Writing a romance.

EN1022: Lesson 8:

Once bitten: Writing a romance.

8B

Her delicate skin was like expensive porcelain. Pale with painted ruby lips...

She had long curling lashes and clear grey eyes that shone and glittered like moonstones. A straight nose and high cheekbones that had the faintest blush of colour. Waves of dark hair rippled over her shoulders and almost reached her waist.

She wore a blue/grey top that matched her eyes. Long tapering fingers were adorned with plain silver and gold bands.

She had a rich honeyed voice that always drew everyone's attention.

8C

I saw her avoiding my eye as she placed her book down.

I couldn’t read her mind and this alone alarmed me. I instinctively pulled away and felt as if I had to vacate my seat, all of my senses screaming at me to run away.

I could smell a warm spicy human scent which bewildered me.

With every passing second I grew more distracted, blotting out the rest of the room... Her pure sweet fragrance had invaded my mind and stopped every normal thought.

Her long hair dipped across, hiding her heart shaped face behind a secret curtain...

She had a long sleeved blue shirt with buttons undone, I could see her porcelain skin moving in time with each breath...

Like a startled animal ready to flee.

There was a pulse beating at her temple and her upper lip shone with tiny beads of moisture.

The long fingers of her left hand were drumming on the table...

Write a western

His silvery grey eyes flicked from the smooth mirrored wall to the half full whiskey glasses on the small tables in the darkness. The fear in the smokey air was thick. One could count each salty droplet of sweat as it slid down the crevices next to his nose. The only sign that he was watchful was visible in his gloved finger, which curled more tightly around the steel trigger.

The shot rang out. His body coiled instinctively and he launched himself over the beer-soaked countertop

The shattering glass tinkled and sprayed diamond-like shards across the room. The piano player had not stopped, and the manic rag jigged it's circular pattern. The small man was playing as if in a trance. Somebody kicked a table over, and cards fluttered and winked in the air. Poker chips scattered and slid across the wooden floor.

He sat waiting in the darkness, his gun had not fired and he still had all six bullets weighing his pistol down. Slowly his gun slid into position from behind the bar. His spurred boots crunched on the broken glass.

I had seen enough. I whirled my red skirts into a bundle as I climbed the remaining steps. I fled over the knotted rag-rug and shut the panelled door on the noise and clamour. Now I could just make out the mechanical sounding piano player.

Camping in the Coromandel

We tramped over the hill from the Waihi Beach car park, carrying packs. I had chocolate and marshmallows in my pack along with a three liter bottle of Putaruru water. I also had a Paipo under my arm. Daniel had a headlamp switched on, because it was already dark. I kept tripping over roots in the path. We could hear the sound of the sea at the bottom of the cliff. The lights of Waihi beach disappeared as we walked around the headland. The walk took about forty minutes.

There was a flattened area under the trees, we waded through long grass like a herd of elephants in the jungle. I kept tripping up and putting my feet in holes. Some of the others had made a tarp tent in the bush. there was enough room for all of us to sleep, because we had tested the size of the tent back in the Park at home. It was completely dark. Theadora met us on the path and led us to the tent.

They had made a door out of fern leaves, and driftwood so that the tent could not be seen unless you knew where it was. The bedrolls were out, and packs were stashed in the corner. We did not eat anything because we had eaten at home before leaving. We had pizza on the way too.

In the morning I was really hungry. I woke up feeling queerly hollow. I had not slept well, because my sleeping bag zip kept coming undone, and when I tried to fix it Luke would start moaning on the other side of the tent, I found out later that he was actually running a fever. Tristan was talking in his sleep.

In the morning we discovered that the eggs were missing. Daniel had left them at home because he thought that someone was playing a prank on him making him carry a tray of eggs over the hill. Noone had told him to repack the eggs to carry them. So the first mission for Hailey and Victoria was to tramp back over the hill to get some eggs. We made breakfast of eggs on toast on the beach on the meth burner.

 Afterwards Theadora had to wash the dishes in the stream with some sand. Suddenly we heard screams coming from the dishwash area, there was an eel thinking that her finger was bait.