Friday 11 April 2014

40 - argh! - with Crystal Collier


In honour of my birthday, I decided to invite some fabulous bloggers to help me celebrate.
Their task? To create a post with the theme 40. Today's guest is Crystal Collier...

Hello lovelies!

I’m guest posting today for Annalisa (and thank you for the opportunity!), so who’s ready to stretch your creative muscles?

Door 40

Lissa lifted her hand toward the lock, the chrome key rattling against her fusia-painted nails. She’d been down this hall a thousand times, but no one ever entered room 40. A whole subculture of school myths had sprung up about it: a chamber where Mr. Peters kept jarred brains, or where evil lunch ladies fed on kids with too many tardies, or where they locked up the wolf man on full moons.

Metal grated against metal.

She pulled her hand back and wiped sweaty palms against her gray-scale skirt. Her pulse thumped in her ears. It was a stupid dare. She should have told Ryan to go suck on an egg, but he had that video of her wakka-wakka dance in the cafeteria and she really didn’t need that to go viral.

Lissa took a deep breath and wrapped her fingers around the key. It was probably a just supply room.

It had been too easy to swipe the key from the principal’s office while the janitor stepped away to clean an “accidentally” spilled bottle of window cleaner.

Why did Principal Skinner keep this key framed in his office anyway? It was lucky her mom was a custom framer, or she wouldn’t have known how to dismantle the frame without breaking it to leave the counterfeit key Ryan gave her.

But was that luck, or had he been targeting her? She didn’t want to think about the implications. How had Ryan even known where the key for this room was?

Click.

The sound left a hollow ringing in her ears, like she’d done the unthinkable. The handle twisted under her grip and the door slanted inward.


Your turn! Finish the story. What do you think is waiting on the other side of the door? 


Crystal Collier is a young adult author who pens dark fantasy, historical, and romance hybrids with a thriller pace. She can be found practicing her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, three littles, and “friends” (a.k.a. the slaves scientists locked in her basement). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. Her debut novel, MOONLESS, is now available for purchase and you can find her on her blog, Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

45 comments:

  1. Books. Row upon row of neatly filed covers lined every wall. Lissa inhaled the slightly intoxicating smell of paper. She stepped fully into the room and clicked the door shut behind her. She was alone. Blinds were pulled over the one small window so it was dim and airless, but she dare not turn a light on, it might attract attention and she didn't want that. She wanted to sit and feast, feast on the words, the stories, the lives of others. She reached up and took a book off the shelf nearest her. Wiping her hand across the cover, she marvelled at the picture, hinting at the tale within. She read the title, 'Cat & The Dreamer' just the words sent tingles down her spine. The author Annalisa Crawford, how Lissa would love to be an author, to leave a little piece of herself for posterity. But for now she opened the book, curled up on the floor and began to read ...

    Good job Crystal, hope you like my little take on the story! Happy Birthday Annalisa!

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    1. Love it! That was amazing, Suzanne! Now I want to go find that door.

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    2. Wow, that was amazing, thank you Suzanne :-) I'm impressed you posted your comment only 33 minutes after the post went live!

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  2. I still haven't had enough coffee to finish the story but I enjoyed Suzanne's idea! Great story, Crystal - I was bummed when it ended and you definitely left me wanting more.

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    1. LOL. I'll finish it one day, Julie--just for you. ;)

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    2. Lol, yes, coffee (in my case, tea) is a staple for creativity, especially early in the morning!

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  3. Happy birthday, Annalisa! Welcome to the other side.

    Speaking of the other side: Crystal, even though it doesn't fit with the story, I'm choosing Bart Simpson. Once I saw Principal Skinner, that's what popped into my head! (And your other character is Lissa. So it has to be Bart. Maybe Bartt?)

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    1. Bwahahaha! It's not until I read this out loud just now that I made the connection. Oh subconscious, you are a powerful thing.

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    2. I thought of The Simpsons too, Theresa ;-)

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  4. Too early for me to be creative. The only thing I can come up with are pickled punks. (Don't ask.) Fun suspenseful snippet, Crystal! :)

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    1. LOL! Well as long as they're pickled...

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    2. I was stumped when I read the story too, Ava :-)

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  5. I can think of all sorts of dull things, so we'll just go with Suzanne's creative idea.
    Unless she finds a frozen alien. No one would see that coming.

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    1. I would. Dude, I had so many creative avenues I debated going with this.

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    2. When I'm in doubt, I make things explode :-)

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  6. Great story! I loved the part about the brains in the jars and the lunch ladies, but I thought of so many things that could be in the room and imagining a Labyrinth. I scrolled down to comment and read the first one and what a great way to end the story, with Kat and the Dreamer or with That Sadie Thing!

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    1. It really was a great ending for it, eh? Way to go, Suzanne!

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    2. I agree, Suzanne raised the bar!

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  7. A room full of memory. Floating and swirling about---images she hadn't seen in years. Of youth, of friends and family, of struggles and failures and accomplishments. And behind all of it was another door with a simple placard on it that said, "The Rest of Your Life."

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    1. Awesome. How about a touch of magical realism?

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    2. Pk, I'm ready to go through THAT door! It sounds like an awesome place ;-)

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  8. She finds a short well-lit passageway and she follows it until she reaches the end, where it turns to the right and there is another passageway.. which is long with various doors on the left and right. Some of the doors are open and there are several people in the passage. They are different ages - teenagers, adults, couples. Some of them are chatting to each other, others are alone. Some of them walking towards the end of the passageways, others coming and going out of the open doorways. They generally look confident, as if they know where they are and where they are supposed to be going. One or two people glance at her, but they don't seem to be disturbed by it and they then get on whereever they were going. I'm not yet sure where,where or what this place is though.

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  9. I think Suzanne gave Annalisa the best birthday treat story. Well done.

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  10. This is great, Crystal, I love it! And I love that you brought in Principal Skinner!

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    1. Yeah. I guess he needed to make an appearance.

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  11. Happy birthday Annalisa!
    Crystal, the A to Z challenge has already "fried" my brains...and Suzanne did a fabulous job with the continuation...

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    1. I know what you mean. "Fried" doesn't quite cover the state my brain is in. More like goo.

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    2. Thanks Michelle, especially since you're A-Zing. Hope you've settled into it now... I can see Z on the horizon :-)

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  12. Happy birthday Annalisa! What a great idea for a novelist's birthday blog!

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  13. Ryan! :-)

    Happy Birthday Annalisa!

    Take care
    x

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  14. I was going to say Ryan, too! ha!

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  15. I'm not trying to top Suzanne and Damaria!

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  16. A great way to celebrate that 40th! Now you can sing, My Way and quote Robert Frost about roads. You've arrived. Great to find Crystals post.

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  17. Hi Annalisa - congratulations on the 40 - life does continue?! Suzanne and Damaria have continued the thought processes for Crystal .. fun posting .. cheers Hilary

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    1. I'm 40 and 11 days today... so far, so good ;-)

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