Almost Finished!

I am three days away from my NaNoWriMo deadline of 50,000 words in a novel and am currently at 45,136! Only a little less than 5,000 to go, which I have looked back and seen that I easily accomplished in the first three days. Hopefully the last 5,000 will be as painless as the first 5,000!

It's been quite a crazy month, and still I've managed to continue with this slightly insane and sometimes seemingly meaningless task. My mom had emergency heart surgery (which she is recovering from quite well, and characteristically pushing herself too hard each day to get better and be normal again). I had my twenty-eighth birthday. I judged several weekend speech tournaments in which I thought my hand would literally fall off from writing so many notes. And I started getting temp work calls and getting plunged back into the much dreaded life of office work (I must say that I am incredibly thankful to God for giving me the ability to work and make some money again after being without work for so long, but I can not lie and say that I love my present job. Please pray for me this upcoming Monday and Tuesday, as I have a temp job that is scaring me rather badly after only working there this Wednesday for half a day's training!)

And still I have kept on writing. The story has been horribly boring at times and I got quite horribly behind on my word count during the week that my mom was in the hospital, but I kept going and have finally caught back up. I suppose fire under the seat deadlines really are useful tools for completing tasks. I've always hated them, but now it looks as if I have a good chance of finishing this word count, which will be far more than I can say for any of the other stories I have started just for fun and never seemed to finish.

Granted, I'm fairly sure that even when I reach the 50,000 words, my story will not be completed. I've only just now introduced and brought together four of the six main characters! But, I have never written so long of a story in my life as I have with this one and I really hope that I finish this one. It will need some serious editing, because I definitely have been focusing on being wordy (within reason), but I am still excited with the plot and the characters! So I believe there is hope! Although, I will definitely be taking a well deserved brake after November 30th. I haven't allowed myself to read any fiction while writing this story in case some accidental plagiarism ensued and I am dying for a story that I don't have to think about and can just relax and read (I also got some books for my birthday that keep calling to me from my bookshelf that have been sorely tempting me)!

So here's another excerpt from my almost 50,000 word novel!:

With the flick of his head and a few guttural sounds that Jason understood must be their language, their bonds holding their wrists and necks together were roughly cut, along with several places on his hands, neck, and back. Olleck cried out in pain, and like an angry bear who has had enough, he immediately swung at those behind him, knocking two of the five warriors behind him to the ground. Without a moment’s delay, Jason used the distraction to kick the old man in front of him full in the chest. His frail body went flying into the fire at his back and like the flames had just received a delicious surprise, they flamed up high above their heads. Mass pandemonium ensued. Olleck kept swinging and raging at anyone who got too near him while those who were attempting to take him out kept impeding each other’s attempts in their frantic eagerness. Jason used the distraction he was giving to race to the other side of the towering fire pit to where the girl still hung strapped and bleeding. In a fluid motion he had done so many times before, the knife still concealed in his boot was in his hand and quickly cut through her bonds. She slumped limply into his arms as her lungs attempted to replenish their debilitated resources. And then, quicker than he could react, she jumped from his embrace and spun around.
Grabbing a spear that one warrior was coming strait towards them with, she countered his thrust and used his momentum to send him flying into the roaring flames as well. Her crushed feet and hands kept causing her to stumble and cry out in pain, but every sinew in her body worked with a fluid purpose, which eluded to an endless study and practice of warfare. She spun and flipped this way then that, using the force and momentum of her opponent’s against them. Jason tried to keep up, slashing and punching his way after her and towards Olleck.
He was still swinging his fists and twisting in angry circles at anyone that tried to come near him, but something was not right. He was shaking from more than just rage. Jason could see a deep seeping wound in his side from where a spear must have found its mark during their fight. The girl swept in front of both of them and Jason grabbed Olleck and fled after her. They were soon racing once again through the Great Jungle with utter fear at their heels. The girl guided them through, under roots and over limbs in an ever-winding path that almost made Jason dizzy. He had no idea where they were going, how she was even moving with such injured limbs, or even if she desired them to follow. But he kept a firm hold of Olleck and barreled through as best he could, trying to keep up and following her bluish white gleaming hair.