Though her long brown dress hung shapelessly on her small frame, its removal was guarded by an army of tiny buttons stationed from hem to chin, elbows to wrists. And the army was apparently making a stand. She growled as her fingers wrestled with the stubborn things. Maybe this was a sign that she’d made a terrible mistake by coming here.

Thanks, Judi 🙂

You can feel the tension

I especially like the simile, "like a horse being walked through a blazing fire, I let the imaginary blinders...."

This world is not my home, I’m just a’passing thru…

The lyrics of the hymn came from somewhere in the warm blackness, beginning like a soft breath against her ear. Then, ever so slowly, the voice grew into her Mama's throaty, crystal clear alto she knew so well. The sound filled her heart and mind, spilled over and enfolded her in a velvet web of the most spine tingling alto voice she would hear in her lifetime.

Come Hell, High Water, or Both, Chapter One, Paragraph Nine

I did my best to keep eye contact and not look down at my faded t-shirt and jeans, and lack of shoes. There was something about not wearing shoes that inspired a sense of vulnerability, not to mention being around someone you knew could clean your clock.

I'm still editing and revising. I hope to self pub by the end of the year.

Down the block, the ladies of the Athens Georgia “Pink Flowering Amaryllis Garden Club” met at the home of its president, Mrs. Priscilla Higgenbotham, who, at that moment, was not her usual unflappable self. In fact, with her clenched teeth, flushed face, and squinting eyes, she looked downright incensed. The memory of having her beautiful and surely award-winning garden disqualified – no, worse, laughed at – by the judges of the Athens Best Garden of the Year committee was driving her a little insane. The few club members who had dared attend the hastily-called meeting cringed in their designer gardening suits and kept their eyes open in case they had to duck flying debris. “It’s the fault of that damned Kudzu Lady! I could just kill her,” Priscilla said. With the word “kill,” Priscilla’s eyes opened wide, and she gazed at the other ladies in the living room with a wide smile. “Of course," she said, suddenly calm. "Why didn’t I think of that before? We’ll just kill her and be done with it.”

I miss that smell! 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Linda!