROKEN's COVER REVEAL

Isn't it gorgeous??

This is almost perfectly ripped right from a scene in the book. Emma, her dress, the cemetery... I know it wasn't planned that way, but it couldn't be more perfect. It's like the artist  Steven Wood reached into my brain and plucked it out for y'all to see. Eerie, and beautiful! And look at that title!! I friggin love how the artist worked into the cemetery gate! LOVE IT *happy sigh*

And the blurb by Trinity? *dies of the happy*

"Hauntingly beautiful, achingly romantic, and edge-of-your-seat scary..." 

TRINITY FAEGEN, 

author of The Memphisto Covenant Series

There's tons going on today, too.

On top of the cover reveal, we're revealing the first chapter! That's right. I've been teasing y'all with little snippets. Well, today you can read the entire first chapter in a fun and interactive way. Interested in reading?? Start at Trinity Faegen's BLOG, and follow the links!

Interested in possibly getting your hands on a ARC when they're available? There's a chance to win one at these different review blogs!
Down the Rabbit Hole
Moonlight Reviews
Writing from the Tub
Daisy Chain Book Reviews
My Book Journey
YA Reading Group @ Bluewater Waterstone's
Chapter by Chapter
I Like these Books
Poisoned Rationality

Many, many huge thanks go to my editor, Strange Chemistry and Angry Robot, Steven Wood, and all the blogs participating in the reveal today. I'm honored and blessed and humbled by their show of support.

You can add BROKEN to your Goodreads lists HERE
You can preorder BROKEN on Amazon HERE
You can also preorder BROKEN on Barnes and Noble HERE

TEASER TUESDAY: BROKEN "Villainous things"

Well, I am in edits, and having fun remembering the tingly chemistry between Alex and Emma. Scenes pop up and I think, "Aww, I remember this one!" Seeing as I just hit this little tidbit, one of my favorites, I figured I would share it with y'all...

“You’re not,” I stress, “required to open my locker for me, y’know.”

He pauses, cold light hitting the planes of his face. “You’re right. I’m not. But I feel like I should be.”

“Helping a damsel in distress?” I tease.

“Don’t talk like that!” His smile turns devilish, and he winks. “It makes me think about your dress and…” he leans whisper-close and says in a husky voice, “villainous things.”

TEASER TUESDAY: BROKEN lunchroom snippet

Credit for the photo

 Seeing as I'm editing, and just hit this scene, I thought it would be fun to share. This gives you a good feeling for Emma and her friends at Shelley High...

Unedited excerpt from BROKEN:

“Wassup, Em?” asks Bree’s friend Jason Weller, pretty in a not-interesting way, and normally the leading male role in any Shelley High theater production. “You going to the dance this weekend? I hear Bree has some kickass costumes picked out for you guys.”

“I don’t know.” I turn it around on him. “What’s she dressing you as?”

“Oh…” His smile is perfectly practiced when he feigns interest in buffing his nails on his sleeve. “We have a theme this year. It will be ah-mazing.”

With Jason, everything good is “ah-mazing.” And for a straight guy, he has damn good taste. Well, not in girlfriends. When it comes to girls, his taste is somewhere between airhead and bitch. But I don’t judge...

TEASER TUESDAY: BROKEN but sassy

Emma's heart might be broken in the beginning, her soul may have been gouged by loss, but it didn't affect her whit or her sharp tongue when a snappy comeback is in order...

Unedited excerpt from BROKEN releasing in January from Strange Chemistry:

Catching sight of Bree, all in blues and pinks, I hustle to cross the street. Brakes squeal, and Josh Mason lays on the horn when his crappy Z-28 nearly sideswipes me. He shoves his head out the window and yells something less than nice about me being in my “proper spot on the curb.” Breaths are sucked in up and down the block, and all eyes turn toward me. With a half-smirk, I rail him with a comeback about his car and his orifices. Slinging insults is better than wasting my coffee on his windshield.

MANIC MONDAY

Holy crap! Our son's graduation, our anniversary, three grad parties, and our daughter's birthday all since the last week of May. *whew* I've never made that many trifles in my life O_O
In the midst of the life craziness, we finally settled on my net book for Strange Chemistry. I'm not at liberty to say what it is yet, but that picture up there does have some elements of the concept behind it...
I know, I know... Teaser.
Yes... Yes I am.

THE 7 TAG

Thanks to author Jenny Phillips, a Facebook friend, I've been tagged by the 7 tag, again. As  reminder, here's the rules:

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
Go to line 7
Post on your blog or Facebook page the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are – no cheating
Tag 7 other authors to do the same

 And here's my bit, from my YA dytopian:

“Have to be,” I pant, wishing for water to slake the thirst burning my throat. “Lived a life on the run.”

