Strange Noises Fiction by Rachel Greenham

I sit alone in the cockpit. The night sea is calm and glimmering in the light of the moon. It is peaceful, but the air full of sound. There is the wind, gentle though it is; there is the slight flutter in the sail that tells me I need to adjust the sail trim slightly, so I do it; there is a creak from the wood as it takes up the tension; there is the rush of water along the hull; and there is the immanent sussuration of the sea itself, almost not a sound at all, but a sense, a comfort, the feeling that I'm coming home.

Ken sniffs his mug cautiously, then blows over the liquid, then takes a sip. An eyebrow raises and he nods, ever so minutely, and sets the mug down. "So, you all wake up after an uneventful night, except for Lotan---" "I stood the last watch," Dave puts in. "Lotan is sitting at the cave mouth apparently toying with his weapon." Dave blows a raspberry at him. "Roll for observation. Minus two." "Everyone?" Lee asks. "Just Lotan." "Why minus two?"

"One for each person who's having a cup, and one for the pot." "Yeah, I know. I remember that bit." This is so embarrassing. Simon is standing over me while I make the tea. And I do mean _over_ me. I feel like a slow-witted child. "Now, get the mugs---" "I _know!_ Jesus." "Just remember to pour the water into the teapot while it's actually boiling this time."

Ken has the keys, so we're usually the first to arrive, but tonight Simon is already waiting outside, tall and gangling, leaning against the railing by the door to the hall, reading a book under the security light and apparently oblivious to the cold. His breath clouds around the book in his hands. He will have walked here, as usual. He lives the closest, but it would still have been a twenty minute walk, I know. "Took you long enough," he says, as we escape the car and approach the door.

You're supposed to gather up the legs into loops, then put your toes through, and release the material as you draw the tights up your legs. That's what someone told me anyway. It sounds easy but I've never been able to get the hang of it, so I sort of half do it, but end up pretty much pulling them on as if they were trousers. I'm sure I'm not doing it right anyway. At least when they're 70 dernier you can get away with it, if you're careful.

OK so, as you can see from the little graphic in the side panel, I didn't 'win'. I came in slightly under 40 thousand words. Also, that's not the whole story, but I did reach a point I can realistically call the end of part 1. Honestly, I can go months without seeing anyone, it seems, and when try to do this suddenly my house is full of people! I'm actually surprised I did as well as I did, and it's the best by far of my three (so far) attempts at NaNoWriMo.

Valerie wasn't tracking well at lunch. "Pardon me?" She thought someone might have mentioned her name. "Are you all right, Vee?" Jo asked. "You look like you haven't slept in a week." "It's only half a week," she corrected, before remembering that was bad enough. "Havanothercookie." They were disappearing fast. She wondered madly if Natasha could be persuaded to make more tonight. "What is it?"

OK, I couldn't resist. Wordcount will be displayed on the sidebar on the left. (Which may take a long time to load. Their server is so hosed.)

If/when I actually feel confident that I'm going to complete it, I'll start posting it, in its awful, unproofed glory. Meanwhile, The Taken progresses, but possibly more slowly, but there are two chapters in proofing now that could come out this month.

"I needed you these last few days." There, she had said it. "Janie, Janie, you know I would have come." "Yes, dear, I know." "Which is why you weren't going to call me tonight, I presume?" "Didn't Diana have something to go to tonight?" "Nothing that couldn't have been cancelled. Really, Jane." They fell silent for a while. "I'm sure he was just trying to negotiate some boundaries," he went on. "It's quite normal." "I suppose so. In any case, I'm more concerned about Valerie right now." "The nightmares?"

I'm not sure what happened to the plaintext version of the most recent chapter. I noticed in the logs it was 404ing. Anyway, it's restored now. Sorry about that.