Welcome back to this eight-sentence snippet from my forthcoming memoir, Missi Wanderin' in the Woods. I hope you're enjoying the ride so far! Without further ado, come back to the car with me where pregnant Sara is questioning her fresh-from-combat-husband's sanity after he has just been forced to spend three hours talking to a woman shrink, who happened to be Muslim, after a PTSD-induced freakout.
Whatever had clouded Charlie's eyes passed almost as quickly as it had come, and he began to speak as I exhaled a shaky breath and weaved my fingers protectively about my pregnant belly. “The Muslim headshrinker, she asked me the same question a million ways and none if it was about what happened between us . . . she didn’t even let me talk about that.” Finally, his darting gaze fell on me and stayed there a moment before flitting off again to check the driver side mirror, rear view mirror, passenger side mirror, over the shoulder, out the window. Driver side mirror, rear view mirror, passenger side mirror, over the shoulder, out the window. “She just kept asking if I wanted to hurt myself or someone else. Kill myself or someone else. If I thought about combat, dreamed about combat.” A sudden tell-tale glaze of perspiration gave his face an otherworldly glow.
Thank you for stopping by! Visit my other eight-sentence snippets by following the links below!
Sara's Amish Dreams where eight sentences from my forthcoming Amish fiction work, Old Amarillo, are shared each week.
An Everlasting Heart where you can fall in love with Charlotte and Sanderson from the very beginning of my bestselling Civil War era debut novel, A Heart on Hold.
Get back to the other eight-sentence offerings by awesome WeWriWa writers here!
Whatever had clouded Charlie's eyes passed almost as quickly as it had come, and he began to speak as I exhaled a shaky breath and weaved my fingers protectively about my pregnant belly. “The Muslim headshrinker, she asked me the same question a million ways and none if it was about what happened between us . . . she didn’t even let me talk about that.” Finally, his darting gaze fell on me and stayed there a moment before flitting off again to check the driver side mirror, rear view mirror, passenger side mirror, over the shoulder, out the window. Driver side mirror, rear view mirror, passenger side mirror, over the shoulder, out the window. “She just kept asking if I wanted to hurt myself or someone else. Kill myself or someone else. If I thought about combat, dreamed about combat.” A sudden tell-tale glaze of perspiration gave his face an otherworldly glow.
Thank you for stopping by! Visit my other eight-sentence snippets by following the links below!
Sara's Amish Dreams where eight sentences from my forthcoming Amish fiction work, Old Amarillo, are shared each week.
An Everlasting Heart where you can fall in love with Charlotte and Sanderson from the very beginning of my bestselling Civil War era debut novel, A Heart on Hold.
Get back to the other eight-sentence offerings by awesome WeWriWa writers here!
Riveting, Sara. How you describe checking the mirrors, the surroundings--outstanding!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Teresa :-) That is a trait that still comes out time and again in him.
DeleteI'm really engrossed in this story, caring about this couple. I thought the detail of how he was checking the mirrors for possible threats, even being at home, was very telling. Great snippet!
ReplyDeleteThank you Veronica! Yes, here we are, years later, and he still has to sit with his back to the wall in restaurants and fourth of July has just gotten, so many years later, to where it can be enjoyed by the entire family again.
DeleteOops don't know if my comment took, but enjoyed the snippet. I won't repeat myself, in case it's just in moderation!
ReplyDeleteWe went out and hit a couple of Memorial Day sales yesterday so I wasn't able to moderate till this morning :-) I need to take that off all together!
DeleteOverwhelmed by your rhetoric. Marvelous use of words, rhythm and emotion. You're a wonder.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Charmaine!! <3
DeleteSounds like the "shrink" (not sure if she'd just a counselor, psychiatrist or psychologist) is actually on the right track with Charlie. She probably wants to make sure that he doesn't hurt his wife and impending baby.
ReplyDeleteEden, I can't wait for you to see what happens in the next few excerpts :-)
DeleteQuite intriguing! Great showing rather than telling the PTSD.
ReplyDeleteGood showing the PTSD.
ReplyDeleteNice and intense. Definitely want more.
ReplyDelete