0073. Djinnsense.

You know what’s ridiculous?

Ridiculous is when you go to get fitted for a tux, and your shoulders are so broad that 1. the tape measure won’t encircle your chest fully, and 2. you have to get a suit coat that’s three sizes too big just to keep from splitting the seams with said shoulders. I was swimming in the coat; probably could have fit two of me in there, yet it was still tight at the shoulders.

I don’t really have anything to say lately that hasn’t been said on Twitter. Learned a hell of a lot from #queryday, though I did find out that one thing all the agents were saying was an absolute no-no isn’t necessarily true…considering that I did it in my query and last week, the agent I submitted to (yes, only one, I’ve been lazy) requested a full on Shadow’s Breath. This makes me borderline giddy, but I don’t want to jinx it when she could all too easily say no after reading the full manuscript. She could also say yes but want revisions, or say yes and then never find a publisher willing to buy the book (especially in this economy). Although it’s still a step up (no one ever requested a full on EoE) and it makes me squee, I’m trying not to be too hopeful for the sake of realism. Baby steps.

Speaking of baby steps…I haven’t posted a snippet in a long time. So…first 2,000 words of Djinnsense/Lost Flames (title tentative, rough draft). Keep in mind that it’s targeted towards 8-12 year old girls, so it’s meant to be insipid and very simplistic and downright embarrassingly flowery. Something seems really off about it to me, but it is my first try writing girls’ fiction for this age group. It may turn out that I just can’t do it.

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The problem with wishes, Claire thought, was that they never came true.

She turned up the volume on her iPod, stared out the window of the hotel room, and wished with all her heart that her older sister, Jessica, would stop talking and hang up her cell phone. She didn’t. Claire wished harder; Jessica just laughed into the phone. Jessica had chattered nonstop for the entire long drive from their house in Richmond to the hotel in Virginia Beach. Claire didn’t understand how anyone could talk so long about nail polish, bikinis, and boys, but then Jessica was in high school. High school students were, to Claire, alien creatures – and after this summer, she’d be one of them. Maybe I’ll grow antennae and turn green.

“Claire? Honey?” Her Mom called from the bedroom. “Don’t you want to unpack?”

Claire was tempted to pretend she couldn’t hear her Mom over her music. Unpacking meant settling in, and settling in meant admitting that she was stuck here all summer – away from her room, away from her computer, away from her friends, with only sand and more sand for company. She didn’t understand why her parents had wanted to vacation in Virginia Beach, but she hadn’t had much choice in the matter.

“I’ll unpack later, Mom.” Claire pulled her earbuds out, wandered into the bedroom, and stood on her toes to kiss her mother’s cheek. “I’m going for a walk.”

Her mother smiled tiredly and brushed her disheveled hair from her face – the same hair Claire shared, fiery red and loosely tumbling. “Don’t go too far, all right? And if you find your father, send him back this way. He’s probably lost again.” Her mother grinned wryly. Claire laughed despite herself.

“If I find him.” Her father could get lost walking a straight line from point A to point B. “He’s probably in a linen closet somewhere. Be back later.” With a wave, she let herself out – freeing herself from Jessica’s shrilling laughter – and caught the elevator downstairs.

Outside, tourists crowded the sidewalk in a circus of Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops, and straw hats. Her music thumped in her ears, counting out her steps as she broke into a jog, heading down the sidewalk towards the beach. It was hard to remember to sulk when the sun warmed the bare skin of her tanned, freckled shoulders while the crisp, seaweedy tang of sea air breezed over her. Claire had loved the ocean ever since she was a child, and had even pretended to play with imaginary selkies and mermaids. Not even the prospect of a whole summer away from her friends could dampen her rising anticipation when the wave-tossed skyline drew into sight.

As pavement blended into sand, she wove across the crowded beach towards the water. The shallows looked like human soup, so thickly peppered with people she could hardly see the water. She’d never be able to swim there. She hated swimming in front of others, anyway. No matter how often her mother told her she was pretty, she still felt self-conscious in her plain one-piece – which did little to hide the softness of her arms, stomach, and legs. Her mother called her cute and curvy, but Claire would have given anything to be able to wear a bikini like Jessica’s.

Frowning, she turned her music off and made her way further down the beach until sand turned into gravel, and then gravel trailed off into damp, grass-strewn rock. White breakers crashed against dark stone, nearly drowning out the cries of gulls overhead. Claire clambered over the rocks carefully, picking her way further along the shore until the noise of the summer tourism industry faded at her back.

Finally. She plunked down on an outcropping of rock with a satisfied sound. She’d found a comfortable little cove, just a slim crescent moon of beach cradled within sloping arms of black rock. Green-black, soggy clumps of seaweed speckled the shore, picked over by crawling hermit crabs. The curve of the shoreline hid the main beach from sight, giving her the illusion of privacy. She smiled and watched the waves, tipping her head back as the wind blew spray against her cheeks.

Now that she had a moment to herself, Claire wasn’t in such a hurry to dive into the water. She’d have all summer to swim, after all. And not much else, she thought morosely, her pleasure somewhat dampened. Although if she was honest with herself, she wasn’t missing much back in Richmond. With Mark at band camp, Lisa shuffled off to her aunt’s in Portland, and Jenny suddenly obsessing over boys, Claire would have been just as bored in her room with her books and video games – but at least there she had her books and video games.

“Ow!” A voice tore Claire from her thoughts. She jerked her head up and blinked as a lanky figure came dashing over the rocks, stopped just before tripping over Claire, then slipped on the wet stone. A startled screech rose as the girl – thin and pale and looking to be near Claire’s age – tumbled forward with arms flailing and landed face-first in the sand.

