Years ago, I wrote a story titled Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds in which a teen recalled the terror of finding another world inside the walls – and beyond those walls – of her house. The story is included in my collection, Into a Long Ago Future.

She’s grown up now, and not everything was the way it seemed at the end of her first story.

Justine is a student at college, best friends with Nigel, and has all but forgotten the times in the galleys between. That is, until the little group of paranormal researchers she works with become involved in trying to stop time from a collapse that would bring two worlds crashing together and very possibly destroying everyone in both.

The first novella is currently available in the AugNoWriMo 2013 collection of short stories – Milestone 5.

AugNoWriMo is a choose-your-own-goal WriMo that takes place in the month of August. Each year, we get together and pen several short stories to bind together in this commemoration of the fun times we have writing together.

As of today, it’s also available for digital download, through Amazon and Smashwords.

Excerpt:

The last thing I remember before the world went a crazy kaleidoscope of black, red and white was the sound of church bells. Big ones, you know? Like they have at Notre Dame in Paris.

Big fucking bells.

That means my world slid to one side and I ended up underneath it. To put it into English for you, I had a seizure. Not the falling-down, bite-my-tongue, foam-at-the-mouth seizure you’re probably visualizing right now, but a quieter kind. Gentler, if you prefer.

Quieter, gentler, except for one small detail; I was driving at the time.

When I came to, I was upside down and some guy in a bright yellow jacket was telling me to hold still. I nodded, but that was about all I could do, and I’m not sure I even really did that. It could have been my brain telling me I did. I knew it’d be a while before I’d regain control of my limbs and body; it always takes at least fifteen minutes from when I come to, until I can wiggle my fingers.

I want to blame Nigel for this, I really do. He and I had been hunting through his grandfather’s book collection for the last two days, and I’d had all of a couple hours of sleep. No sleep, OD’ing on caffeine and sugar, and any form of stress thrown in, equals Justine upside down in a ditch.

The guy in the yellow jacket was telling me I needed to move my hand for him. I tried telling him I couldn’t, but my mouth wasn’t working yet. I’ve got a damn bracelet, why doesn’t he just look at that? Of course he wouldn’t. That’d be too simple, right? I sighed. That he noticed. He kept talking to me, loudly, like I was deaf. Whatever, at least he wasn’t leaving me alone while the rest of his crew pried my car apart.

I watched the dashboard clock, willing time to speed up. Of course it didn’t. Five minutes passed, and I could wiggle my fingers. Yellow jacket took this as a good sign, giving me the thumbs up. Another ten minutes and I could talk. “Medic alert bracelet, left hand.”

He nodded, and pulled my hand towards him. When he’d had a glance at it, he asked how long it’d been since my last seizure.

“Five years, eight months. Probably a week.” I knew what he was fishing for; he thought I was a regular space-flake, one that shouldn’t be putting zillions of people at risk by being behind the wheel. “Don’t worry, it’s been plenty long enough that I’ve been declared safe to drive. I’m not usually a hazard.”

“No ma’am. I mean… yes, ma’am.” Now the poor guy looked flustered. Good grief, don’t they teach ‘em how to react in paramedic school?

“No worries. My name is Justine, by the way. Justine Bell.” Ironic? No, not at all!

“Glad you know your name, ma’am. Can you tell me what date it is?”

“April 23rd, 2013.”

He smiled. “Good. How are you feeling other than the obvious?”

“I just want out of here… uh, what’s your name?”

“Scott. Scott Tyland. I’ll be your EMT for the evening.”

I laughed, and it hurt. I stopped laughing, and it hurt more. I think I broke a rib. “Well, Scott, maybe you can tell me if anyone else was involved in this little episode of mine.” I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know, but… curiosity and concern won out.

The second novella, Sacrifice, is complete and will be available in e-format before Halloween. Want to win an early copy of it? Purchase Recovery at Amazon or Smashwords, leave a review between September 15th and 30th, and you’ll be entered to win an advance .pdf!