The novel is progressing much quicker in my head, and much slower on the page than I had hoped. It’s densely complex, frighteningly so, but I’m keeping notes. I have no shorts planned at the moment, my excitement with the world at hand is too great. Apologies for a lack of updates, but I thought I’d share this with you, the prologue, as it stands, for “This Side of the Blue”.

 

The meteorite is the source of the light
And the meteor’s just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that’s devoid
of the fire that propelled it to thee

– Joanna Newsom, Emily

The falling star carved a burning scar across the night sky. On the open plain below, a dozen eyes tracked the hot red trail from east to west, watching small flakes of fire peel away from the heart of the meteor. The glow lit their smooth faces, and as the ember at the center cooled and vanished, they turned back to the cook fire, chattering to one another in excitement. Some were old enough to remember the winter of shooting stars, when streaks of fire crossed the sky with a steady, mystic rhythm. They told stories, sung in complex harmonies, and laughed beneath the quiet sky.

A distant rumble rolled across the grassland from the west, and they craned long and elegant necks, waiting in silence for something more. But the only sound was the wind, hissing through the waving stalks of golden grass, and they soon returned to the old songs.

Part I: The Garden and the Graveyard
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Hope the weekend finds you all well, and thanks, as always, for reading.