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• The End? - 12 April 2010
  

  Hi all, Well, it’s been a year, and I think I have to admit to myself, and to all of you, that I’m totally blocked on Winter Rain, and that it doesn’t look to be changing.  At this point, I don’t honestly know that I will ever finish it.  This saddens me, but, unfortunately, it’s the [...]

• Winter Rain, part 71 - 24 March 2009
  

  Fucking Brennan. Fucking.  Goddamned.  Brennan. Of all the days . . . . There’s something hard under my foot.  A rock.  I kneel down to pick it up.  The surface is cold and smooth in my hand—heavy.  My fist tightens around it, and keeps tightening.  My nails start to bite into my skin. But it doesn’t help. Like a wave, the anger spreads, up from my [...]

• Winter Rain, part 70 - 09 March 2009
  

  The night grows suddenly brighter and Garvey snaps upright at the sound of the kitchen door banging open.  It slams shut again, hard, as I turn. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Brennan shouts. Garvey leaps to his feet, snarling, and I grab at him to pull him back.  A shock of pain rolls through my [...]

• Winter Rain, part 69 - 04 March 2009
  

  Chapter 7 The small shed is well-hidden in bushes—much further from the house than I’d expected—and the light is failing quickly.  Maybe I should have carried my clothes back and dressed with Torrin—these eyes and this light . . . .  Yeah, and likely passed out.  Idiot. Anyway, Garvey seems to know the way. Something tall and dark moves away from the shed [...]

• Winter Rain, part 68 - 23 February 2009
  

  He’s older than I’d expected—black hair, now mostly grey, and a weathered face.  Mid-fifties, maybe.  Neck down, though, he could be me, ten years older. Garvey tries to lick at my hands again, but I pull them behind me, out of his reach.  There’s no way around it: what I’ve done is inexcusable, and Faolan’s going to [...]

• Winter Rain, part 67 - 16 February 2009
  

  The baying of dogs chases me from dream into waking and I snap my eyes open to fading twilight, but too late.  They’re closing from all sides—nearly a dozen of them, from the sound—and only seconds away.  And I’m alone—Garvey is nowhere to be seen. I haul myself to my feet, my back scraping against the [...]

• Winter Rain, part 66 - 10 February 2009
  

  I run harder, tearing the soil with each step, spraying little chunks of the dark black earth and old leaves into the air behind.  I hear them smack wetly into tree trunks, onto dead leaves.  Behind.  That son of a bitch. That mother FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! Who the FUCK does he think he is? I bank hard [...]

• Winter Rain, part 65 - 01 February 2009
  

  “How long have we been waiting?” Keely whines, turning from the large window.  Brennan scowls at her from his post by the door. “I don’t know . . . ” I reply, with a little more edge than I’d intended—I soften my tone—”three minutes longer than the last time you asked?”  She drops her gaze. But I’m not really annoyed at her.  [...]

• Winter Rain, part 64 - 27 January 2009
  

  She sidles up beside me as I step through the doorway and slips her arm under mine.  I resist the urge to pull away—best just to grin and bear it.  “What’s your name, hon’?” she asks, touching my arm with her other hand as Brennan steps in behind me and shuts the door.  Up close, her breath [...]

• Winter Rain, part 63 - 19 January 2009
  

  Before I can stop her, Keely jumps forward and extends her arm, saying, “Hey there, boy!” “Keely,” I whisper, urgently, and put my hand on her shoulder to pull her back. But I’m wrong: across the courtyard, the massive beast lurches into a run, tongue suddenly lolling out and tail wagging furiously.  Keely turns, confused, and I [...]

• Winter Rain, part 62 - 12 January 2009
  

  The gravel drive opens up into a clearing of stone pavers, set against a wall of rough, grey field stone.  There are three cars parked in the clearing—all big, and all very expensive-looking—and we roll to a stop behind the last of them.  It seems unlikely he’s home alone.  Not unless he keeps a lot [...]

• Winter Rain, part 61 - 05 January 2009
  

  The narrow valley opens up before us as we crest the ridge, a dense expanse of green and copper beech from edge to edge.  Brennan down-shifts as we plunge into the darkness beneath the canopy, barely holding the road as it pulls sharply to the left, before straightening out down the valley wall. “Torrin owns all [...]

• Winter Rain, part 60 - 24 November 2008
  

  “We’re nearly there, right?” “Mm hmm,” she answers, “maybe another five minutes?” “He has a farm?” I ask, looking around at the surprisingly green meadows rolling by.  We’ve turned down so many narrow, windy roads, I’ve lost track of everything but our heading: West. “No, no—he’s restored an old monastery, or something, I think.  It’s a big place, [...]

• Winter Rain, part 59 - 10 November 2008
  

  “You . . . live in the city, right?” “Mm hmm,” I say, turning back in my seat to face her.  I smile, but she doesn’t seem quite comfortable meeting my eyes.  “Right in the middle.” “Isn’t that . . . difficult?  You know, living so close to all those people?” I nod.  “It can be.  You’ve certainly got to be careful.  I mean, no changing [...]

• Winter Rain, part 58 - 03 November 2008
  

  I wake with a start to motion and blinding sunshine.  I squeeze my eyes shut to block out the light, but the dream stabs at me from the backs of my eyelids, and I snap them open again.  My shirt is damp with sweat, and I start to shiver, despite the warmth of the sun [...]

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