Finally I have begun the third chapter! Named after a Coldplay album (the good one) it details Careless' search for Daniel. There is a brief flash forward before picking up where we left her- half starkers staring at an empty room. The title is there to inspire some action into the scene.
I've made a deliberate attempt to include some figurative language at this point and attempt to set the scene a little. There's actually an Alien reference in there for the Sci-Fi minded. I think some of the descriptions can go but the general idea is there to beef up the writing and see what sticks. I really need to find time to just write as much as possible and get into a groove. There is another character introduced in this chapter- Kenneth (yes, named after the youngest gangster in The Wire). Kenneth is a local to New York who will help or hinder Careless in her initial search. I'm yet to decide on what function he'll perform exactly. He is cordial for now, having met the couple recently.
On an entirely different matter I just finished Martin Blooth's The American (a reprint of A Very Private Gentleman) which I thoroughly recommend and has me considering a move to Italy. Next up is Tobais Wolff's This Boy's Life, which I've never read all the way through. Certainly Blooth's prose has inspired me to become more descriptive. His slow burn to the climax is brilliant.
I'm working it into a thriller now, despite the stillness of this excerpt. I've been thinking about some of Chuck Palahniuk's early stuff and of the Millennium series. I haven't settled on a chorus yet since nothing has come to mind. The opening line might make for a good refrain as it sets up the premise of the narrative nicely. "Sometimes the past catches you buy surprise."
So here is the start of Chapter 3- A Rush Of Blood
Careless would later admit she looked under the bed. It sounds stupid but when the center of your world is suddenly missing some rationality leaves your mind. She was meek and embarrassed when she told him she didn’t know where Daniel was. They could prick her and poke her but there were things for which she had no answers. She couldn’t tell them where Daniel was and how he had left. None of the clues made sense to her until later.
Immediately after her shower she had checked the bed and opened his draw. His passport was gone. Despite the cool February air she could feel perspiration welling under her arms. The breeze struck her as peculiar- the window was wide open. As one does when they’re in shock, a million illogical thoughts ran through her head. Had Daniel fallen? Had someone grabbed him as he stared into the street? Careless ran to the window and peered down. Snow fell lightly on the balcony, covering it in white dust, but there was no sign of him. Half dressed she didn’t feel the cold. She spun back into the room and tripped on the plush pillows by the bed. Had they been there before? She couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t in her nature to notice such trivial items. She bumbled into the bed grabbed the bedspread, clenching her knuckles around the fabric into a fist. She rolled onto her back and gazed at the window the way a teen does after their first bingle. The room felt different. He wasn’t here.
Despite the panic that caused deep heaving breaths, she found time to sit. She felt dizzy, lightheaded, like every thought she’d ever had was launched out of an air lock and into space. There was a void. Nothingness. Emptiness. There was no discernable sound. She never told anyone this part of the story, but when she couldn’t find him, she just sat.
