Tuesday Tales: Writing Toe

Welcome to Tuesday Tales, a weekly blog featuring diverse authors posting excerpts from their works in progress based on word and picture prompts. We’re a book hungry bunch that enjoys reading as much as you do. This week our word prompt is toe. My excerpt is from a paranormal fantasy in which a goddess occasionally inhabits the body of an archaeological assistant. Please read the excerpts of the other authors at Tuesday Tales.

The goddess danced with Simon—and then some.

After an hour Zeth came to a righteous conclusion. No amount of fireball shots could blot out the sight and sound of his two irrepressible compadres performing a song called Jackson, karaoke style, ala singing legends Johnny and June. That the goddess of love knew how to enunciate such an accent and mimic the tomfoolery that underlay the song was beyond him.

But she was a goddess after all. One of his few remaining relatives still invested in doing her job right, per the old covenants.  Once he wouldn’t have questioned her need for a little fun during an earth excursion. He grew up practically worshipping her, as did most of his male cousins. But the old world changed long ago. Eons of following her around to handle her rituals and situations had pretty much flattened out his enthusiasm.

Of course she couldn’t help it. Such was her character. Although she irritated him to Olympus, he still had a core of affection for her.

There was no question she was charming and alluring, no matter whose body she inhabited. Although she relished bringing men to heel, her intentions weren’t all manipulative and superficial. Love as her true essence shone through, no matter what. She knew how to get under someone’s skin and stay there. Simon was certainly lapping it up. Even when he stepped on her freshly manicured toe peeping seductively from designer sandals, she giggled as if he had presented her with a gold foil of chocolates. No wonder the poor guy was getting more besotted by the moment.

A forlorn sigh escaped Zeth’s lips. His imagination conjured up a big yellow, diamond shaped sign with the word trouble written in capitals.

In a fit of laughter, the two erstwhile superstars fell into their seats. “Did you hear Simon handle that riff? He’s on fire tonight.”

He was used to her flighty shenanigans, but damn it, Simon was an okay dude. They could have been buddies in another time. It was admirable the way he had gone into protective mode over Prue. He shuddered at the image of the ritual being over and the goddess vacating Prue’s body. He could hear Prue demanding of Simon, “Huh? What do you mean I sucked champagne off your lips?”

Prue. One of a kind, that one. The aura of come hither, baby, and I’m your ticket to eternal bliss was the goddess all the way. Other gifts were natural to the woman herself. The upward slash of her brows, suggesting an adventurous spirit. Never a bored bone in her body, he’d wager. Sun kissed cheeks and luscious lips. Those were also the woman. She’d sure lit into him and Simon back on the deserted street. He found himself wishing he could spend some time with her.

Well, hell, why not? The goddess of love had to sleep sometime.

I hope you enjoyed the snippet based on the word toe. Thanks for stopping by. Return to Tuesday Tales.

Cheers & Happy Reading!

Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance