TITLE: SECRET
GENRE: MG SECRET
Gray. That was the color of Terwilliger, New Hampshire. Toby Harris sat in the back seat of the lawyer’s car, leaning her forehead against the window, straining for a glimpse of a bright-red cardinal. Nothing. She'd expected the piles of snow, the buildings shouldering packs of ice, but this was ridiculous. Not even Ashford, the city where Toby and her mother met the lawyer, was this colorless. At least in Ashford she’d seen cardinals flying around, and green pine trees that had soldiered their way through winter. But as they drove into Terwilliger, things changed in a spooky, ugly way.
Gray shadowed everything—from the flat, steely sky to the brittle trees to the whiskers of dead grass visible between melting mounds of snow. Not even the evergreens were green. Something was seriously wrong with the land here.
Terwilliger looked like it had died, and had been dead a long time.
Miss Snark's First Victim
I can't tell.
ReplyDeleteIt could be fantasy or contemporary or mystery. I just don't have enough clues yet as to what is really happening. But I really like the opening. :)
Contemporary. The everyday setting and the tone make me think this.
ReplyDeleteContemporary (though I can see it going horror later, maybe)
ReplyDeleteParanormal
ReplyDeleteA dead town, no color, an eerie tone.
Loved 'whiskers of dead grass.'
I can't tell
ReplyDeleteFirst thought was contemporary drama, but subtle indicators make me think this could go fantasy/horror-ish like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children or something similar
Contemporary because of the casual language/setting, but I agree with others saying it could easily morph to horror or paranormal
ReplyDeleteContemporary, but there's something there about the grayness and saying 'something seriously wrong' that makes me think it could be suspense/mystery.
ReplyDeleteHorror. Ha. I named my younger daughter Tobi. She's 20 now. But I'd read this cause of the name. hee hee.
ReplyDeleteFantasy. It seems Contemporary at first, but the spookiness of the place she's arrived in says this could take a turn toward Fantasy.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell. Since it seems like there is something literally wrong with the area, though, I'm thinking it's probably fantasy or horror.
ReplyDeleteCould really be anything... I think contemporary, but from here it could go in any direction.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell. Could be historical, contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, or science fiction.
ReplyDeleteParanormal
ReplyDeleteIt has a contemporary feel but a mood that implies a little more. Word choices like spooky/dead/shadowed, sway me toward paranormal. I love love love the trees soldiering through winter. Could be a few too many color adjectives but I'm a sucker for gray. Nice setup.
Hello! I'm the author of this entry. Thank you all for your comments and guesses! This is my MG Contemporary Magical Realism story entitled TWO SISTERS WOODS. Thanks, Authoress, for a great exercise!
ReplyDeleteAh, the of magic realism. That's a tough one to guess. Very nice.
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