from Chapter 1 of BETA TEST
Molly
didn’t find it funny. She flew out of her chair like a greyhound after an
electronic rabbit and rounded the table. Before Melvin knew what was happening,
Molly ground his face into his salty pretzel crumbs.
“Yalp,”
was all he could say.
“You
piece of lemon-scented dog shit,” Molly said.
Sam’s mouth fell open. He didn’t know what shocked him
more, her display of speed and strength, or that Melvin had managed to piss
someone off enough to get assaulted right in the office.
Those
nearest, including the CEO, pushed their chairs back, rolling away from the
small lady filled with the crazy, in case she turned on them.
Sam
felt pity for Melvin, who never won a single fight. But at the same time it pleased him that Molly, a woman a quarter
of his size, had forced Melvin into a submissive position in Sam’s defense.
Erotically pleasing, even.
“You’re what I’m going to miss the least around here,” Molly said, sneering. “I—”
“You’re what I’m going to miss the least around here,” Molly said, sneering. “I—”
Going to miss? Sam’s entire upper body, from sphincter to scalp, tightened, waiting for her next word.
Molly
caught his eye through her dangling blue hair. Sorrow crossed her face and in
that instant Sam Terra knew.
Molly loved him back.
Melvin
groaned as his molars were forced against the inside of his cheek on the veneer
tabletop. Molly released her grip.
Would
she apologize? Beg forgiveness? Sam was sure she wouldn’t. She never backed
down, never surrendered, never retreated.
Molly retreated. She dashed out of the fish bowl, eyes on
her watch.
Melvin, snot streaming from his nose, screamed in the
high-pitched voice he got when manhandled. “I want that bitch fired!”
“Molly!”
Sam juggled his handheld into his pocket. He hurried after Molly while the rest
of the group stared.
“Sam,
leave her, she’s not worth it!” Melvin yelled at Sam’s back. “Aww. . .”
When
Sam got outside the glass door, Molly was gone.
Hardcover - 278 pages
978-0-9839531-0-4
Publisher: Hadley Rille
Book blurb:
Sam Terra is having a bad week. He lost Molly, the woman he secretly loves, when she vanished before his eyes at the exact same time that ten percent of the inhabitants of Earth disappeared.
Naturally upset, Sam follows clues about the global vanishing with questionable help from his friends including a misanthropic co-worker and a childhood pal. When Molly reappears in the body of a man during a night of monster-laden devastation, Sam finally learns the truth. Not just about her, but about the planet Earth and the entire cosmos surrounding it.
What we consider mundane reality, others consider a game...and not a very good one. The whole thing is about to be shut down.
Hardcover
Author bio:
Eric Griffith is the author of the sci-fi novel BETA TEST from Hadley Rille Books, which Publishers Weekly called “an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale.” By day he works as the features editor for PCMag.com. By night he sneaks out of the house to write fictions. He currently lives in Ithaca, New York.
You can follow his online exploits daily via http://egriffith.info
You can follow his online exploits daily via http://egriffith.info
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1 comments:
I can think if several men I would love to smash into a bowl.
debby236 at gmail dot com
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