z

Young Writers Society


16+

Chapter 3 to Life after Him

by dawny9791


Warning: This work has been rated 16+.

Disclaimer*** This story will be confusing, it is a mystery - that being said, you should not be confused if you start to read the entire book!

February 2nd, 2009

Picking up the smooth, petite calligraphy pen was the hardest thing that Grace had ever had to do in the seventeen years that she had been alive. But she had too do this. It wasn't just about her anymore, it was about all the people that she had ever known. Tapping her alabaster fingers against the cherry wood of the desk, she closed her eyes, trying to imagine that she was anywhere but there. 

You can do this, her head whispered to her, as she tried to clear her mind. As she tapped her pen to the yellowish paper, the girl looked up, sensing a presence near. Maybe I'm a little too superstitious, she thought as she saw nothing but an empty field, with beautiful willow trees surrounding it. 

Deciding who to write to first was confusing. Get the painful ones' done first, or last? she thought with dread, while trying to not think about the people that she was writing too. For once since she got to that place, Grace was alone. 

"Finally," she mumbled to herself. As much as she loved the company of her old friends - in a sarcastic way, and in an truthful way - she was getting bored of them asking if she was alright or not. Looking out into the shady abyss that they called the woods, Grace glanced at the window leading too a tall tree, where the birds were glistening in the sunlight after cooling down in the bird bath. 

Grinning at the birds, she forgot about the task at hand, and opened the door on her right.  A familiar scent caught her, and she froze as she turned to the opening of the forest. A neigh ruptured ahead of her, as she smelled the musky scent of horses. It was one of the few scents that she had avoided in the passing time. 

Suddenly a horse came cantering up, as he nuzzled his head into her chest. Grace's breath caught in her throat, as she looked at the bay horse. He watched her, his eyes sparkling with mischief. A lopsided grin fell on his face, as she put on a weak smile. Honestly, she never thought that she would see his face again, she thought that the last time they saw each other would be their last goodbye. 

"What are you doing here, love?" She asked him, as he whinnied into her shoulder, where his huge head rested. Grace looked around, waiting for any sign as to why her beloved horse was in her arms. 

She felt warm breathe on her, as he nibbled on her neck. 

"Really, Jackie?" she asked her horse. Jack, or as she liked to call him, Jackie, shoved his head onto her once more, as she clutched onto his mane, fearing that if she were to let go now, he may never come back. 

But that was all gone, as soon as she took a deep breath in, and woke up in her bed. Dreaming about her horse was a weird feeling. Out of all of the things that she could possibly think about, it had to be the one that she missed the most. 

"Grace?" someone called from the other side of her door, as she finally calmed down, wanting to go back to sleep and dream about Jack again. Tugging the sheets out of the way, she opened the door to see Dempsey standing there, with a look of confusion and worry plastered to his features. 

"Yes?" she asked, although with her voice hoarse, it came out more like a croak. Dempsey looked at her confused, but decided not to ask any further questions. It was only a dream, she thought as she looked blankly at Dempsey. 

"There was a letter sent too you, so umm, I came up to give it to you," he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. I must look horrible, she thought as she followed him down the stairs. 

One year earlier

Watching the man out of the corner of her eye, Grace noticed Bates talking to Xavier again. The man had been making sure that they were being broke apart for a few days now, and it was driving Grace crazy as to why he was doing so. Is something going on? she constantly found herself asking. 

"Grace?" someone asked close too her, although she heard it far away, as if she was hearing it from across a room. Her eyes scanned the room, making sure that they were still in the little corner talking. 

"Hmmm?" she asked the person, whom she now recognized as her sister. Grace was clearly distracted, however, Isabel continued talking. 

"Hey, I'll be back," Grace murmured as the boys' moved. I need to get to the bottom of this, she muttered to herself, keeping an eye on them. As she heard their voices get louder, she knew that she needed to stay in place. 

"Bates, if your brother finds out what you have been up to with Grace, you are putting not just your ass in danger, but her's as well. Do you really want both of you to get hurt?" He asked, as Bates rolled his eyes. 

