“Snow Storm” Dec. WIP Writing challenge, Final Product.

This month, the phenomenal Yukunerk Blog joined in the challenge with a nail biting scene. If you’re anything like me and have a solid fear of freezing to death, then this scene will put a chill to your bones! Just wow! Go check it out!

For the snow storm month of Dec., I decided to go with my characters from the previously published works, Aggravated Momentum. The official guidelines are listed below the scene. Enjoy, stay tuned for January’s scene as I’ll be posting the challenge tomorrow, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Be safe everyone, and have a hell of a night!

“Kam, what the hell are you doing? We can’t just paint someone else’s cabin.”

I ignore my sister Markie, and dip a brush into a half empty gallon of scarlet paint. It’s a small but sheik cabin that we happen to be stuck in, and for Lord knows how long. Markie, and her best friend Beth and I, drove over four hours to get here, only to be snowed in completely the first night.

There is only one road in, and it’s now buried under three feet of snow. The wind is howling, it causes the windows to vibrate. One of the windows in the kitchen has a very large branch in need of trimming, it taps at the sill of it. This is by far the worst storm I’ve ever seen. There’s a plow that comes through, but apparently the driver has been on vacation. According to his melancholy wife, “he’ll get to it when he gets to it.”

The storm wasn’t supposed to show up for at least another week, so we thought we could sneak in a trip before we were rendered unable. Sadly, we’d already missed our window. Markie keeps telling us to look on the bright side, and reminding us that we were at least able to call and speak to this wife before we lost cell service.

“The road maintenance guy knows we’re here,” she assures us. “I’m sure he’ll come up the drive and dig us all the way out. There’s no way he’ll pass our turn, not now anyway.”

“I still think we should put an SOS sign on the main road tomorrow.” I say, as I swipe another brush full across the wall, changing it from white to red. “There’s plenty of paint here, and I saw a few for sale signs in the basement too, that we could alter.”

“Why were you even in the basement?” Markie harps.

“Don’t worry about it.”

I smirk to myself. She won’t be so snarky when this storm knocks out the power, and I’m able to light all the candles I’d successfully found on my mission into the basement. All the painting supplies was really just a perk. Something to do while we’re stuck indoors on the most beautiful mountain I’ve ever been on. The Varchelli’s will surely thank me, this living space has been in some serious need of an accent wall for years.

“I agree,” says, Beth while she viciously digs around the kitchen cupboards. She’s clearly more worried about starving to death than we are. “Hah!” she shouts.

The outburst causes me to jump, and my brush nicks an end table. “Damn it,” I mutter. As quick as humanly possible, I scrub the spot clean with a damp towel. Whew, that was close. I was meaning to spice the place up a little, not kid-hack it or ruin Mom’s neighbor’s expensive shit.

Pop! Beth pops the cork from a bottle of champagne she’d found tucked away in the back of a canned food cupboard.

“Are you kidding me?” Markie mumbles in defeat. “They’re never going to let us come back here, you know.” She dumps her head into the open palm of her left hand, while she uses the right to lift the scooped-neck of her shirt. She holds it up over her mouth but continues to complain into the cloth of it. “Drinking their hidden stuff, and painting their walls. Just because we’re stuck inside doesn’t mean we need to help ourselves to whatever we want.”

“Here, Doll,” Beth’s now chirpy voice rings across the room. “You should probably have the first drink. Looks like you need it even worse than we do.” She grins.

Beth tops off three tall wine glasses with bubbly liquid, the stems of them are thick and sturdy. I finish placing a small bead of paint at the end of my paint brush across the walls edging, before carefully setting it down on a well-laid square of plastic. The edging of my accent wall is complete, now all that I have left to do is roll out the center and it’ll be finished. If we’re going to be stuck indoors, we might as well enjoy the look of it.

I ditch my project for the moment, but only to indulge in consumption. Champaign is exactly what the Doctor ordered. We do have an unlimited amount of time to kill, after all. I join my irritated sister on a barstool, and slide myself under the lip of a short island as it separates the kitchen and TV room.

It doesn’t take long before the bottle is all but emptied, and my entourage has excluded me entirely. I knew they would, especially once there were booze involved. They always do. The only reason I agreed to come, is because I love the woods surrounding the cabin. Now, here I am. Unable to enjoy the outdoors, and am forced to listen to the two of them cackle and reminisce, all-the-while I sit here eavesdropping… alone and with no sort of input without being cut off or having eye-rolls tossed around after my every comment.

Screw this, I finally decide. I go back to finish my paintjob with nothing to keep me company aside from my sister and her stooge chatting and giggling behind me. After finishing up the last stroke of my paint roller, I step back and admire my work. I was right. The space is much more alive. There’s nothing like the color of blood to spice things up. Then I march myself to bed, with the candles I’d found hidden securely in a canvas bag slung over my shoulder. Out of site, out of reach.

As I make my way down the hall, the piercing sound of shattering glass explodes behind me. I pause, and listen.

“Shit!” Markie screams. “The window! Hurry, Beth we have to do something.”

“What the hell do you want me to do?” Beth shouts back. “The whole branch came though!”

I chuckle, and round the corner into my room. I listen to the two of them crash around, and holler for me to help. As far as they know I’m already asleep. Serves them right, I decide. I tuck the bag of candles under my bed and roll to my side, in complete comfort. I’ve thrown extra blankets by my feet, and am entirely prepared for the cold to take over the cabin. No sooner than I close my eyes, the buzz of power clicks off. Darkness consumes the cabin, leaving Markie and Beth to nothing but broken glass and the icy chill coming into the open-jagged window.

“Sleep tight.” I say quietly, and drift away into a peaceful slumber.

Description for Aggravated Momentum:

The deeper you dig, the darker the secrets you find.

The life of a seemingly normal family is shattered as long-buried skeletons emerge and dark family secrets surface. Danger lurks so close to home.

But who is the cold, calculated murderer? Can it be one of the sisters, guilty of nothing more than getting tangled with the wrong people at the wrong time?

Or is a cowardly snake, curled in a hidden corner?

Praise from readers:

★★★★★ – “There is an authenticity to Ms. Oviatt’s writing that is refreshing to experience in a thriller-type novel.”

★★★★★ – “A murder mystery with plenty of drama, suspense and danger. Fans of mystery and thriller genres will love this book.”

HOW THE MONTHY WIP CHALLENGE WORKS

As the initiator: Every month I’ll give a real time circumstance, hang out spot, or every day situation. I’ll post the exact scene/challenge the first week of every month.

As an Author/challenge joiner: All you need to do is use the characters from your WIP (work in progress), or even a published works, and plug them into the given scene for a short story style post. It can be funny, serious, deadly, really just whatever you want as long as it’s true to your characters (as in, what they would actually do in this situation)!! It’s a fun way to be creative with those personalities that you as their creator love so much. It’s also a fun way to introduce them to the world and your blogs, without giving away your plots and twists… Just pure ‘meet my characters, and get to know their personalities’ separate from their book.

How we work together as Authors and the Initiator:  I’ll do my own scene/challenge post on the very last day of the month (that way I can be sure to link in every joiner, and you can do your posts at your own leisure). Write your scene’s anytime you wish, at any point of the month. All that I need is your final challenge post link. You can give it to me in any comment, or even link me into your post so that it’ll pop in my newsfeeds! So simple!

(If you do just link me in to your own posts, then make sure you use a regular blog post to link me in with, rather than my blog’s home page, that won’t actually give me a notification. I don’t want to skip anyone over! This particular post is ideal, but do your own thing.)