Audrey's Story - Chapter Two

I hope that you enjoyed the excerpt from my book that I posted a few days ago! Here is the second chapter from "Audrey's Story", by yours truly ;)

This chapter was pretty short, and definitely not one of my best chapters. Critiques are welcomed! :D

Chapter Two

It hadn't always been like this. No, life had been easier before, Audrey though. If only people could understand how she felt; how she was treated. Audrey had already tried to phone the police about her situation, but her mother's landline had stopped working, and Audrey couldn't make the call.

By the time that night had come, Audrey felt as if she could walk no further. Her legs ached from the constant dodging of rocks and the deep ruts in the road. Not only that, but her shoes were in a terrible condition that made traveling quite difficult. She still, however, could see no trace of an upcoming town. Audrey began to think that maybe the old man was trying to trick her into thinking that there was hope, when only hardships were ahead. It wouldn't be the first time that she had fallen for something like that. Suddenly, Audrey heard footsteps behind her. She darted behind a tree that was farther into the wooded area, and prayed that it wouldn't be her mother or Anna. Or the police, which would make things even more difficult to work out. A voice called out, but it didn't sound like anyone whom Audrey knew.

"Hello? Who is there?" came the loud and sharply accented voice, only a few feet behind where Audrey was hiding. The footsteps began to grow louder, and Audrey began to feel very nervous and incredibly insecure. She looked around, trying to figure out the best path out of the woods. She spotted a clearing several yards away from her, but it seemed far too dangerous to run that far with the threat of a person behind her. She took a deep breath, prayed for safety, and began to run.

"Aha! ¡Te tengo!!" yelled a different voice. "Wait - you aren't Margarita!" A large Spanish women popped into the clearing next to Audrey. She seemed to be about the age to a mother, with a few wisps of grey hair sneaking out of her tight bun at the nape of her neck. She wore a red and golden dress with an apron fitted over top of it. The women looked embarrassed now, probably because she had yelled at someone who was not her own daughter.

"Soy tan estupido!" she muttered to herself. "I apologize, nina. I was not thinking straight. My hija always runs away, and I have no idea as to why! She scares me mucho. I should now introduce myself. I am Sofia Espenovia. I am mucho sorry, nina." Mrs. Espenovia declared; tears in her eyes. She obviously cared very much about her daughter - or so she appeared to be acting. "I must go now, to search for Margarita. I apologize again to you, nina." She walked away, looking back and forth at the trees to find Margarita. Audrey smiled, realizing that it had been good that she had taken two years of Spanish in her earlier years of middle school.

Audrey sighed and rubbed her eyes, trying to decide whether or not to find a place to sleep or to continue traveling. When she realized both how tired and hungry she was, the decision was easy - sleep was a necessity, and Audrey really, really needed a break. The only question was as to where she could go.

A few hours later, Audrey awoke from underneath of her hiding/camping spot. She had decided to sleep under the low-hanging branches of a weeping willow tree, angling herself so that the nearby brush would hide her from the rest of the world. The bag from the shopkeeper at the previous town had most definitely come in handy. Her neck was now incredibly sore because of how she had decided to lay in the bag since there was no pillow, and it was now causing Audrey a painful migraine. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the headache. Finally, Audrey decided that she was officially up and wasn't going to be sleeping any more that night. She gathered up the sack from the cold, wet grass and searched through its contents for a somewhat nutritious looking breakfast. An apple and half a granola bar seemed to be the answer. After saying a quick prayer of thanks for the shelter and food, Audrey began to eat. She was practically ravenous from the long journey to get her from her home to this, well, wherever she was. She realized, however, that it would still be quite the far walk until she reached the next town, and then even further until the campground came in to view. At least now Audrey knew that there was hope of a safe shelter, even without a campground.

The sun had finally begun to come up, casting a beautiful glow across the worn path. Standing up and gently stretching, Audrey looked around to try and regain her bearings. She noted that there were now more footprints along the path that had been much more bare last night. She decided that now she must not be the only person using this path. Her braid from yesterday had come completely undone, and the string Audrey had used to tie it was missing. Grumbling, she brushed through her unruly hair with her fingertips. One of the things that Audrey hated most was having to wear her hair down. It was long and thick, running halfway down her back. Her hair had a dark chestnut coloring, and it was wavy, making it seem even thicker and more unruly. She let out a sigh, then began to trudge down the path, wearing the large sack on her back. Audrey realized that it would probably be at least noon by the time she would make it to the next town, meaning that she would have to save the little bit of food that she had left. She would also need to preserve her water - the running from the previous night had caused her to drink almost the whole bottle of water she had been given. Inwardly she reprimanded herself for not thinking to pack any food, water, or clothing changes. Wearing the same, worn and dusty dress every day didn't seem very appealing, but at least she had clothing.

Finally Audrey spotted a sign off in the distance. She ran towards it, filled with hope that it would signify the next town. And that it did! She sent up a prayer of thanks. With that bit of hope and faith, she sang her way into the next town. Of course, she made sure to sing quietly, as police or her mother and Anna could be after her. That though struck her with immense force. What if her mother had called the police to come and find her? Audrey felt sick to her stomach. Suddenly, heading towards the next town didn't really seem like the smartest idea in the world.

I hope that you enjoyed the second chapter from my still-in-the-editing-process Novelette!

As far as titles for novels go (not the actual title of a book, but how it is classified for length), there are about four basic cateogories for books. They fall like this:

Short Stories: 8,000 words or less. These are mainly found in groups of more than one short story, or in magazine publishings.

Novelettes: Anywhere from 8,000 to 18,000 words. Longer than a short story, but shorter than a Novella. A Novelette is the cateogory that my book falls into.

Novellas: 18,000-40,000 words. This is a pretty common length for books - about 100-150 pages long (depending on the trim size of the book).

Novels: 40,000 words or more. This is a pretty long book, ranging from 200 pages and up.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments what I should blog about next!

-Liz