Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us.
Here is our usual Halloween fill-in-the-blank. I hope you will give it a try. You may change any words you need to make it work for you.
Halloween Hill
cfk
Bored road workers put up the road blocks in the evening around the high hill just outside of town. Detour signs went up for the night and two off duty policemen sat at each end of the street to discourage souvenir hunters. It didn’t stop all the villagers from bringing blankets to the park hill on the opposite side of the road where they sat and ate from picnic baskets. Some even gave out candy to the few children who ran around.
Then, the moon rose and from the deserted hill came the _______of a Victorian house with three turrets and several chimneys. It writhed like ____. The crowd made ooohing noises. Lights came on in bowed windows and people trained their binoculars on the attic where shutters snapped open and a ballroom appeared.
There in the _____ light were costumed figures dancing. The music was a whisper across the hill and people _____ at the sound. The masks of the dancers were fancy and the costumes were splendid. Here a countess flirted with a _____ and there a skeleton swung a _____ around the room.
Outside the house, bats flew and owls called. A wind in the old apple trees ____.
A _____ tried to get past one of the policeman. The crowd on the hill heard him yell that the property belonged to him. He had inherited it this past month and he should be allowed to go where he chose. He waved papers around and finally the policeman shrugged and let him go. He hurried up the driveway to the door of the mansion and turned a key in the lock.
As he mounted the stairs, the sound of the music grew louder and the dancers’ feet tapped ____. Who had invaded his domain? He shoved open the attic door and stared. What had looked like a grand party from the driveway looked ______ up close.
The people on the hill stared through their binoculars and bet on how long the owner would stay. They saw him waltz past with a lady with ________ and then he was two-stepping with a young woman who _____________. He seemed to be having fun, but was he? Could he stop if he wanted to? Could he leave the party if he wished?
“Don’t drink anything or eat anything you are offered!” shouted one watcher on the hill.
“Watch the time, it is nearly dawn,” said another.
“___ fellow,” muttered a third.
The first rays of light rose from behind the trees and with a ____, the house disappeared.
The crowd on the hill sighed. “Did he get out? Where is he, then?”
There was no sign of him. The policemen pulled the barriers away and took down the detour signs. They gazed at the empty hill and shrugged again.
“Maybe, he will turn up, maybe he will be there next year dancing again.” said one of them.
“_____________,” said the other.
The crowd on the hill opposite walked back to their cars shaking their heads. Some of the fun had gone out of the night. Or maybe the man was a _____ and was just as ghostly as those who danced? They consoled themselves with that thought.
I just finished reading On Kingdom Mountain by Howard Frank Mosher and I really liked it. One of the best books I have read this year.
Diaries of the Week:
Note: Starting this week on the 30th, Write On! Will begin at 7:00 PM EST for the winter. There will be guest editors, also, so SS says to click on the heart to be sure not to miss the diary.
Write On! NaNoWriMo time again.
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Note: Congrats to Kelly McCullough. Drawn Blades received a full page treatment in the SFBC catalog this month.
NOTE: plf515 has book talk on Wednesday mornings early