Okay, so I have not managed to upload The Incubus just yet; but I'm almost there! I only need to give it one last read-through on my Kindle and then hit upload. We're talking days here, but as always, life happens when you're making other plans.
If all goes well and according to plan, I should have it up before the end of the coming weekend.
Here's to hoping :)
I'd rather blow a deadline and upload something better than upload just anything to try and save face. At the end of the day, a better book will take me much further than one that was uploaded a week or month earlier.
I leave you with the first scene to nibble on until the upload:
The wheat flowed in the wind, like
millions of swaying dancers performing a ballet. Justin shifted his gaze from
the road to the horizon of sprinkled gold. He stared at it dreamily for a
moment before stealing a glance at his sleeping wife.
‘You did it, Becky,’ Justin said softly. He loved watching
her sleep; seeing her without a care in the world while the sun gently gnawed
at her shoulder. ‘You made this possible.’
Rebecca wriggled her nose and shifted her weight in
the seat. She tugged at the seatbelt and moistened her lips before slumbering
off again.
Justin sighed. There weren’t many women like her. When
he lost his job five months earlier, Rebecca stood firmly by his side. When he
didn’t know how they were going to survive each month on her salary alone, she not
only managed to save up enough money for their immediate needs, but also enough
for their first year anniversary weekend away at a resort.
‘I don’t know how I’m going to make our first
anniversary special to you,’ he told her after they had finished working out
their budget. ‘The plan was to take you away somewhere far and exotic. Now I’ll
be lucky if I can treat you to a movie.’
Rebecca laughed and lovingly took Justin’s hands. ‘We
don’t need money to make it special,’ she said and kissed him softly. ‘We just
need each other. Nothing more. Nothing less.’
Rebecca was his rock; a pillar of strength during the
times that everything around him seemed to crumble and fall. He couldn’t
imagine life without her. The road ahead was clear for as far as the eye could
see, so Justin stepped down on the gas pedal slightly and the car accelerated.
The wheat fields zipped past. He stole another glance at Rebecca and cupped his
free hand over hers. ‘I love you, Becky,’ he said and softly squeezed her hand.
‘I love you too,’ she said with her eyes still closed
and yawned. Slowly—like a butterfly breaking free from a cocoon—she opened her
eyes and Justin could only stare in awe at the grace with which she woke.
‘Hey sleeping beauty,’ he said. ‘How was your—?’
‘Justin, look
out!’
For a moment time stood still. The expression of fear
on her face would forever be seared into his memory. Adrenaline flushed through
his legs and Justin instinctively slammed on the brakes. It was only then that
that he saw the figure standing in the middle of the road. The wheels locked
and the car swerved into the opposite lane. Had another car or truck passed at
that exact moment, the collision would have killed them both instantly. Justin
jerked at the wheel to try and keep the car from veering off the shoulder of
the road. The car over-steered and he had to pull the steering hard. After what
felt like an eternity, the car finally came to a standstill.
‘Are you all right?’ Justin asked Rebecca. His tongue
felt like cork and his voice was a coarse, quivering croak.
Rebecca nodded, but it was a reflex move. She had no
idea whether she was all right or not. She bordered on shock. The numbness of
her mind was the only thing keeping her from crying.
Justin fumbled with his seatbelt. His hands were still
shaking from the adrenaline, but he finally managed to unclip it and flung the door
open. A burst of afternoon heat blasted him as he clambered from the air
conditioned car and slowly walked to the back of the vehicle on what felt like
rubber legs. He leaned against the trunk for stability and scanned his eyes
across the road. There was no trace of anyone.
Where did he go?
‘Is he okay?’ a badly shaken up Rebecca asked as she
joined her husband’s side.
‘He...he’s gone.’
Rebecca looked around. ‘Gone?’
Justin didn’t answer. He walked across the road and peered
over the shoulder to see if anyone was lying at the bottom of the ditch. He
looked up and down the road. No cars in either direction. No people either. There
was only the golden wheat, the high pitched screams of the cicadas, and the
distinct smell of burnt rubber.
‘Did you find anything?’ Rebecca asked as he made his
way back.
Justin shook his head.
‘Where could he have gone?’
‘I don’t know...’ Justin said and made a final quick
scan of the area. ‘You also saw someone in the road, right? That’s why you
screamed?’
Rebecca nodded.
A cold shiver ran down his spine. He couldn’t quite
put his finger on it, but something made him feel uncomfortable. He sensed that
Rebecca felt it too. ‘Come,’ he said. ‘Let’s get out of here.’ The two of them got
back into the car and Justin managed to start it on the second try. He took one
last look in the rear-view mirror as he stepped down on the gas pedal.