Moonlight slides over his dark blond hair when he stands and scopes the empty business. Glass shards stand like crystal teeth in the open maw of the blown-out window. A heap of metal and wood squats beneath a sign in the back corner claiming Jukebox. Near the side wall runs a long wooden counter, lined in front by pitted brass barstools. Ironically, that side wall is pristine, lined with cut-crystal goblets and dusty alcohol bottles.

I leave Aaron at the window, watching the area for sings of our pursuers.

Y'all already know that I refuse to tag anyone, so scamper off and play, darlings!

TEASER TUESDAY: BROKEN, first sighting

 Who wants a never before seen sneak peek at my modern retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? You?? Awesome! Then read on my lovelies, read on...

(unedited excerpt from BROKEN releasing January 8th, 2013)

 “Hellooo?” Bree’s face is suddenly inches from mine. Her ice blue eyeshadow glinting in the sunlight. “Earth to Emma.”

“Sorry,” I mutter, and sip my coffee, “Guess I was spacing out.”

“Guess? There’s no guess about it.”

“Okay, okay.” I drop to my knees, coffee cup raised, other hand wrapped around it like I’m praying. From this position, I’m suddenly aware how short her skirt is and what an awkward position I put myself in. “Forgive me, oh Bree, for I have sinned!”

“Ha!” she snorts, cheeks blushing scarlet when she hooks her hand in my elbow and hoists me to my feet. “Get up before the new guy sees you down there and gets the wrong impression.”

“New guy?” A shard of the reflection I’d seen earlier stabs in the dark behind my eyes.

“Yeah.” She wraps her hand in mine and drags me toward the wheelchair ramp leading to the side door. Once in the fractured shade of the maple tree, she points along the sidewalk, halfway down the gym complex. “Mr. You Don’t See Me with his hood up.” She leans around me, does a little wiggle meant to hike her skirt higher hands-free. “And I wanna see what he’s hiding under there.”

I follow where she’s pointing. Coming toward us walks the 3-D version of the reflection I’d seen. His entire look seems crafted to draw, and shun attention. His clothes are definitely designer, but with the hood up and shoulders hunched he appears to not want the attention the girls at Shelley High are going to give him. His head tips up just enough to catch a glint of his eyes. The world narrows, everything falls away, cleaved from existence the moment he meets my eyes.

Then his gaze falls. Life crashes back in with the force of a million vicious whispers.

Rumors whisk in front of him, brittle as fall leaves, darker than crows in a murder.

BLURBS FOR BROKEN

I have been blessed with treasured author friends reading and blurbing BROKEN for me. J.A. Souders, a fellow Oasis for ya blogger. Justina Ireland, fellow YALITCHAT member. And Elana Johnson, all-around fabulous author and activist in the writing community.

“Darkly romantic, Broken is an intense, beautiful, and intricate story of love that knows no bounds. Even death can’t stop it.”
– J.A. Souders, author of RENEGADE, Fall 2012 from Tor Teen

“Brilliantly dark, creepy and atmospheric, Broken is a love story that will hold you captivated until the stunning conclusion.”
– Justina Ireland, author of Vengeance Bound

“BROKEN contains all the mystery and romance I love in a YA novel. A delicious and haunting read.”
– Elana Johnson, author of Possession

Then, this morning, I woke up to a beauty of a blurb in my inbox from Trinity Faegen. TRINITY FAEGEN, y'all! You might know her The Mephisto Covenant series with Egmont... Gorgeous covers, gorgeous writing, too!

"Hauntingly beautiful, achingly romantic, and edge-of-your-seat scary, Broken will keep you up way past your bedtime. I loved this book!" 
~ Trinity Faegen, author of The Mephisto Covenant series

Aren't they beautiful? *wipes eyes* I want to print them out and snuggle them. 

MINUTE MONDAY: WIP teaser

How's about a teensy teaser of my Work-In-Progress??

Liz's mouth hangs open in a little 'o' of shock. Her eyes are wide, deep blue pools of panic. Everything about her expression shouts imminent shut down and I can't do this alone.
"Liz," I say, and tug on her hand.
No response, except breath hitching in her throat.
"Liz, come on." I run my fingertips up her cheek and into her hair. She meets my gaze, fear leaking off her in waves. "I need you to think."
A minute shake of her head, her hand flutters to her throat, her glance darts from riveted metal to the floor beneath us.
I can't stand to see her like this. She's been so vibrant, so alive--to see her retreating somewhere I can't follow hurts in places I shouldn't feel pain yet. I feel like I'm fighting for breath, too. Desperate to get my girl back, I crush my lips to hers, kiss her hard and breathe for us both.

Flashback Friday

Remember this one? *wistful sigh* I do...

