"Cathartes Aura on the Road from Nowhere" Sneak Peek: Chapter Nine

Three tough weeks of editing and this thing will be ready.  I finished the rough draft Wednesday morning and did not feel the buzz of triumph I did when I finished "Apocalypse Zoo".  Because it needs a lot of work still, I suppose.  So much stage direction, dialogue, and character description plus action scenes to put together.  I need to sweep it all together into something that clicks.  Right now it feels disjointed.  Building something like one-hundred ten-by-tens is like making a watch: it can't be too big or too small and it must be precise.

(Have you seen my mug?)

Chapter Nine, Verse One:

Joe, Sam and Val return to the Jaguar,

Coax the camels from their pasture with treats,

Roll back to the mall to the beat of drums,

Horns and harps.  Val accepts a drink, puckers

At the taste and shoots it down.  “Don’t worry,”

Sam says.  “I’ll teach Joe to make lemon drops.”

The men pass a joint, snuff it and spray cologne.

A crowd of eight gander at the red glint,

The strutting beasts, the symphony.  They ooh

At shining fenders and solar panels.