Does anyone else have this problem? Loss of momentum in the middle of writing a story? It’s Day 20 of this challenge and I’m trying to pick up the story from where I left off yesterday. I had tons of ideas for the direction I wanted to go when I stopped typing yesterday afternoon, but all of them flew out of my mind…..
Sigh. Well, let me retype the last paragraph or two from yesterday, and see if I can generate some momentum again. (NOTE: I won’t include the retyped portion in my final word count.)
Shivani couldn’t admit defeat so easily. She needed Patrick by her side for her first trip to Bharat. “What difference does it make if they do discover you? They can’t hurt you.”
“No, they can’t hurt me,” Patrick replied, and looked her straight in the eye. It was time to tell her the truth. “But they can hurt your parents.”
Shivani started at his words. “My parents?” she repeated, frowning. “What does this have to do with my parents? They’re dead.”
Patrick studied the emotions that flitted across her face. He had to tell her. It was the only way she would be ready to face the situation in Bharat. “What do you know about your parents?”
“Well,” Shivani hesitated. “Not a lot. I mean, the people at the agency told me that I was left at an orphanage in India when I was a baby.”
“And?” Patrick tilted his head. He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “What else did they tell you?”
As Patrick’s gaze narrowed, it occurred to Shivani that she had never questioned the story. “Not much more than that,” Shivani shrugged. “Just that an American couple adopted me and brought me to this country. But they were killed in a car accident when I was little. No one else wanted to adopt me. So I went back into the foster care system.” Shivani studied the floor. It sounded so much more pathetic when she said it out loud. She didn’t like that at all. “I’ve been there ever since then.”
“So, no one knew who left you at the orphanage?” Patrick persisted. He suspected what her answer would be, but wanted to make sure.
“No,” Shivani whispered. Was it possible that her parents were still alive? That they were the ones who left her at the orphanage? Her heart started beating wildly.
Patrick knew what she was thinking. He hated to crush her hopes, but she had to know. “They weren’t the ones who dropped you off at the orphanage,” he said softly. He winced when he saw the light go out of her eyes.
Shivani’s shoulders slumped. He was probably right, but that small sliver of hope prompted her to question him. “How do you know that? Did you see it?”
Patrick hesitated. It didn’t take his Seer’s abilities to see that Shivani wasn’t going to respond well to the truth. What was the best way to approach this revelation? “I guess you could say that.”
“Oh,” Shivani muttered, disappointed. Patrick’s visions were always accurate. “Did you see what happened in a vision?”
“No,” Patrick replied. “It wasn’t a vision.” When Shivani looked at him with confusion, he gave up his feeble attempts at tactful disclosure. “It was me, Shivani,” he stood up and looked into the golden eyes that reminded him so much of someone else he had once loved. “I’m the one who left you at the orphanage in India.”
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