DRENCHED
Fringe meets True Blood, but with Weres taking a leading role.


Anything-but-typical teen Avery Frost experiences body-torquing pain with every full moon. Her geneticist father insists it's all in her mind, and keeps her locked away at home when the moon is full. Avery knows he's hiding something, from her and from himself.


It's been four years since the Nightbreeds outted themselves, creating an uneasy 'separate but equal' society. Avery fears her agony is an indication she's the next one who'll shift and be hauled off and locked away at the all-werewolf Fulsom Alternative Academy. But every cycle only brings more intense, mind-shattering, life-draining suffering.


When werewolf Prime Thorn Mitchell catches Avery's scent, he knows she's Wolf, alright, but there's something off, something not quite right. His job is to reveal her for what she is, force her to enter Fulsom and accept her breed. The revelation creates utter chaos and misery. Avery's father is kidnapped for the work he's been doing, work that will reveal the lies he's told her her entire life about who she is. What she is. She is the pinnacle of a scientific experiment that will bring the Nightbreed packs to war. An assassin stalks the halls of Fulsom Academy, assigned with making certain Avery, and the threat she represents, is eliminated.


As a broken Wolf unable to shift, with secrets lurking in her genetic makeup that could either save her life or kill her, Avery turns to the boy who destroyed what was passing for her 'normal' life. Together, they try to find her kidnapped father and assemble the missing pieces of the mystery of her birth to allow her to shift into what she is to become, or die.

Represented by Gina Panettieri

Another crazy week!

Credit for photo: http://lozerface.deviantart.com/

Well, last week was busy, and this one has been, too. The first two days were spent at my Oasis sister Sheri Larsen's blog. Monday was an interview that you can read HERE. Tuesday was a contest that you can see, and still enter HERE until April 17th. Rules are you have to share, either in blog comment or an email to Sheri, a 250 word piece about a time you, or a character, was broken. First prize is a critique by me of your first five pages, query letter, or synopsis, plus a book tote sewn by me. Second prize is a copy of BROKEN after its release, or your choice of a book from The Book Depository.

Writing wise, I've been clawing up a summary, and then synopsis for the new WIP. Pictures of inspiration for this book can be seen HERE. Do me a favor, go and look, then come back and tell me what you think the book is about! The synopsis has been submitted to my fantabulous editor Amanda Rutter at Strange Chemistry, so yep, you guessed it, I'm compulsively checking my email inbox, even though I know it's a holiday weekend.

In other news, Strange Chemistry welcomed two new authors to the fold this week, Laura Lam and her book PANTOMIME, and Julianna Scott and her first book in her Holder series. You can check out the blurby and authory goodness HERE.

BUSY BUSY!

 

This isn't mine, and isn't the cover, 

but I pinned it to BROKEN's Pinterest board for a reason...

Well, I never thought when we announced BROKEN's sale that we would get interest in it right away. A book blogger contacted Angry Robot, Strange Chemistry's parent company and requested a guest post, I think, the day after the announcement. My editor and I collaborated and did the post for Jessica of Allways Unmended. You can read that post HERE.

And two friends, betas and bloggers, both opened up their blogs for interviews with me. One went up this week on Wednesday, the other goes up next Tuesday. You can read Wednesday's interview with JL Spelbring, author of the upcoming Spencer Hill Press's release PERFECTION on JL's blog HERE. JL and I had a blast with the interview. If you're curious about Emma and Alex of BROKEN, go read that interview for my thoughts on them!

The other interview, and a contest will go up on Sheri Larsen's BLOG next week Tuesday and Wednesday.

I started a Pinterest board for BROKEN. To see it, go HERE. Lots of dark, creepy, dreamy images with hints about the story and characters. You know you wanna check it out... BROKEN also have a Goodreads page. I think I fainted a little when I stumbled across that already! Feel free to check it out and add it to your TBR lists ^_^

And, I've been talking with a jewelry artist about making custom pendants and bracelets with my favorite line from the book. I will have more news on that later.

And...there's something I can' say anything about. I ran around the house with my hair on fire for a little while...

WHEW! I'm going to go collapse now.

(un)LUCKY SEVEN: A peek at BROKEN

I've been tagged by Kate Avelyn with the Lucky Seven. I'll be a good sport and play along.

The Rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences, and post them as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other victims …er, authors.

Seeing as my current WIP isn't to 77 pages yet, I'm going with BROKEN. Hopefully, my editor won't spank me too bad for for posting these. I mean, everybody's dying for a peek at this baby, right? Well... Here ya go!
 

Alex’s shirt slides over me with a whisper of cotton, the smell of leather and death.

