Are all of you sick of quarantine yet? I am, but I’m glad we’re all healthy. I made it out of home to pick up a couple of essentials-fastest I’d ever made it in and out of Walmart-and meet with H&R block. With retiring last year and withdrawing part of my retirement to pay off stuff, my taxes were a mess. I had no desire to do them myself. Normally I do. I wore my ‘fancy’ face mask. With my sniveling from allergies I didn’t want to receive any of those looks, lol. Even took a picture to prove it!

In the mean time, I’ve been working on my short for an anthology. I’ve got to finish it and get it to my editor in ten days! If I manage a couple of days I ought to be able to have it done. I’ve been going between that and the fourth book in my Dragon’s Fated Heart series. I’m just in the beginning of it, but it sure is flowing. Of course I may have to just hack off the first couple of chapters. Or just the first one. We’ll see. Then again, maybe not.

Here’s just a tidbit from my upcoming short that will be out in July:

I danced to the music playing in the background. Gyrating to my own beat. Some guy was on the microphone yelling crap. I ignored him, preferring to listen to the music. People all around me were shouting and cheering. Behind me a huge group were stretching and laughing, talking about Naruto Running. Idiots up front were yelling and smashing empty energy drink cans on the ground, their foreheads and each other.

The energy was contagious, and it was hard to regret having so much fun. Not even the patter of rain changed the atmosphere. Heck, that at least gave a bit of relief to the heat generated from being in the desert.

At the signal to advance we all charged forward, laughing and joking toward the solitary gate surrounding the government facility.

Suddenly tornadoes ripped from the sky. My jaw dropped and I turned and ran away. I knew it was futile. My dad grew up in a small town that seemed to be decimated by tornadoes every ten years. My family brought it up every time there was a tornado anywhere near them. Here, there was no shelter.

I screamed, the gusting wind picking me up, carrying me up at a dizzying pace, tossing and turning me until everything went still for just a moment. Then my body, along with several others, were sucked up, up, up.

My eyes widened and I screamed. Then everything blurred and I landed with a hard thud. I groaned and lay there. I wasn’t sure where I was. No, I just didn’t want to believe my eyes. I squeezed them shut, not wanting to believe what I saw.

It couldn’t be a space ship.

No birds chirped. No breeze disturbed the air. No sandy dust getting into every crevice of my body.

Space ships weren’t real. I know they weren’t. Heck, my dad retired from the Air Force. His last assignment was Area 51 and all he did was bitch about how boring it was there. Now he works as security in a casino in Las Vegas. Now he has stories to tell.

Would I ever hear those stupid stories again? I bit my lip, sucked down the snot building up behind my nose and willed those tears not to fall.

Now remember! It’s unedited and just a peak, lol. And will be available later this year. I’ll let you know when I have all the deets!