“Whoa!” Claire scrambled to her feet and climbed down the rocks as fast as she could without tripping herself. She dropped to her knees at the girl’s side. “Hey – hey, are you okay?”

“Ow,” the girl repeated, groaning. She pushed herself up. Sand stuck damply to her pert, pixie-like face and littered long tangles of black hair. An ugly bruise colored her forearm. She shook herself, blinked at Claire, then gasped. “You can see me?!” Before Claire could reply, the girl stumbled to her feet and whirled to stare up at the top of the rocky slope, her bright blue eyes wide. “Wait, wait, nevermind that – where’s the ghul?”

Confused, Claire gaped at her. “The what?”

“The ghul, the ghul!” The girl waved an arm wildly. “It was following me!” When Claire only blinked at her blankly, the girl scowled. “Oh, nevermind. Silly human. Just go away.”

Claire frowned, torn between puzzlement and irritation. “I was here first.”

“And you’ll be lunch when the ghul catches up.” Dusting herself off, the girl stalked towards the water line. Claire watched her with a raised eyebrow. She wore odd clothing: a dark blue cropped top with tinkling silver bangles, thin silver coil bracelets and anklets, and loose, gauzy blue pants that swirled around her legs and rode low on her skinny hips. She looked like a belly dancer, with her bare feet leaving little toe-prints in the sand. The sunlight caught on her skin, highlighting a subtle, silvery-blue sheen dusted over her outer arms, jaw, and the curve of her bare stomach. Claire blinked and squinted; it almost looked like translucent scales blended with skin. Was that body paint?

“Where earth and sea are one,” the girl muttered, pacing along the waves. She seemed to have forgotten Claire completely. Her every step jingled with light, silvery sounds of clattering bracelets. “Earth and sea are one…here’s the earth, there’s the sea, where’s the portal?!” She kicked up a puff of sand in frustration.

“Did you hit your head?” Claire asked skeptically. The girl rounded on her, pouting, hands on her hips.

“Don’t you start with me, human; this is not my day! First my wish went wrong, then the ghul showed up, and now the portal isn’t where Jihanni said it would be! I’m going to fail my assignment, and it’s – ”

“Quite unfortunate.” A smooth, dry voice interrupted. The girl froze and blanched. Claire gasped, scrambling to her feet and turning. She’d felt the voice on her skin, like teeth on unglazed porcelain, scraping and jittery. The crawling menace dripping from every word roused her instinct to run.

The man who stood at the top of the slope, looking down at them, only reinforced that instinct. His sallow, unhealthy-looking skin carried a green tinge, and his stained lips stretched like rubber around a yellow-toothed grin. Lank hair, wet-looking and green-black, straggled into his craggy face. From neck to toe, his body was wrapped in faded, dark rags. To Claire, he looked half-dead – and very scary.

“Go away, ghul!” The girl clenched her fists and glared up at the man. “I’ll set your toes on fire!”

“I’m terrified,” the man deadpanned, then smirked. “Go on, then, little marid. Set my toes on fire. Are you hiding an ifrit somewhere?” His eyes, an eerie milky white, flicked to Claire. She gulped, fear fluttering in her stomach, as he took a few steps down the slope. “Or does the human have a matchbook?” Then he paused, peering at Claire more closely and frowning. “What an odd little girl.”

Claire’s face heated; she felt her temper flaring, but stomped it down. I’m not a little girl. “Look, whatever is going on with you two, I’ll just leave.” Defending her little niche wasn’t worth getting tangled up with this, not when that man looked so creepy. She started to back away, then turned – and squeaked when she found the man standing right in front of her. How had he moved so fast?!

“Stay,” he purred, leering down at her. “We haven’t had a chance to play just yet.”

Claire stumbled back, nearly falling. Her heart raced, almost as loud as the crashing surf. She would have tripped if the girl hadn’t caught her arm, dragging her upright with surprising strength. Claire took a few more hasty steps back, but the man prowled closer.

“Hurry,” the girl hissed at her shoulder. “Make a wish!”

“What?!” Wishing wouldn’t do anything!

“Make a wish! Something, anything, just wish to get us out of here!”

“Yes,” the man mocked. He nearly stalked them, matching their every backward step with another step forward. “Wish for help. Wish my head to explode. Or wish for something you really want. A pretty dress, perhaps? A pony? Little girls do still love ponies, don’t they?” There was something terribly hypnotic about his voice. His white eyes held Claire, numbing her legs and her thoughts. “Or maybe you’re too old for ponies. Maybe there’s a boy you’d rather have, instead. Make a wish, little girl, and I’ll grant it.”

“Don’t listen to him!” The girl sounded frantic. She grabbed Claire’s shoulder, shaking her hard. “Wish us out of here – fast! Say it!”

“I – I – ” Claire snapped out of her daze and realized how close the man was. This time she did fall as she jumped back, lost her footing, and landed hard in the sand. “I wish – ”

“Wish for your heart’s desire,” the man hissed. “I can give you anything. Popularity, prettiness – anything!”

The girl growled. “He’s lying! He’ll twist your wish and use it to hurt you. Oh, by the Flame, you’re hopeless! Just say ‘I wish to be somewhere safe’ – and hurry!”

Claire gulped. What was going on? “I – I wish…I wish to be somewhere safe?” she stammered. The man’s smile vanished, leaving a mask of livid fury. The girl laughed with triumph, reached down, and curled her hand in Claire’s.

“Coming right up,” she said, and the world imploded into bright blue light.