"We're not in danger, Xav, don't be so dramatic." Bates looked calm. Too calm, Grace thought as he leaned against the wall. The boys' had a silent conversation, and just when Xavier finally was about say what he meant, Bates chuckled then called out to her. 

"Gracie, are you bored and looking for company?" Yup, I'm caught, she thought with a sigh as she trudged around the corner too meet them, with a smirk plastered on her lips.


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Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:00 am
ExOmelas wrote a review...



February 2nd is my birthday :)

'what's to come in the following years' - 'what's' should be 'what was' because 'what's' means 'what is' which is in the wrong tense.

'How many lives do I have to destroy before I am finally safe? She thought.' - Renard told me recently that thoughts should be in italics.

'that she was not aloud to fix' - 'aloud' should be 'allowed'.

'Although nearly killed her' - there should be an 'it' between 'Although' and 'nearly'.

'you have to wait until we are ready too bring you home' - 'too' should be 'to'.

'thought about what was the plan for everyone else' - I think this would flow better if it was 'what the plan was' rather than 'what was the plan'. It just sounds as if you're about to ask a question.

'Many memories tugged at her conscious' - 'conscious' should be 'consciousness'.

'Grace had never thought about what the darkness brings' - 'brings' should be 'brought' because of the 'had' at the start of the sentence.

'there is an effect that it had on her' - 'is' should be 'was' for the same reason.

'she thought amused' - there should be a comma between 'thought' and 'amused'.

'wondering if she really was here' - 'here' should probably be 'there'.

'She knew that Isabel was only supposed to tell her when they had made sure that they found all of her journals that were taken in the process of the move' - I think you use 'that' too much in this sentence.

'Remember its only been a few days' - 'its' should be 'it's'.

'twin's' - there shouldn't be an apostrophe here.

'everyone else that has helped you are dead' - I know this sounds plural, but because the 'everyone else' part is sort of parenthetical, it is Bates who is the subject of 'helped'. 'are' should therefore be 'is'.

'he found that she was staring at the same man that she usually does.' - 'does' should be 'did.

'Bates thought that's who she was looking at' - there should be a comma between 'thought' and 'that's'.

'The two glare' - 'glare' should be 'glared'.

'I wonder what she did too Grace' - 'too' should be 'to'.

'Bate's' - his name shouldn't have an apostrophe in it.

'smlell' - I take it I don't have to explain this one ;)


Okay, plot stuff. I thought your characterisation of Grace was excellent, especially since I hadn't read the other chapters - but Bates was even better because I got a great sense of him in an even shorter period of time.
Sometimes your flow isn't great and I tended to stumble over some of your phrasing. I would suggest reading it aloud to yourself and editing it when you get tongue-tied - unless it's on alliteration or something purposefully confusing.

Well done :)




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Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:12 pm
MaryEvans wrote a review...



I noticed two major issues in your text:

“There was too much going on, that she knew that she could not fix, that she was not aloud to fix. Her hair was pulled into a loose bun, it's curls falling out of place.” A bit of an awkward transition. How do you go from “there was too much going on” to “oh by the way her hair was in a bun?” Revise, see how you can transit better between the two ideas.
A similar example is:

“What time is it there, she thought with a sudden urge to call them. Grace didn't want to think about how many weeks it has been since they had last had a decent conversation.”
The way the second sentence begins distances it from the first when it actually continues the idea. You can just go like “how many weeks had it been since their last decent conversation?” and that’s it. It flows from the previous and you go around the repetition of “think.”

And second: You have a few typos and repetitions, have this in mind next time you revise.
So yeah, if you look over the transitions, make sure the text and its meanings flow, and get rid of the small issues like typos and repetitions you will greatly improve the quality of your work. Else I think you had sufficient description and character establishment (though a bit too tell-y and not too show-y at times).





"Do not try to be pretty. You weren't meant to be pretty; you were meant to burn down the earth and graffiti the sky. Don't let anyone ever simplify you to just 'pretty'"
— Suzanne Rivard