Tuesday Tales 2022-2-15 Picture Beach

Greetings! Happy mid-February! I trust you are keeping well and had an enjoyable Valentine’s Day. I hope our weekly snippets provide some moments of relaxation for you.

This is Tuesday Tales, where authors write excerpts based on word or picture prompts. My picture prompt this week is beach. This snippet is from an early section of my current Highlander Time Travel story, before Lana plunges back in time. I still haven’t settled on a title but am leaning toward Faery Kisses for a Highlander. When you have finished reading my excerpt, make sure to visit all the talented authors of Tuesday Tales.

Lana kept her voice barely above a whisper. “Hand over your bag, Gran, and lead the way.”

With a lightweight carryall on each shoulder and Gran’s folding mini stool under one arm, she followed the older woman across the outdoor tiles and down the seven steps toward the beach.

The bags held water, crystals, anointing oils, and the like. Gran’s patterned lavender caftan looked silvery under a crescent moon as it floated across the sand in front of her. Whereas earlier today the beach had sported a handful of surfers and a number of neighbors frolicking in the sun, at this time of night they had it all to themselves. Lana glanced south toward the glittering lights of the hotels and businesses down the way and then caught up with Gran as they turned north past more residences.

They walked without talking, respectful of those snoring in their beds a few yards away. Lana found her mind relaxing a bit after the past few days of entertainment and birthday focus. She should be nervous about tonight, but wasn’t for some reason she couldn’t explain. Although the beach was usually a peaceful place, she wasn’t accustomed to the intense serenity of its middle of the night vibes. As they strode under a black sky sprinkled with glittering stars, the only sound was that of the to and fro rhythm of the surf. Then, after a while, that sound seemed to merge with own her own heartbeat and breathing. The space around her transmuted to a beneficent bubble of darkness and quiet. The dead silence took on a persona of its own. She pictured Atlas of old cradling them in his work worn hands.

She was startled from her fanciful thoughts by Gran’s whisper. “Not too much longer now and we’ll be past the houses.”

I hope you enjoyed the snippet based on the picture prompt, beach. Thanks for stopping by. Check out the other authors at Tuesday Tales.

Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Spirited Stories

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