“Right. We’ll have plenty of time to get into position and observe their movements. I’ll loiter outside the council’s meeting place and see what the dynamic is there. You keep an eye on the merchants. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“And Klyra?”
“Yes?”
“You do have a plan for distracting them?”
“I’m trying to decide between about five right now. I’ll make the other four backups.”
Chroma smiled. “Good luck.”
“They have one bargaining chip, and that’s the alliance we want,” Chroma said, examining the vegetables they’d been given. Most were whitish or brown roots served cold, others cooked mushrooms. “That’s an all-or-nothing. Each side loses that bargaining chip as soon as they reject us, or the other side swoops in and takes it. That’s what gives us the power. They can’t deny us our alliance without losing us entirely.” … More The Hundred Foot Drop of Klima — Scene 12
Chroma held one edge of the tray and spun it lightly counter-clockwise. When the swing had twisted as far as it would go and threatened to spin back the direction it had come, Chroma thrust her hand out to grab it. She scanned the available fruits now in front of her and picked a plump purple one.
“I think the idea is that when you pick a bigger one, you’re less likely to bite off the whole pepper,” Flor told her. “And the game gets steadily spicier as we dwindle down to the small ones.”
“You seem surprisingly fine, Flor,” Chroma commented, “for having nearly died twice in one day.” She took the largest bite of the purple fruit as possible. Her face twisted in pleasure at the peachy taste, quickly turning to curiosity and then to panic. She held a hand to her mouth, as if about to spit something out, but ended up swallowing (both the food and large gulps of air).
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” —Maya Angelou News: As you can tell, I’ve been enjoying my Maya Angelou quotes… This summer, I’ll be working on looking for writing agents! If you know any, please feel free to make my search a little easier and let me know! … More June Newsletter
