Hi everyone. I’m home from the beach and back in the writing cave. Today, I’m going to share another snippet from Cat Nip, my current wip.
As I touched the mark on my neck where the big cat had nipped me the night before, I felt a cascading itch ripple under my skin as though something crawled through my body.
Feline scratches and bites being toxic to humankind, I wondered if the jaguar had infected me with a sickness. Suddenly needing to shed my dress and soak, I doubled the strength of my wards, and hurried to the real reason I lived here—the rock pool fed by an underground stream behind my cabin. After I disrobed down to my chemise and folded my clothes in a neat pile, I eased into the lukewarm pool.
Kee-eeeee-arr, kee-eeeee-arr… I floated on the water and squinted at the hawk gliding above; when it flapped its wings, even from this distance I could see the unbalance of its arc. Disinterested in healing another predator, especially one that might find my hens to its taste, I sucked in my breath and plunged beneath the water’s surface.
Moments later I reemerged to discover I wasn’t alone. The big cat I’d had my previous unfortunate encounter with, stared back at me from where he lay sunning himself on the rock next to my clothes.
Visit Tuesday for the rest of Installment #9 Cat Nip .
Find more Weekend Writing Warrior authors here.
Have a great week…
gem
Great 8! A lot of great visuals and imagery here, and the ending leaves me wanting more 🙂
Hmmm… And jaguars don’t mind water, either… This is going to be interesting… Can’t wait to read more.
Well, hello there! 🙂
I really like both of your MCs, even when one of them is being catlike in his presumptions. 😀
This story sucks me in every week.:) Can’t wait to see the next move. That jaguar intrigues me greatly. Fantastic 8!
Oh, boy. That would give my heart a jolt – not only with surprise, but excitement, and a little fear. Great snippet, Gem. 🙂
Oh my…what a surprise to come out of the water to find. I’m very curious to see what happens next. Great 8!
I LOVE it, the cat sitting there was perfect in every way. (Do hawks caw though? I was expecting a crow, which is a mere nit…) EXCELLENT excerpt and I want more!
You’re right. I looked it up just now. A hawk says, “Kee-eeeee-arr, kee-eeeee-arr”. I’m changing in original and above. Thanks for the assist. 😀
Sheer Dyanamite, Gem. You paint one helluva scene. I’m there, perched on a rock wanting more.
Oh man, this snippet is rich with things I can see. Well done and what happens next!
I love this story. How are along are you? Are you still writing the first draft? Revising? I need this one, now!
This is an indie and my target release date is August. That said, I intended to only tweak a bit before publishing. But once I got back into it, the story took over and it has become a major revision.
This one I’ll wait for.
Oh, the big cat is back. Can’t wait to see what happens now.
Wonderfully descriptive writing, Gem. The hawk’s keening works. 🙂 I like this story–many have wolves right now, but I’ve not seen any with big cats as a MC. Nice. 🙂
I have read that–even little cat bites can get infected.
Knowing cats, I’m a little surprised the jaguar wasn’t on top of the clothes, stretched out and shedding all over them.
Your “stretched out and shedding” gave me an idea I’ve incorporated into the longer installment coming out Tuesday. Thanks!
Cool! Inspiration is everywhere. 🙂
I’ve seen two house cat bites that went septic in a matter of hours, I can’t imagine how bad a jaguar bite would be. On a lighter note, he’s a persistent bugger, ain’t he.
I can’t wait to read this in its entirety! Your detail is great–I could see her in that pool of water, the hawk above, the rocks. Well done.
Lovely stuff. I dig your touch with imagery.
Well hello kitty : ) Meowrrrr! Looking forward to seeing how this plays out : )