Sunday Snippet: A Quiet Hell

Greetings to the month of September. I'm kind of not ready for it yet, mainly because once the calendar changes to the ninth month, it seems like October, November, and December zoom by super fast.

Had a great work week and made some progress on my new venture. I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to launch sometime between October and December. Another reason I'm not quite ready for the new month.

Decent viewing week. I'm not quite caught up on everything, but I'm getting there. I did make a full rotation of my usual shows but I'm off schedule, which confuses my weird brain.

Got two episodes of Only Murders in the Building watched and I'm kind of loving this show. Had a great conversation with my daughter, who also loves it.

Caught an episode of Blue Heelers and kind of thought a couple of the characters were acting unlike themselves. But I did like the mystery.

Enjoyed another MasterClass lesson with Roxane Gay. She did another workshop and talked about finding your voice as a writer. Very good stuff.

Finished up The Babysitters Club and I'm so bummed there aren't any more episodes left. I'll be starting a new show this week but haven't decided which one yet.

Watched two episodes of Classic Rugrats. The Chanukah episode is one of my favorites and I always enjoyed watching it with the kiddos. The Mother's Day episode is also up there even if it's a little bit of a downer.

Started Resisting Roots, a Passionflix original. So far, I'm enjoying it. Looking forward to finishing up this movie.

Caught another episode of Chicago Med and struggled to stay interested. I liked two of the storylines and didn't really have much invested in the other two. Season five might be my last one.

Enjoyed another episode of Batman: The Animated Series. This one introduced the Joker and my major appreciation for Mark Hamill's portrayal of the iconic bad guy started all over again.

Watched the Christmas episode of Ted Lasso and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ted having Rupert's number made me happy. Also loved Roy in this one. And I'm finding a deep appreciation for Keeley. I really love the dynamic she has with Rebecca. Jamie … I absolutely dislike with an intense passion. Just saying. Coach Beard is awesome. And so is Nate.

Caught another episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries. I'm kind of bummed I only have one more left of the season. This show makes me happy.

Finished up the second part and final episode of Silent Witness's season nineteen. Looking forward to starting the new one next week.

Watched another episode of Classic Who. I'm a little lost with what's supposed to be going on but I had a few distractions while I was watching this episode. Looking forward to the final two for this season.

Enjoyed another Strangest Things. This one had several fun artifacts. One happened to feature in a middle grade book I edited a few years ago. Very fun to see a breakdown of the item the author wrote about in his book.

Caught another episode of The Book of Boba Fett. I actually love this show a lot. It's right up there with The Mandalorian. I'm hoping there will be another season of this one.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from A Quiet Hell, a novella where the characters meet under intense circumstances and then figure out the puzzle of what's going on with one of them.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Mattox Lang lives in a quiet hell, seeing and sensing paranormal activity. Bruce Wendelson has haunting dreams that linger, but he can never recall the details. Mattox understands Bruce's torment and hopes to ease her own by helping him deal with the nightmares.

And a preview snippet…

Mattox Lang sat very still with her gaze straight ahead, carefully watching the clock. A quiet time in hell, she hated being in the therapist's office. With a passionate intensity only a pre-teen could understand.

The kindly woman leaned forward. "Mattox, dear, I really am trying to help you." Her hands were clasped in her lap.

Mattox had no doubt the therapist wanted to get to the root of her problems. But fear of the unknown trumped the known repercussions if everything went sideways. And it would.

It always does.

She learned that hard lesson at the tender age of five—when the beatings started. Her mom discovered Mattox's gift for seeing into peoples thoughts and quickly decided how to handle the burden. I won't have an abnormal child. You will not be a freak.

Each word punctuated by a blow, Mattox never fought back. The images in her mom's mind gave her a glimpse of what Audra Lang wanted to do. The violence in her mother's heart involved being left to raise a child she wanted nothing to do with. Alcohol dulled Audra's pain and helped her cope but it also dulled her control.

Two weeks ago, Mattox came to school with bruises she couldn't hide and the school nurse shook her head. "You need to talk to someone, Mattox. Let them help you."

At twelve, Mattox had a handle on what could happen. She said nothing, even though the nurse suspected Mattox's injuries were from her mom. Unless Mattox named Audra as the culprit, the nurse could only inform child services. Which she did.

Now Mattox remained in the stupid oversized chair, not speaking a word, counting the minutes tick by on the clock.

The nice lady tried to draw Mattox out. "Please answer a few questions and I can take things from there." She reached for her notepad and pen.

Mattox refused to answer. Her mom would find a way to make Mattox pay if she did. And she'd make sure the bruises weren't visible anymore.

The social worker made one final attempt. "Let's try something else then." She set out a sketch pad along with charcoals and pastels. "You can draw how you're feeling if you'd like." She got up and went to her desk, leaving Mattox in the chair.

Tempted, Mattox almost took the offer. Art had become her refuge. She couldn't begin to explain how or why she could read and envision people's thoughts but drawing what she saw helped her function as somewhat normally.

Mattox bit her tongue, hard, to resist the dangling carrot on the table and kept her gaze on the clock.

Five more minutes of this quiet hell.

This story has a place in my heart. The couple and their journey ended up being a lot more than I thought it would be. I love it when that happens.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye