The 777 Challenge

ART BY ANTONIO MORA—A MAJOR INSPIRATION FOR MY WIP

There’s this thing going around the writerly section of the Internet, a thing called the 777 Challenge. When Katy Upperman tagged me, I was mostly excited that:

A) I got to read her fantastic writing (seriously, check it out), and

B) I wasn’t asked to participate in the 666 Challenge, which sounds like a hellish assignment. Ha.*

Here’s the deal: The challenged writer (that would be me) must share seven lines of her work in progress, seven lines down the page on the seventh page.

I’m sort of cheating here. I haven’t quite written seven pages of my new WIP, a YA magical realism story that’s something like Goonies meets Stand by Me. So these lines are seven lines down on the last page I’ve written.

Also, a giant, neon-bright disclaimer: This excerpt is from a very, very rough draft. Rough as in not yet finished and never been edited. If you see a typo or crap writing, just shut your eyes and pretend it never happened, ’kay?

Dry, wrinkled fingers tighten around my wrist. “Are you seeing this, Ruby?” 

I lift my sunglasses and blink back the bright. The ocean is almost silver in the afternoon light, as if the sun has leeched color from the sea. A pointy finger pushes my cheek, and my head jerks to the left. 

“What a babe.” Her eyes follow Gabriel Nash in all his crisp-polo glory as he pushes the giant lawn mower with an almost innocent unawareness that other people, people like me, might struggle with the same task only to come away sweaty, wrinkled, and covered in grass clippings. “I always trust a man in a pair of pressed khaki slacks.” She slurps her milkshake then shoots me a serious look. “I bet he’s a very tidy kisser.” 

“Doris!” I should mention that Doris Lansing is one hundred and four years old.

And now I’m going to tag all of you. I love reading excerpts from writers’ WIPs, so I’m hoping you take the challenge!

* It’s okay to roll your eyes.