Celebrating Winter | an excerpt [13]

A lovely winter scene from The Four Seasons of Dawnyelle (which is my DOOM + Camp NaNo novel. I will finish the next draft of this book in the next two months. And it will be super fantastic).

. . . .

  “C’mon.” I grabbed Austin’s arm and ran through the snow. As I hopped into the sled, Austin groaned.

  “I really don’t want to.”

  “Get in. Now.”

  “Dawnnn.”

  “Austinnnn.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Once.” He got in and we pushed off, gliding through snow that flew into our faces. I laughed, squinting as we were attacked by little white flakes.

  Then came the ice.

  “Dawnyelle Grace Reed!” Austin hollered. “What have you gotten me into?!”

  He gripped my shoulders as we started gaining speed, plenty of ice to go.

  “MAKE IT STOP! MAKE. IT. STOP!”

  I just laughed. He was adorable terrified.

  We sped over the rest of the ice and snow, Austin swearing and threatening to kill me. I figured the best thing to do would be to ignore him. So I looked up at the sky, mostly grey, with a few spots of blue.

  The pine trees, dusted with snow.

  The other sledders, mostly college students, whooping and hollering.

It was all so beautiful.

  At the bottom of the hill, the choppy snow slowed us down until we stopped. After standing, I helped a very shaky Austin up. Then I grinned at him.

  I was covered in snow, my toes frozen, and I had a long hill to climb up. But Austin was beside me, my friends all around me, and my God above me.   I couldn’t have been more happy.

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Rebekah

an excerpt [12]

   When we joined the group around the fire, I was greeted with smiles and hugs and it felt normal—except better. Justin had his guitar, which put me at ease. I dug my toes into the sand, listening to his music mix with the waves lazily rolling onto the beach.

   There was something about those people. My people. They loved me, and they knew when I needed support even though not everyone agreed with what I believed. That’s what good friends do. They don’t judge.

   They love.

   I looked at the beautiful faces of my friends, yellow in the light of the fading sun and the fire. Those faces were my faces. Their names were etched on my heart, and mine was on theirs. They had left an imprint in me, soft in some places, hard in others.

   And I’d done the same to them.

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Rebekah

an excerpt [11]

   That’s when I realized what a true friend was.

   Someone who would always love you—the imperfect you, the confused you, the wrong you—because that is what people are supposed to do.

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Rebekah

an excerpt [6]

{via}

For DOOM.

  Maybe I didn’t want to die. We’ve all heard the stories of people planning to kill themselves but then backing out at the last minute.

  Maybe that’s me.

  Not good enough to live, not good enough to die.

. . . .

(Oh, yes. Four sentences. We'll say it's in honor of Tobias.)

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

♥

Bekah Joan

an excerpt [5]

Dawnyelle {via}

From the NaNo + DOOM novel, which I finally decided upon a title for: The Four Seasons of Dawnyelle. I'm working on changing it from third person past to first person present because first person present is my favorite (although I think it's the hardest to write. But more on that later). Below is the new opening. Enjoy, lovelies.

W I N T E R
Dawnyelle

Have you ever felt like nothing is worth it?

   You’re trying so hard to live, but the more you try, the more death yanks at your head, your neck, your arms, your legs, your toes, until all you want to do is succumb?

   Winter does this to me. Its cold and windy fingers wrap around my heart and lungs, squeezing until I collapse onto the hardwood floor, begging for mercy.

   It just so happens to be January second, so here I am on my bedroom floor, curled up under a nest of blankets with my Chemistry textbook.

   My mother is downstairs doing some craft with my two younger brothers, Joey and Coilin. Their laughter fills the rooms as much as the dusty air does. My cat, Meows, is asleep next to me.

   But I am so alone.

. . . .

That's all I have for the moment. Now I'm stuck. Yaaaaay!

