My excerpt this week continues from where last week's left off in my dark romance SNOW ROSES. The passage isn't necessarily a Valentine's passage but SNOW ROSES is a love story.
But also, what love is deeper and more innocent than a young girl's for her father?
"I paced across the intricate weave of my chamber's rug, losing myself in its elaborate swirls, trying to conceive some kind of consistent pattern. My eyes grew raw and tender around the rims. I slept little and ate only when coerced. My already slight form and pale skin became a rattle of bones and a ghostly pallor.
When I did sleep I dreamt that I was drowning. Ice cold water poured into my lungs, filling them until I thought my chest would burst. Other nights –or days; I had long since stopped keeping track of time –thick, thorny vines wound their way around me, squeezing until I bled. I woke, screaming, only to realize that the reality was worse than any nightmare."
After her father's death Snow shuts herself away in her grief cluttered chambers but she is plagued by more than painful memories. She will never be safe unless she forgets how her father really died. At last she escapes into the woods with nothing but a small knife.
Rose leaves the sleeping village she grew up in for the first time in search of her missing grandmother. Alone in the dark woods she finds ghosts, a rabid wolf, her grandmother's mangled corpse, and Snow.
Snow and Rose thrive together in the wood but hiding will not keep them safe forever. It will take something stronger than walls to conquer the dangers that haunt them.
Wonderfully evocative, yet very sad. Really lovely snippet.
ReplyDeleteVivid description of her emotions! Excellent excerpt, she's clearly in torment and despair.
ReplyDeleteThank you Veronica. She is indeed.
DeleteThat rug has shades of The Yellow Wallpaper... I can only hope this story has a happier ending!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't made that connection but you are right Caitlin. It is like the yellow wallpaper
DeleteBeautifully evocative writing. I especially like this line: "My already slight form and pale skin became a rattle of bones and a ghostly pallor." A rattle of bones...I'll steal this line from you if I man.
ReplyDeleteOf course Ed. I would be honored :-)
DeleteTaryn, I love that quote about feeling pain meaning I wasn't loved but that it was because I loved.. very profound xox
ReplyDeleteThank you Launna I do love that quote. I found it while reading Inspell by Cornelia Funke
ReplyDeleteWow. That was beautifully composed. Seriously, I'm in awe. Thank you so much for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Amy! I am so glad you enjoyed it :-)
DeleteHorrible nightmares, so it's chilling to think that reality could be worse.
ReplyDeleteTaryn I think anytime you reach a goal that is great. Have a great weekend ♡♡
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