10. 5: Bonus scene (and Announcements)

I have a quick announcement to make here, and then a bonus scene.

First of all, thanks to everyone who’s been reading along! I know a month is a long time between updates. Earlier on, I experimented with dividing chapters into parts and discovered that I really prefer the longer chapters. However, over time they’ve gotten a little too long–much longer than I originally intended.

So, here is what I’ve decided to do. I’m going to start publishing shorter chapters, with two illustrations, either twice a month or every two weeks. I have a number of other things on my plate at the moment, so we’ll see how it goes. I don’t expect it to be much more work overall, and this way the story will be a little fresher come a new installment.

If you didn’t read any of that, I don’t particularly blame you. Just check back in a couple of weeks for a new chapter. In the meantime, here’s a scene I cut from chapter ten. It didn’t really fit, but it’s a fun scene with Aaron and Carter’s dad and a bit of foreshadowing for events to come. 

Chapter Ten: Just Relax

Aaron shoved his tray aside and collapsed onto the cafeteria table. “I wish I could speed up time,” he said. “Then I could make this day be over.”

“That bad?” Brennan said, scooping a glob of steaming cheese onto a chip.

“Ooh, heat mine up, too,” Lucia said, scooting her plate toward him. He shook his head and held his hand over the congealing cheese. Soon it was steaming. Aaron stared at it and fought the urge to be sick.

“I had three visions this morning,” Aaron said. “One of them was about those nachos. I had a vision about nachos.”

“I guess this is a bad time to talk about Molly,” Lucia said.

“You can talk about it, but I’m not sure I can think right now,” he said. Maybe it was his own fault. After the disaster with the baseball, Aaron had promised to ease up on his powers, but he’d kept practicing on his own. That and a couple of nights poring over obscure scientific data had taken its toll.