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♥
Bekah Joan

an update (plus doctor who/divergent/catching fire)

-37,880 words overall (this will not be the same in five minutes).
-1,965 words written today (this will not be the same in five minutes).
-Tea. TEA.
-I kind of gave up on Dawnyelle, and now I'm working on a part of book four of my Three Worlds stuff. GUYS I'M STILL ON BOOK ONE. Ugh.
-I watched the 50th of Doctor Who. Oh, OH. Ouch. My feels have been broken, yet again.
-I watched it with my friend. We squealed and fangirled and screamed and octopus-armed (it's...it's an inside joke...) more than we should've. I'm pretty sure two of her younger brothers are scarred for life.
-I need to go write.
-OH AND I READ DIVERGENT. I should've waited until December, though...It killed my word count. Oh well. It was worth it. :)
-And then there's Catching Fire. I haven't seen it yet. Actually, for a couple days, I didn't care too much that I hadn't seen it because I was so obsessed with Divergent. But now? GAH. SOON.
-I really, REALLY need to write.

{via}

♥
Bekah Joan

an excerpt [2]

{via}

[From the NaNo novel. Enjoy.]

. . . .
Dawnyelle

   When the doorbell rang, Dawnyelle was already asleep. Her parents weren’t—she could hear them talking.

   Before her mom knocked on her door, Dawn drifted off to sleep again. She refused to get up until her mom turned on the light. Dawn screamed into her pillow.

   “Sweetheart, it’s Austin. He said he really needs to talk to you.”

   “Boys are stupid,” she grumbled, but she still got out of bed. “Where’s my sweatshirt?”

   “On the floor.”

   “How did it get there?”

   “I don’t know, Dawn. Just put it on.”

   Sighing, she did so. I hope he’s okay. Not to be selfish or anything, but I’d rather not be up all night trying to help the idiot through his girl problems. And not that he’s an idiot all the time, but WHO comes ding-donging around houses at…what time is it…MIDNIGHT? Geez. Idiots do, that’s who. Ha! I rhymed! Ugh. Shut up, Dawnyelle…

   She’d managed to half-wake herself up by the time she made it to the stairs. She stumbled down to the first floor, trying to slap the sleep out of her mind and put a half-pleasant look on her face.

   When she got downstairs, she glanced at Austin by the front door. “Kitchen,” she growled, trudging in what she hoped was the right direction.

   Turning on the light, she shut her eyes and groaned. Why?

   Even though it hurt, she opened her eyes and put some water on for tea. “Do you want anything to drink?” She attempted to make her voice even and kind.

   “No. I’m fine.”

   “Well, I’m having tea.”

   “That stuff is gross.”

   “Tea helps to calm me down.”

   “Why do you need to have some? Bad dream?”

   “No, I just have a feeling you’re going to tell me something absolutely dreadful, and then I’ll definitely need it.”

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♥
Bekah Joan

the story of dawnyelle and austin

So, here's that post I said I might do on my NaNo novel. Currently, I think I've given it the title "Dawnyelle." This will probably only last a few days before I change it again. Enjoy, dearies. <3
Ugh. These two. They have put me through enough emotional trauma to last me a lifetime, and I haven't even started writing the freaking book yet.
Her name is Dawnyelle. She's broken and full of more self-hatred than anyone should have to bear.
His name is Austin. He's depressed, lonely, and lost.
They're next door neighbors who haven't talked in years. But when Dawnyelle talks him out of committing suicide (dramatic, eh?) and promises to show him why life is worth it, that all changes.
Soon the two are off on a journey of healing and finding beauty, together.
If I could describe it in one sentence (because that's what I had to do for the Snowflake Method), it'd be this:

"Two kids, one depressed and the other broken, find healing and beauty in Christ."

But it's so much more than that. So. Much. More. It's about struggling through the ugliness of the swamp to find a breathtaking waterfall. It's about letting go of loved ones, loyalty, grace, and learning to dance in the rain (literally and figuratively).

It's also about this puppy. And this cat.

This is Austin: (Aka Callan McAuliffe.)

I don't have a specific person that I think Dawnyelle looks like, but I'll stick with this one. It's, like, my favorite because of the camera (she has a thing for photography) and her gorgeous smile.

{via}

Pinterest inspiration board.

Also, I wanted to give some very due credit to this lovely woman. She's the one who taught me about the beauty of life, even in the rough times. So you should all go check her blog out. Her posts are amazing. (And, speaking from someone who knows her personally—asdfghjkl she's amazing and wonderful and beautiful inside and out. I seriously don't know where I'd be without her. Or her four absolutely ADORABLE kids.)

Okay.

Sorry.

I told myself I wasn't going to get all sappy (HAHAHAHA.), so I'll just stop.

♥

Bekah Joan