His front door is open, and he’s covering his scars and skin with another long sleeved-shirt. “I’ll take you to the clinic so you can get another brace, then I’ll take care of the deer,” he says.

“Okay,” sounds limp in light of what’s happened but it’s all I can force out.

His seats are covered with sheepskin seat covers. I hesitate a moment, clutching my right hand to my chest.

“Don’t worry,” Alex promises. “They’re washable.”

As for tagging people...Nope. I don't do that. Fly and be free my minions!

New WIP hint

Curious where my mind has been going since the book sale?? Not the announcement, but the SALE?
Well, Like BROKEN, which I played very close to the vest, I won't say much about this one either. I will tell you it is the most complicated, research-heavy concept I have ever dared to bat around. I've contacted two different experts in the separate fields, even. And below is a picture hint, but even if you guess it, you'll still be missing the most of it.

I SOLD MY BOOK!!!!!!

Oh yeah, peoples. *buttdance in the typing chair* We've been sitting on this news for a little while now, but I finally get to share!! And the press release says it so prettily:

Strange Chemistry, the YA imprint of Angry Robot Books, is delighted to announce the signing of another wonderful author. A. E. Rought has been signed to Strange Chemistry in a two book deal with worldwide English rights negotiated between Amanda Rutter and Gina Panettieri, of the Talcott Notch Literary Agency.
The first of these two books will be called Broken and will be published by Strange Chemistry in early 2013.

About Broken:
Imagine a modern spin on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein where a young couple's undying love and the grief of a father pushed beyond sanity could spell the destruction of them all. A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry's boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetery and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.
When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she's intrigued despite herself. He's an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely... familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel's.
The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there's something very wrong with Alex Franks. And when Emma stumbles across a grotesque and terrifying menagerie of mangled but living animals within the walls of the Franks' estate, creatures she surely knows must have died from their injuries, she knows.

AE said: “When my agent told me Strange Chemistry was interested, I think I squealed out loud. Angry Robot has an amazing reputation, and to be welcomed into their YA imprint? Bliss. Nerdvana. I'm absolutely thrilled to be with Strange Chemistry and working with Amanda.”

Amanda Rutter says: “As soon as I received the email from Gina detailing the premise of Broken, I knew that I had to read this book. I was thrilled to discover that the writing was just as good as promised and I have no doubt Broken will prove to be a massive hit!”

SQUEE!!!! *deep inhale* SQUEE!!!!! Do the Sold Book Dance with me.

Repost from the Oasis blog: Writing prompt

borrowed from http://fotolympus.deviantart.com/

I'm between WIPs right now, waiting on news, researching to keep my mind busy... And on my ceaseless trolls of the Internet, I found this picture. I love the blues, the streaks in the sky and the way they echo the waves in the foreground, and the mysterious ship. So, I decided to make this week's Whoseywhatsit Thursday, a no more than 250 word writing prompt. If you play along, make sure to hit all the senses. Make us see, smell, hear, heck, maybe even taste what this picture makes you see. I'll take a wild stab at it:

Ship's log, 25th May.
We're stranded here, the shore in the distance, out of reach and mocking me. The salty air sits in my nose, parches my skin. Father had promised so much when he dragged me on board this ship--I know now those promises were hollow. How can he make good on the sunlit beaches, the sweet fresh fruit, the girl he said was waiting, when he's lying on his rack coughing blood? The mutinous crew took everything, even siphoned the fuel and then beat my father, the captain, near to death.
"Thomas," he rasps, a dry rattle knocking around in his chest, "water..."
"Of course, Father." My parched lips crack. Iron tickles my sinuses, red smears my sleeve when I drag it over my chin.
I dip the tin cup into the bucket, scraping the bottom to get the last drops--our last drops. Maybe it will rain tonight, the clouds look ready to weep. My hand shakes, the precious water splashing in the cup, but I won't spill.
A sick smell comes from his mouth, pushed out by a groan when I tilt his head. I touch his chin, let him know the cup is coming. Blood shines in the split skin of his lips when he sucks the water down. Then a wracking spasm of coughs grip him, and the water is lost in the mix of blood and spittle flying to stain his cheeks and bed clothes.
"Leave me," Father commands. He's so weak he can't even roll to the side to spit. How can I leave him? Would I want to die alone? No. I will stay with him these last moments, I vow. Father flails a limp, broken hand at me, his words hardly a whisper when he says, "Leave me."
"I can't, poppa. I can't."
Father eyes sag, matching his sunken cheeks. He has no strength left, still he lifts that shattered hand and places it on my cheek. His skin is cold. White clouds his eyes. "Love you, son."
"Love you, too."
One last breath escapes him, his chest sinks, and outside rain begins to fall.
I wish it would fall in here, and take the place of the tears my body can't produce.