The Lucky Meme

Thanks to all of you who have suggested I should put my stories into a book. In fact, I have. I’ve collected my favorite childhood memories and created a memoir called The Kid in the Kaleidoscope: A Chubby Chatterbox Grows up in the 50s, 60s and Beyond.

I was recently tagged by Teralyn Rose Pilgrim over at A Writer’s Journey and asked to participate in a manuscript hop called The Lucky Meme! Teralyn is a fine writer and an excellent historian. Her novel Sacred Fire, the story of a Vestal Virgin in Ancient Rome, is nearing completion.

The Rules:

#1 Go to page #77 of your current manuscript/WIP.

#2 Go to line #7.

#3 Copy down the next seven lines—sentences or paragraphs—and post them as they’re written. No cheating.

#4 Tag a few other authors.

#5 Let them know.

Background: Page #77 falls in the middle of an event that took place when I was eleven. This story is called The Monster in the Monastery. I’d been duped into thinking an ape as big as King Kong was being concealed behind the massive adobe walls of the monastery on the outskirts of our town. I’d risked my parents’ wrath for proof of the ape’s existence. My best friend, Ricky Delgado, had come along to prove that I was a gullible idiot.

Pg. #77, Line 7:

Before we could say anything else, something stirred in the underbrush and we both realized we were being hunted. It materialized before us as if from thin air. It was huge! It was black! But it wasn’t King Kong—it was the biggest nun I’d ever seen. She evidently wasn’t one of the non-talking varieties, because she boomed in a deep construction worker’s voice, “What are you children doing here?” With a cobra’s swiftness, a hand shot out from beneath her habit and locked like a handcuff around my wrist. But Ricky was too fast for her; he leapt up the wall and scurried over the top, leaving me in the nun’s grip.

Now for seven bloggers to join the challenge. Some of these writers might be too busy to participate, but at least they will know how highly I regard them.

#1 Jo Barney

#2 Nikki Broadwell

#3 Stephen Tremp

#4 Mindy Halleck

The entire short story (The Monster in the Monastery) and other stories from The Kid in the Kaleidoscope are posted under the Pages section of Chubby Chatterbox.