This Keeps Up I Might Turn Into a Hyrax

Okay, here it is. The idea is that I have 30 minutes to use all of the words given to me in the order that they were given. I cannot edit, I cannot change anything. I can only write (although doing this in Word means that I simply cannot ignore the little red squiggly line that screams at me "Misspelled Word") The words you gave me are in bold. I did this in 29 minutes. It's raw, real raw - but I love doing them. It gets my juices flowing whenever I feel a mental block. And I did have some interesting words this time. I can, and did, use the plural form of a couple of the words (they are my rules after all). In case anybody is curious, duckbilled platypus was a word given to me the last time I did this. If you would like to see the result of that one click on the link to "Eve's old archives" and go to Jan. 5 "Revenge of the Duckbilled Platypus". I really enjoyed that one. Anyway, here it is.

The tabby crouched low to the ground as it moved through the bushes, its orange coloring resembling its tiger ancestry, stripes visible through the greenery. Annabelle smiled as she watched it approach the small bird standing in the middle of the yard. Cats, ya gotta love ‘em. The smile became a laugh when, in a burst of orange it sprang from the bushes towards the bird, which promptly flew off leaving the puzzled feline behind. That rascal. You’d think it would figure it out someday. The birds a damn lot smarter than him. She glanced up at the ruins of the old castle on the hill overlooking the bay. I’ll have to check that out tomorrow. Lights would appear mysteriously at night, and that didn’t bode well for her business here. Turning away from the window, she finished stirring the fudge. Pulling out the spoon, she grimaced as a bit of chocolate splattered onto her shirt. Damn, that’s gonna leave a stain. And I bought this shirt on my last trip to Hawaii.

“That’s what you get for cooking with chocolate while wearing white, sweetheart.” Pouring the fudge into the pan, she put it into the fridge, dropped the sauce pan and spoon in the sink and headed towards the back of the house. Passing the small statue of a lion, she gave it a quick rub on its porcelain head for luck and entered her bedroom. She’d been doing that since she got out of the hospital, taking advantage of every single good luck charm she’d ever heard of in her trips around the world. After changing her shirt she walked over and picked up the binoculars from the small table in front of the window. A quick survey of the bay and the beach front property showed no sign of life and she replaced the glasses to their place next to the book on ornithology, her cover if anyone wondered why she kept looking through the glasses. Nothing. For two days there’s been no sign of activity on the beach or out in the bay itself. Annabelle hoped this foray to Nova Scotia would all pan out because she had passed up the opportunity to spend some quality time with an F-18 pilot and the worlds best orgasm for this assignment.

“Definitely a trip to the castle tomorrow” or maybe even tonight if her insomnia reared its ugly head again. “I’ve got to play this one by the book if I’m going to catch those pirates in the act.” Turning around, she nearly tripped on the tabby that had quietly moved up behind her. “Baby, we have got to get a bell on you.” Leaning over, she picked the now purring animal up and walked out of the room and back into the main part of the cottage. The distant sound of thunder echoed from outside. “Rain. Just what I needed right now. They won’t be doing anything in the rain.” Dropping the cat on the couch, she walked over to the door and opened it to see the gathering clouds. Damn. The brush of fur against her leg startled her as she watched the cat run out into the yard. “And stay out there this time.” At least he was more company than the hyrax she shared quarters with on her last assignment in the Middle East. She watched him dart across the grass, tail straight up in the air. In the glow of the setting sun he didn’t look quite orange, but rather a maize color, sort of like the teosinte she’d seen in Central America. Annabelle was about to close the door when movement out of the corner of her eye stopped her in her tracks. She stood motionless, eyes squinting at the line of trees that led to the path to the castle. I know I saw something. She grimaced as a streak of lightning flashed across the sky. Great. Out in the rain I go. Why didn’t I pick that F-18?