SFP: Love, In Reverse (Novella), Ch. 1

I’ve spent the last little while mostly reading. And daydreaming. So it’s just about time I got back to writing. After finishing a few short stories (still in editing, but I’ll get them online soon enough), I began work on a story that’s been niggling at me for the past year or so.

At first it was going to be a full-length novel, but after mapping it, I decided it would probably be better served as a novella. This story is firmly rooted in reality (meaning there are no supernatural beings or sci-fi/fantasy elements) and would probably be best classified as drama.

Now, without further ado, the SFP(age):

Friday, 23 September, 9:06PM

Tessa’s phone chirped from the night stand, telling her she’d received a text message. She didn’t move. Her mind was preoccupied with quieting itself. The phone chirped again. Headlights spilled through the blinds momentarily flooding her room with stripes of light and shadow. A car halted at the curb in front of her home. She checked the slit beneath her bedroom door. Still dark.

She rolled over and checked her phone.

RICK 9:06PM: we need 2 talk.
RICK 9:07PM: I need 2 c u.

Tessa had just finished typing her two letter response when the phone chirped again and a new text message consumed the screen.

RICK 9:11PM: im outside. come out.

After deleting the previous three messages, Tessa returned to her text and hit the send button. The phone chirped almost immediately.

RICK 9:13PM: ill knock.

A small gust of air caught in her throat. Again she checked the slit beneath her door. Thirty seconds passed before she was certain her parents hadn’t been awakened telepathically by Rick’s threat.

She called him.

“This will only take a few minutes,” he said the moment he answered the phone, before Tessa could collect her thoughts to speak.

“Why are you doing this?” She whispered.

“Because I love you. And I know that means I need to let you go. That’s why I’m here, to say good-bye.”

I’m actually going to do something a little different and release the first chapter since I’m close to having the entire first draft completed. Click to download Chapter 1 (PDF, 5 pgs.).